“My aim is to please.” He flashed his infamous smile, and a tingle moved through her. How easily he charmed women when he wanted to, while keeping his tone so light as to take any intensity from his words. She couldn’t decide if the practiced, noncommittal discourse was meant to soothe her nerves, or make her long for his usual fervency.
He ripped off a bite of bread with his perfect white teeth and somehow made the act of chewing arousing, too. And he seemed not to do it on purpose, which was in keeping with her belief that sensuality was simply innate to him.
Taking a small bite of the cheese, she looked out at the endless expanse of ocean. The sun sparkled off the water, and although the day was a cool one, she thought it quite lovely. All the anxiousness she’d previously felt around Alistair had altered into a different sort of awareness, one she savored for how alive it made her feel.
She’d been raised to maintain a certain distance between herself and others. That space had been easily established through her speech and deportment, and most men were swiftly discouraged by lack of progress. Alistair, however, was challenged by her demeanor. He would not allow her to withdraw, which forced her to acknowledge that she didn’t really wish to. She wanted to be right where she was—on an adventure with an infamously wicked man.
And then there were the memories of what he’d done to her body. She’d shared similar intimacies with Tarley, and had had no difficulty facing him over a breakfast table in the morning. With Alistair, she found herself flushing often and without warning, her body heating and softening in welcome just from his proximity. Somehow, his touch seemed more intimate to her than even her own husband’s. How was that possible?
“Did you sleep well last night?” he asked, drawing her attention back to him.
She shook her head.
“That makes two of us.” He stretched out along his side with his head propped in the palm of his hand. He watched her with those brilliant blue eyes that saw too much. Those windows to the soul aged him, revealing a darkness that shouldn’t be there in one still young. “Tell me what happened the other day when you fled from the helm. What were you running from? Me?”
Jess shrugged awkwardly. “There was so much noise and activity. I felt … off balance.”
“Does the lack of hearing in your left ear contribute to that sensation?”
She looked at him with raised brows. In hindsight, she realized he always whispered in her right ear. “You noticed.”
“Michael told me.” His eyes were kind.
It was a topic she would never discuss. She was so violently opposed to even the notion of such a discussion that she resorted to speaking about other topics she wouldn’t have otherwise. “I was not running from you.”
“No?”
“Tarley has been gone only a year.”
The arch of his brow mocked her. “And you honor his memory with chastity? For how long?”
“Exactly twelve months, apparently,” she said dryly.
“You are ashamed of your desire for me. That won’t sway me.”
Ashamed. Was that the right word? It wasn’t shame she felt. Confusion was more apt. She had been raised to live in a particular world under particular rules. An affair with Alistair moved her into an entirely new realm. Remembering his dance analogy, she would say she didn’t know the proper steps and so was stumbling around. She’d been rigorously trained against stumbles and missteps, and found it extraordinarily difficult to forsake those hard-taught lessons.
“An affair isn’t necessary,” she began, “to enjoy sex. It’s certainly possible and respectable—albeit unfashionable—to find pleasure in the marital bed.”
“Are you suggesting we marry?” His tone was dangerously low and sharply edged.
“No!” She winced at the rushed manner with which she’d replied. “I shan’t be marrying again. To anyone.”
“Why not? You enjoyed your first marriage.” Alistair reached for a pear.
“Tarley and I had a rare affinity. He knew what I needed, and I knew what he expected. We were able to blend the two into a harmonious arrangement. It’s highly doubtful I’d be as fortunate again.”
“Meeting expectations is important to you.”
Jess met his gaze. As always, there was something in the way he looked at her that challenged her to be more than who she knew herself to be. Challenged her to speak aloud the thoughts she rarely contemplated even in private. “When expectations are met, there is harmony.”
Alistair’s head tilted, considering. “To value harmony, one has to know disharmony.”
“Can we speak of something else?”
There was a long pause, then, “Whatever you like.” She nibbled at her bread for a few moments, gathering her thoughts. Why did it always seem as if he could see into her? It was unfair when he was a mystery. “Was it your choice to pursue the path of enterprise you follow?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You said your father acquired the plantation and ship for you. I wondered if you requested those things, or if you simply made do with the avenue Masterson provided.”
He looked down at his hand. “I wanted nothing from Masterson, but accepting his largesse meant a great deal to my mother. I suggested sugarcane because I knew it would be profitable and that the distance inherent in the cultivation would be appealing to Masterson. I’ve been a source of displeasure for many years.”
Jess remembered saying something similar to Hester long ago, and felt remorse for the cruel thought. She’d prejudged him by assuming he had no ambition or mind for business. She had dismissed him because of the order of his birth. Also, because she’d bristled at Hester’s admiration. She could admit that now. Although Hester’s praise had been offhand and merely conversational, it had roused envy in Jess and territorial feelings.
“Some fathers mean well when they express affection in harsh ways,” she offered. “Their methods may leave much to be desired, but the intent is laudable.” She didn’t credit such lofty ambitions to her own pater, but that did not signify.
“By what basis would you know?” he challenged softly. “You have always been perfect. I have always been far from it.”
“Perfection, if that’s what you choose to call it, isn’t effortless.”
“You make it seem so.” He held up a hand when she would have demurred. “Masterson’s affection is for my mother. She is the sole reason he showed any generosity. I am grateful for that and even for the least of what he did for me on her behalf. For all the ill will between us, his love for her earns my appreciation.”
“Why is there ill will?”
“When you share your secrets, I will share mine.” Alistair’s smile was devastating and soothed the sting of his refusal. “You are a very mysterious woman, Jessica. I would be best served by keeping you equally intrigued with me.”
