Chapter Forty-eight
Dawn was slowly creeping through the porthole when Derek finally rose from the bunk. He had spent the night, but not to sleep. Chantelle stretched luxuriously as she watched him dress and splash cold water on his face. He was tired, while she felt smug that she wasn’t. Not yet anyway.
“Are you certain you wouldn’t like to stay just a little longer?”
Derek glanced over his shoulder to find her leaning back on both elbows, her uncovered breasts thrust provocatively forward. He groaned and looked away.
“A man has his limits, Shahar,” he said in an aggrieved tone.
“Are you begging for mercy, my lord?”
“Yes,” but he quickly amended, “Until tonight.” He came back to sit on the edge of the bunk. Those sweetly thrusting breasts were almost his undoing. “Then you can be as merciless as you like. I will insist upon it.”
She laughed throatily. “It’s your own fault for ignoring me for so long.”
“Me?” He mustered up some indignation in his tone. “You had me practically on my knees.”
She turned on her side so her pelvis pressed against his hip. She trailed one finger slowly up his arm.
“You would never grovel, my lord. You’re too used to getting your way and relying on your seductive powers.”
“None of which did me much good recently.”
“Oh, I don’t know. It wasn’t easy trying to ignore you, especially when I adore this fine strapping body of yours.”
“Minx,” he said as her hands slipped inside his open shirt.
“Give me a kiss and I’ll let you go without further protest.”
He did, but when her tongue thrust inside his mouth and one hand started a slow descent down his chest, Derek turned the aggressor. “I wouldn’t have believed it was possible, but I’m not going anywhere.”
“What a shame. You kept me up all night, you know, and I’m suddenly feeling quite—” At his growl, she giggled. “Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I can stay awake for another hour or so.”
It was nearly an hour later when Chantelle again watched Derek dress, but this time she yawned, sleepily content to make no protest. Tenderly, he bent over to give her a last kiss.
“I’ll see you this evening, little moon.”
“You’ll see me sooner than that,” she replied dreamily. “Or don’t you think it’s time I had a little fresh air and exercise up on the deck?” When he didn’t answer, she opened her eyes to find him frowning. “Well, don’t you?”
“Actually,” he replied hesitantly, “I would rather you continue as you have.”
She was fully awake now. “Locked in? You must be joking.” But at his deeper frown, she exclaimed, “You’re not joking! Why?”
“It would be better all around—”
“For who? Not for me, so it must be for you.” And now she was frowning. “Is there something you haven’t told me?”
“Why do you say that?” he hedged.
“Because you obviously don’t want me talking to anyone else on the ship. And as I recall, you mentioned something last night about thinking I would be angry. What exactly was I supposed to get angry about?”
“Very well,” he said tightly. “The captain and half the crew know that I have a fiancée awaiting my return to England. She was with my grandfather when he made the arrangements for this ship to pick me up in Barikah.”
“I see,” she replied with admirable calm. “A fiancée. Now tell me you intend to break the engagement.”
“Break it? You just don’t break an engagement to the daughter of a duke.”
“You could,” she said angrily.
“No, I couldn’t,” he snapped back.
“Why? No, don’t answer that. You love her, don’t you?”
“Of course I love her! I’ve known her most of my life!”
“What has that to do with it?”
“What has—” he started to shout, but thought better of it, lowering his tone to a persuasive level. “The point is, this has nothing to do with us, Shahar.”
“Don’t call me that! Your brother gave me that name and I always hated it. And there is no ‘us,’ my lord, nor will there be if you marry your Duke’s daughter.”
“You expected me to marry you?”
“After you said you were taking me home with you, yes, I suppose the thought did cross my mind!”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Then I’m sorry, but that wasn’t the arrangement I had in mind.”
Chantelle’s eyes flared wide as it dawned on her what he did have in mind. “You wanted me to be your mistress?”
“You needn’t say it like that. A mistress is perfectly respectable these days.”
“That’s the best I can hope for, is that it?
You ruin me for a decent marriage, then hope to benefit—” It hit her suddenly what she was saying, and her eyes flared even wider.
“My God, you were in a position to…you could have obtained my freedom without…you bloody bastard! You didn’t have to make love to me.
You could have left me untouched as you did Jamila. ”
“That wouldn’t have gotten you your freedom, Shahar.”
“Don’t—call—me—that! And don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying. Jamil owned you. You got your freedom as a reward for helping him. Otherwise, he was within his rights to keep you.”
“He never wanted me. He bought me for you. He would have let me go if you had asked him. All you had to do was ask him. He was your brother, for God’s sake. Don’t you dare tell me he would have denied you anything after you had traveled all that way and risked your life for his sake!”
“Perhaps not, but I couldn’t take the chance.
I couldn’t see you buried in that harem forever, just one of so many women, especially when his love was already taken.
I thought at first to insist you be married to a man with no other wives.
I felt you deserved to at least be a first kadine.
But that couldn’t be arranged unless I bedded you first.”
“If you’re trying to tell me you did it for my sake, I’ll—I’ll—”
“All right!” he angrily interrupted her sputtering.
“That was just an excuse to salve my conscience. The plain truth is I couldn’t leave you alone.
I wanted you too much and I still do. And, by God, you are going home with me, woman.
I’m keeping you, one way or another. If I have to turn this ship around and live out the rest of my days in Barikah so I can keep you locked in a harem, I’ll do it. ”
“I won’t be your mistress!” she screamed at him as he stalked out the door. She got no reply other than the key turning in the lock. “I won’t,” she added softly for her own benefit. And then she started to cry.