Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
AMANDA AWOKE IN de Warenne’s bed. She did not move, surprised, the silk sheets stunningly sensual against her bare skin. What was she doing in his bed, she wondered, yawning. And then she recalled a golden lover kissing her, touching her and using his tongue upon her.
She sat up, her heart racing wildly. And she recalled the storm.
Amanda glanced at the open portholes to get her bearings.
The skies were brilliantly blue with just a few puffy white clouds and she realized it was late afternoon.
She glanced down and saw that she was not in her lace nightgown, but in a man’s fine linen shirt.
She swallowed, knowing it belonged to de Warenne.
She tried to recall the entire evening. Just before dawn, soaking wet and exhausted, they had gone into his cabin.
She vaguely recalled lying in his bed and conversing with him as he stood not far from its foot.
She could not really grasp what had happened next, because all the images in her head were a blur of heated kisses, silken caresses and an explosion of ecstasy.
But those images all contained de Warenne.
Had he made love to her last night? Or had she been dreaming?
She was in his bed, she was clad in his shirt, she was naked otherwise—which led her to one conclusion. Excitement began.
However, she was not bruised or sore. She felt certain she would be aching if they had made love.
She slipped from the bed. Someone had laid out that awful caftan for her, her boots beside it. There was no sign of her clothes, but they were probably still damp and hanging out to dry. She went straight to the washstand and using a soft cloth, cleansed herself. There was no blood.
Disappointment began. She sat down, realizing that if she hadn’t bled he hadn’t made love to her and she was still a virgin.
She must have been dreaming, only this time the dream had been so very different from any other one, for she had never dreamed of such carnally explicit behavior before.
The parts of the dream that she remembered were terribly vivid, enough so to make her breathless.
She shook her head to clear it. She might be in love, but de Warenne was not for her. He had spent the past month proving that. He had also shown her genuine honor, when she had never met anyone capable of any kind of nobility before.
Well, it was late and it had only been a dream. She finished washing, combed her hair, braided it and donned the hateful caftan over his shirt. She wondered if she might, somehow, assume possession of the latter.
The moment she stepped from the cabin, she saw him. He and Alexi were on the quarterdeck, focused on the compass there. She assumed he was giving his son a lesson in navigation.
She stared, admiring the way the sun glinted on his sun-streaked hair, admiring the vast breadth of his shoulders, the strong lines of his thighs.
She began to recall the night they had shared, battling the storm together, and her yearning increased.
He was a great and powerful commander, and while she had already known that, she had witnessed it firsthand. She wanted him so much it almost hurt.
“Mademoiselle Carre!” Michelle cried, pleased to see her.
Amanda turned, dismayed. She felt certain that she knew what was coming, but she wanted to joined de Warenne and his son. “Bonjour,” she said reluctantly.
“Good day,” he replied with a bow. He waited.
Amanda sighed. After last night, she had no wish to ever attempt a lady’s genteel manners again; she wanted to go up on the quarterdeck and join de Warenne and his son.
She pinched herself. She was on her way to London and the clock was ticking.
Her behavior was hardly that of a lady and she had very little time left to improve it.
“Mademoiselle? Your curtsy? Monsieur le Capitaine has been most explicit. I am to expedite your lessons and you are to succeed. The storm blew us days ahead of schedule, for we stayed on course. A miracle, I think.” He smiled. “Mademoiselle?”
She curtsied and said, “Monsieur, I must speak with de Warenne.”
He nodded. “If you insist, Miss Carre. But please hurry.”
“Thank you,” she said. And because she was so happy, she curtsied again. Then she rushed away from him, lifting the skirt of her caftan to do so.
“Walk, do not run!” Michelle exclaimed. “Ladies do not run!”
“This one does!” Amanda laughed over her shoulder. Before she had even reached the steps leading up to the quarterdeck, de Warenne turned. He smiled briefly at her, an odd smile, for it did not seem to reach his blue eyes. He nodded at her. “Hello, Amanda.”
She became confused. His greeting seemed wary and cautious, almost distant, and she did not understand. “Permission?”
He glanced past her shoulder. “Denied.”
