The Captain of All Pleasures (Sutherland Brothers 1)

"Damn it, Sutherland," he snarled, "the only way that marryin' Nicole would be impossible would be if--" He broke off, then sucked in his breath as sudden understanding washed over him. His shoulders sagged. He was stricken as much by his own conclusion as by the utterly dead look in Sutherland's eyes.

With a surge of rage, Chancey heaved him out of his chair and held him by the collar. But Sutherland did nothing. The bastard wouldn't fight him.

Finally Sutherland spoke. "I want to take care of her. I can give her a house and wealth and everything else she might ever want."

Chancey hit him so hard his fist vibrated from the force of it. Sutherland didn't defend himself.

"Blighter! So ye'll make her yer mistress," Chancey spat. "Spend two nights with the missus and the children, then a few with Nicole and any bastards she might get by ye?"

"No. It would only be Nicole. I've never touched my wife."

That surprised Chancey, but it didn't matter. "Ye have no idea how much ye've cost her. Seems she hasn't seen fit to tell ye what she is. But I'll tell ye that ye're gonna have hurt more than her feelin's when all this mess is over."

"What do you mean?" Sutherland asked slowly as Chancey released him in disgust.

"I mean she had prospects, great ones. I know cause I seen 'em. Better than you can imagine." Suddenly, Chancey felt very old and very sad. He sat heavily with a great exhalation of air, then took another burning drink. "Ye need to leave her alone. Just pack up and sail."

Sutherland cautiously sat when Chancey did, but his whole body tensed at the suggestion. "Just leave her? With no explanation?"

"She could forgive herself for lovin' ye without marriage, but unlike ye, it would kill her to know she'd committed adultery."

Sutherland winced, but asked, "What do you think it will do to her when I just disappear?"

"It'll hurt her to be sure. But she'll get over ye." Chancey pinned him with his eyes. "Ye have to do this."

"I can't--not to her," he said firmly.

"Ye mean ye can't do this for her because all ye care about is yerself. What do ye have to offer her?" Chancey abruptly stood again. "Ye're nothin' but a shell of a man anyway--and a drunk to boot. And that's somethin' for an Irisher to accuse." He marched back and forth. "If ye break clean with her, in time she'll forget about ye. She's young enough to find another."

Chancey finally made out an unconcealable emotion on Sutherland's face, and wished he hadn't. It was as if raw pain surfaced to smother and kill any hope that had been there. It also signaled to Chancey that Sutherland accepted he was right, so he said nothing more.

His face cold again, Sutherland spoke, "I want one more night with her."

Chancey shook his head sharply. "Not a chance."

"It's the only way I'll agree to this. And you have to take money to settle on her, to make sure she has everything she needs for the rest of her life."

"Ferget it." He needed to get this drunken bastard, a married one at that, out of her life as soon as possible.

The captain stood and turned to walk away. Before he got to the door, Chancey grabbed his arm. "One night. Ye do anythin' to hurt my Nic, and I'll gladly kill ye."

Nicole could easily pass for a princess, Derek thought as he watched her sipping wine across the table from him. In fact, several people around them stared at her as if they thought she was. Their reaction wasn't simply caused by her beauty. Even among those dining in this exclusive establishment, she stood out as a royal would.

She'd dressed to perfection in one of the gowns he'd given her. The emerald patterned silk brought out her fiery coloring and made her dark eyes take on a green shade. Her ensemble had an oriental feel to it, and in her shining hair she wore the intricately carved jade combs he'd given her to match.

Seeing her at this meal, he concluded she unquestionably would have other prospects. She could make a king fall in love with her.

He'd always been amazed at her perfect manners off the ship. When not shark fishing or kicking villains to their knees, Nicole Lassiter behaved like a spirited member of the nobility. Well, a very spirited member. It was as if the minute she donned a dress, she transformed into a lady. Tonight was no exception. She handled the dinner courses and all their attendant silver better than he did. Where had she learned and perfected those skills?