Jess chewed thoughtfully. His belief in her extraordinariness made her wish she was as remarkable as he saw her to be. Her tutelage had been so strict, and any deviation so strenuously punished, that she’d been certain anything noteworthy about herself had withered and died.
But Alistair made her wonder if she was wrong. He made her wonder what it would be like to be the sort of woman who was equal to a man as fascinating as he was to her. A man who was so darkly sensual and flamboyantly handsome that women paid for the privilege of possessing him, if only briefly.
Her imagination ran away with the idea, inventing a past interesting enough to make her notable.
“I suppose I could tell you about my time in captivity with the maharaja …” she began.
“Oh?” A very wicked gleam brightened his gaze. “Please do.”
Chapter 10
Alistair’s fascination with Jessica deepened with every day that passed, and he feared this afternoon’s picnic might seal his fate. What would her fictional tale reveal about her? The mere fact that she’d conceived of the idea to begin with told him a great deal—she could be imaginative, adventurous, playful …
But he’d known she had hidden facets. He had seen a glimpse of this other side. More than anything else, it was that affinity—that recognition of another soul who retreated behind an affected guise to survive—which drew him to her. He could hardly wait for the day when she knew herself better. What a formidable woman she would become when she accepted and exploited her many hidden charms.
Her head turned, shielding her face from his gaze. “I was traveling with a Bedouin tribe. We were transporting salt slabs on camelback when our party was raided by a rival tribe.”
Such an exotic setting for a woman best known for being a proper English lady. And a damsel in distress? He loved the story already. “What were you doing in the Sahara to begin with?”
“Escaping the winter chill.”
“Were you frightened?”
“At first. I had no notion of what they would do with a female in such a hostile place. I was taken to an oasis and the tent of the sheik.”
A captive. The tale grew spicier by the moment. “Were you bound?”
“Yes.” There was a betraying hitch in her voice. “My wrists were.”
He relished an inner smile. As much as she professed a desire to command him in sexual matters, it appeared she might also carry a desire to be commanded. It was a highly provocative thought. “What was the sheik like?”
“He was younger than I expected. Attractive.”
“What did he look like?”
Jessica glanced at him with a mysterious smile. “You.”
“Delicious,” he murmured, pleased to know he’d been included in her whimsical tale. It might also be telling that Tarley was not, but he would have to hear more to be certain. Perhaps her impeccable husband would be the hero, rescuing her from the clutches of the lascivious sheik. “What did he say when he saw you?”
“He was the one who abducted me. Tossed me over his horse and took me away from everything I knew.”
The parallels to reality seemed quite prominent to him—stretches of sand or endless ocean. Alistair rolled to his back. He tucked a pillow behind his head and stared up at the clear blue sky.
“There was food and flasks of wine,” she went on. “The ground was covered by rugs that were littered with pillows. He asked me to join him in sprawling there. Much like what you and I are doing now. He removed the bindings on my hands, but I was still very wary.”
“Why? He sounds like an agreeable fellow.”
“He stole me!” she protested with amusement in her voice.
“Can’t blame him for running off with you. It isn’t every day a man finds such treasure in a barren landscape.” He could draw parallels as well.
“So a man should just take what he wants?”
“If no one is hurt by it, why not?”
Jessica laughed, and he loved the sound. “You, sir, are incorrigible.”
“As often as possible,” he agreed.
“The sheik was, too, I’m afraid. I found him quite charming, but obstinate. Despite the number of times I warned him that I occupied a more rigid world than he knew and it would eventually intrude, he remained unconcerned.”
“I like him already.”
“Yes, you would.” Jessica took a moment to eat.
“So what did you do?”
“You are a horrible person to tell stories to,” she complained. “You won’t allow me to reveal the details in my own time. Fortunately for me, the sheik was better behaved than you in that regard.”
“What details were you telling him?”
“You persist after I point out the error of your ways?”
Alistair looked at her and found her studying him. Not his face, but the rest of him, which he quite enjoyed. “Persistence is a virtue.”
“I believe it’s ‘patience.’ Regardless, I wasn’t telling him details. I told him stories.”
“To distract him from his amorous interests? Like Scheherazade?”
“In a fashion.” She looked down at her fingers, which were presently picking at her bread. “What else would we discuss? Drawing room etiquette or the stratagems of chess? Such things would swiftly bore a man of adventure.”
“I’m certain anything you said would have been of interest to him,” he rejoined. “Whether or not you said anything at all, he still would have had a splendid time just looking at you.”
Her mouth curved. “Flattery comes easily to you.”
“Feel free to practice your flattery skills on me at any time. Although I can’t vouch for my ability to remain decorous if you do.”
“What sorts of things do you prefer to be admired for?”
“Anything, so long as the admiration is sincere.” He took another bite of the pear and knew there was no place else he’d rather be, which brought him an unusual sort of calm. For as long as he could remember, Alistair had felt pulled in many directions simultaneously. Ever on the lookout for possibilities and new avenues of income. Failure to be successful had never been an option.
Jessica’s lips pursed in thought. “I would like to be admired for something I’m actually responsible for. It has yet to happen, but I hope to change that.”
“Explain.”
“How can I take credit for my appearance? My parents are responsible for that. How can I take credit for my deportment, when I could not carry myself differently if I wanted to?”
“Couldn’t you?”
“I had no choice as a child, and now it is so ingrained I cannot imagine acting otherwise.”
“No choice,” he repeated. “We always have a choice—to do what others want us to do or to do what we want to do.”
Her gray eyes were somber when she looked at him. “That depends on the consequences.”