She gaped. He would not allow her to join him? But last night in the storm, they had shared more than most people ever shared in a lifetime. Something had changed between them last night; she was certain they had become true shipmates. “I cannot come up?”
“You have lessons to complete today, Amanda, and as it is almost sunset, you will hardly be finished by midnight if you do not begin now.” He sent her another strained smile. Then he turned his brilliant blue eyes on her, and his gaze was searching.
“Can they not wait until tomorrow?” she tried, her heart hammering with confusion and hurt.
“Why?” he asked mildly. “You do not seem ill. You appear to have weathered the storm very well. How are you feeling?” he added.
His question had an innuendo she could not decipher. “I feel fine.” She smiled at him, wanting him to smile warmly at her, the way he so often did.
He kept staring. “Did you sleep well?”
How odd his questions were! “I slept very well,” she said.
She thought about waking up in his shirt.
“Thank you for lending me some dry clothing.” She hesitated.
“I can’t remember putting it on or falling asleep, or anything really, other than the storm and the rain.
” And her vivid dream, she thought, but she would never mention it, especially not to him.
He continued to stare; and then shrugged.
She bit her lip. “Are you angry that I overslept?”
“No.” He didn’t smile. “However, we stayed on course and I reckon we are two or three days ahead of schedule. Unless, of course, we become becalmed. In any case, I am giving Alexi some instruction now.”
She was being dismissed. Dismayed, Amanda felt as if a cool and distant stranger had taken over his hard body and his beautiful face. “You are angry with me,” she whispered. “But I do not know why.”
“Why would I be angry with you?” His eyes flashed with impatience now, and he had never been impatient with her before.
“We have an agreement, you and I, or have you forgotten? You are to dedicate yourself to self-improvement while I dedicate myself to securing your reunion with your mother. And we are running out of time.”
She felt crushed. She tried to tell herself that he had not become a cold, uncaring stranger, that their friendship remained.
Maybe he was still tired after the long night.
She slowly nodded, never taking her gaze away from his face.
“All right. I understand. And you are right. If I am to make a good impression on Mama and your family and anyone else, I have much to do and only ten days left.” Fear tightened her stomach.
How could she become a lady in ten mere days?
He hesitated and softened. “I have faith in you, Amanda.”
She closed her eyes in relief, for here was the man she loved and so desperately needed. Then she met his gaze. “When I have completed all of my lessons, can I join you on the middle watch?” She could not help being eager.
His face tightened. In disbelief, she realized he was going to refuse her. “Ladies don’t share the middle watch.”
She was becoming incredulous. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because I have begun to think that I have encouraged your more wayward manners. It is best if you throw yourself entirely into ladylike behavior.”
“But I have!” she gasped. “De Warenne, please! I live for moments like those last night. I love sailing beneath the stars, and you know it. Tonight we will have clear skies and moderate winds. It will be a fine night for a cruise.”
He held up his hand to silence her. “How will you study all day and share the watch with me through half the night?”
“I can do it,” she cried frantically. “And if you deny me the middle watch, then damn it, I don’t want to be a lady!”
His face was rigid. “You will only sabotage yourself if you think to withdraw from your lessons now.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “If you let me join you, I will apply myself doubly, de Warenne, I swear. If you think my schoolroom efforts lacking because of the watch, I will quietly give it up. But until then, don’t punish me when I have been trying so hard to do as you have asked.
” She swiped at sudden tears. “We are mates! I know you know it, too.”
He was pale and he inhaled. “I am not trying to punish you. Very well. As long as you keep up every effort, as long as you do not become too tired to excel at your lessons, you may join me.”
Amanda clutched the railing for support, overcome with relief. “I am going to be the best student you have ever seen!”
His expression finally gentled. “Then I suggest you delay no more.”
She smiled, almost kissed him, thought the better of it and leaped to the deck, shouting for Michelle.
AMANDA HURRIED to the quarterdeck where de Warenne stood alone at the helm, a towering man bathed in starlight.
She had never applied herself with more energy and she was exhausted, but she refused to go to bed.
She wanted to spend another night sailing the great ship, at one with him and the sea.
All day, anticipation of the watch she would share had filled her.
Oddly nervous, she paused below the quarterdeck. “De Warenne?”