She was a paradox. In his bed, she was fearless--unhesitant to partake in whatever he suggested to bring them pleasure. And after she'd apparently accepted they would be together, he'd seen a side of her he'd never imagined. When not making love--and sometimes even then--she became playful. She'd tickle him, dance away from him elusively, laughing with as much abandon as she made love.

Now, as he surveyed her across the table, another person seemed to inhabit her body. He believed she could make even his mother feel a tad inadequate at a social affair. He recognized that Chancey was right.

Unfortunately, Derek recognized this after he sensed she had let down her guard and accepted him. He believed she'd stay with him despite the less-than-perfect circumstances surrounding them. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on Derek. Just when he could finally call her his, when he had claimed more than her body, he had to let her go.

He was brooding when they exited the carriage, but as he followed her up the gangway, he couldn't prevent a slight quirk of his lips. One thing about her was completely out of the ordinary, even when she put on her polite facade. He didn't think she even realized it.

Nicole had the purposeful, exacting walk of someone always at sea, as if unconsciously she expected the ground to tilt at any moment. He smiled to see this seasoned sailor's trait in a woman. But the smile disappeared when he was reminded that her female body translated that walk into an undulating gait, a hip-swinging sweep that was incredibly erotic.

Later when they fell into bed together, he could feel her damp and ready for him. Instead of sliding into her, he worshipped her body, kissing her closed eyes, the tip of her nose, the small shell curve of her ear. Each part of her had become precious to him.

With the barest flick of his tongue, he kissed her belly and her inner thighs. Soft and lush beneath his lips, her body shook as he savored her, wringing every ounce of pleasure. When he took her, it was with an agonizing slowness, until at last he could no longer resist the feel of her core hotly hugging his flesh in her climax. Never quickening his body over hers, continuing the tormenting pace of pushing and pulling, he allowed himself to pour into her.

As they lay sated, he could feel her tears on his chest. Before she fell asleep in his arms, she sighed, "I love you."

Her words lanced his heart. He thought of all the month

s he'd wanted her and wanted her to stay with him. Then, just as she gave in, decided to risk all for him, to trust him, he would leave her. He bent down to press a kiss in her hair, knowing it was the last time he'd breathe in her scent.

He recalled his last words to the Irisher this morning. Derek had turned back and asked the big man, "Why are you so bloody loyal to the Lassiters?"

The Irisher didn't hesitate. "Because the father saved my life, and the daughter saved my soul."

Derek had nodded and turned to go with a heavy heart, knowing that without Nicole, his own soul was lost.

Chapter 24

I 'm going on," Jason Lassiter declared on his fourth night in Cape Town.

"We're going on," Maria stubbornly corrected as she pushed her spectacles farther up her nose.

"Woman! I brought you this far against my better judgment." He shook his head. "Never should have stopped in Recife. But, damn it, you won't leave Cape Town with me." Grabbing her elbow in frustration, he steered her around a pack of drunken sailors swerving down the docks. He and Maria had come down to check for word of any ships inbound from Sydney, but had gathered nothing.

Maria reminded him, "It's a simple business matter." Business was simple. And unemotional. Was that why she worked so hard? Because her emotions careened around this man so badly she needed a constant to ground her? "I paid for passage to Australia--you have no say."

Letting her go, he scowled, until she reached out to lay her hand on his arm. He calmed a bit. "Jason, Chancey will have gotten her by now. And we have her messages. She wrote that she is very well and told the crew to meet her here if they couldn't find a way back. And what about the money she sent them? You know the only person she could have gotten that much money from is Sutherland."

"It's just that I can't stand this feeling--he's got my little girl, Maria."

She thought her heart would break at his admission, but it didn't change her decision on the matter. "She's not a little girl anymore, and I don't care what your crew says, he won't mistreat her. I watched them in Recife, and I tell you he's in love with her."