Page 10 of Lord of Temptation
She stumbled back until she hit the wardrobe. “Please go.”
She hated the pleading rasp of her voice. But he was right. Walter should have been more dear than her virginity. He’d wanted it, the night before he left, and she’d been too damned proper to give it to him. Now she would never know his touch—and worse, he died never knowing hers.
The captain just stood there, studying her as though he could decipher every thought that rampaged through her mind. She hated him at that moment, hated him desperately.
She straightened her shoulders. “I’m calling the servants now.”
Tossing the glove onto the vanity, spinning on her heel, she headed for the door.
“A kiss.”
She spun back around to face him. “Pardon?”
“A kiss. That’s what I want you to barter for passage on my ship.”
“A kiss? That’s all?Akiss?” Surely she’d misunderstood.
Slowly he prowled over the thick carpet, silent as a wraith, until he was standing before her, his gaze smoldering as it dipped to her lips briefly. Then he was looking into her eyes, holding her captive as easily as if he’d bounded her with silk.
“A long, slow, leisurely kiss,” he whispered in a velvety smooth voice that sent a shiver of something that resembled pleasure scurrying along her spine. She suddenly felt so remarkably alive, so engaged. “On my ship, the moment of my choosing. If you draw back, then I get another until I am the one who ends it.”
“A ... kiss,” she repeated. “That can’t be all you want.”
“No, it’s not all I want, but it’s what I’ll be content to take. Anything more, you must be willing to give.”
She shook her head. “You speak flattering words, designed to lure me, but I know you expect me in your bed.”
He touched his finger to her lips. “No. I expect nothing more than a kiss.”
“So why not take it now? Be done with the bargain?”
“Because I want to torment you as you do me.”
She couldn’t miss the hint of glee that jumped through her at his admission. “I torment you?”
“From the moment you walked through the door of the tavern on that stormy night. I don’t know why. I only know that you do.”
“Because you can’t have me.”
“Perhaps.”
She shook her head. “How do I know that once aboard your ship, you won’t force me?”
“Bring your lady’s maid, bring a dozen. In spite of my behavior, I assure you that when it comes to the ladies, I’m a man of honor. I could have stopped you from slapping me. I didn’t, because I deserved it. The words were uncalled for.” He shifted and suddenly a shining dagger was in her field of vision. “Carry this with you. If you decide it should be plunged into my heart, I won’t stop you.”
“That’s easy enough for you to say now.”
“A kiss, Princess, that’s all I require to take you to your fiancé in Scutari.”
She was probably a fool to trust him, and yet—
“When would we leave?” she asked.
“When would you like to?”
“Tomorrow. Midnight.”
“It shall be done.”
