“The freedom of the seas.”
“—and the rolling of the waves—”
“The validation of one’s…manhood,” the captain crooned. And damned if he didn’t wink at Sofia!
“—to set the blood a-boil,” her employer expounded. With a single gulp he emptied his snifter and then flung it against the hearth. “Here’s to you, Damon Delacroix! And to your successes in America! Long may you sail!”
Delacroix raised his brandy in silent salute to the mirror—to her!—and then he, too, drained his snifter and shattered it against the bricks. “Here’s to your daughters—to their fine breeding and the continuing of your lineage, sir.”
Oh, but he was asking for it, wasn’t he? Smiling coyly, Sofia ducked down the hall before she did something foolish to call attention to herself. Lord, but she was quivering and flighty and…wet. She could show Daphne and Beatrix a thing or two about how things really happened when a man and a woman felt the heat rising between them!
But it was time to help her mother dish up dinner in the kitchen. Sofia dearly wanted to dish up something hotter and spicier after the meal, too, before the dashing Captain Delacroix left the estate tonight. She’d be shirking her duties indeed if she let this fine man go away hungry!
2
“Psst! Captain Delacroix! Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Damon turned at the hedgerow that grew along the estate’s front lawn. Was it his imagination, or had someone whispered to get his attention? The tall bushes cast a large shadow by the light of the flickering street lamp, and he peered into the darkness. “Begging your pardon?” he asked in the same secretive tone.
“You didn’t finish your dessert, sir. I’ve come to deliver it.”
He wasn’t surprised when Lord Havisham’s serving girl stepped out of the shadows. When she removed her white cap, long, black hair fell in glistening waves below her shoulders. Even in her modest gray uniform, she was a saucy piece…ripe and lush and every bit as wicked as he’d guessed from her reflection in the mirror. Her skin glowed like a gypsy’s, while her smile promised delights far beyond any confection the cook could’ve served up.
“On the contrary,” he teased, “I’ve just enjoyed the most delicious meal I’ve eaten in weeks. Better than any I’ll likely have until I reach New York with the Havisham girls. I’m quite…full.”
“I can see that, sir!” She cocked her head and planted a fist on her ample hip. “Daphne and Trix would drive your sailors stark raving mad before you’ve left the harbor!” she insisted. “And because our subject was dessert…something sweet and tart and satisfying…we ought not mention the Havisham girls in the same breath.”
Caught up in her flirtatious game, Damon stepped toward her and then playfully looked all around. Her expressive eyebrows arched above bright, intelligent eyes that sparkled in the lamplight…signs of a woman who knew her power and went after what she wanted. And this minx was being anything but subtle about it! “Where’s your dish, then? If you brought my dessert, why don’t I see a bowl or a spoon or—”
“What I’m dishing up comes in its own bowl, Captain Delacroix.” She straightened her spine, thrusting her breasts at him. Her gaze flickered to his bulging buttons, and then she focused coyly on his face. “You look ravenous, sir. Take what you’re wanting—but please kiss me first! Best to sample and sip before…plunging in.”
“Whatever are you talking about?” he murmured, inching closer. “I’m a man of honor, pledged to deliver the goods your employer has entrusted to—”
“Would you like me to deliver my goods, captain? Or shall we circle each other like dogs in heat until someone comes from the house looking for me? They will, you know.”
Saucy little wench! He wove his fingers into her warm, black hair. “What’s your name, then? I couldn’t possibly kiss a woman to whom I’ve not been introduced.”
She was on him in the blink of an eye. Her lips parted as she raised on her toes. “Sofia,” she sighed.
And for the first time in many a moon, Damon Delacroix fell passionately in lust with someone he was fated to take and then leave behind. A woman well worth playing with, if only he had the time to savor her feminine assets.
Her lips sought his, and he moaned into the kiss—wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her soft, ample body against his own. Lord, but she was luscious! Not one bit afraid of what he’d do to her, nor one bit shy about dishing herself up, as she’d put it.
Sofia, her name was, and she tasted as exotic as it sounded. Dusky skin and raven hair and secretive perfume lured him until his lips opened hers and his tongue ventured into her mouth.
When she sucked him deeper, Damon gasped—but Sofia took advantage of that, too! He opened his eyes to find her gazing directly at him as though willing him to behave as she would direct. Willing him to drop his drawers and release himself fast and hard without sentimentality.
She knew the value of a good fucking without expecting love in return! He admired that in a woman! His hands slid lower to cup her hips and hold her firmly against his hardness as the kiss continued. His member felt ready to pop every button that stood between it and a slit that would be warm and wet and welcoming. He swore he caught a whiff of it…rubbed himself against her as she began to undulate, too.
“Too many clothes,” she rasped. “And if we sprawl on the lawn—”
Ah, but that brought wanton images to mind! Her body bared in the lamplight, and her clothing strewn in disarray as she spread her legs…
“—I’ll have grass stains announcing what we’ve been doing—”
“Can’t allow that.” He silenced her with another kiss that made them rock against each other, crazed with need. “So perhaps, gentleman that I am, I should stop now, before either of us regrets—”
“You’ll do no such thing, captain!” She fired a brazen, black-eyed gaze at him. “Any gentleman would see to his lady’s preference first before—”
“And what would that preference be?”
She cupped his cock between her hot hands. “I think I deserve a licking because I delivered your dessert without being asked.”
Desire surged through him. “Won’t the sound of my hand smacking your ass bring someone running from the house to—”
“On your knees, knave! For that remark, you’ll pay dearly!”
Damon bit back a laugh as Sofia led him deeper into the shadow of the hedgerow. Again he played along, kneeling obediently as she shoved his shoulders down.
When she raised her skirts and lifted one shapely leg to his shoulder, he was mere inches from a thicket of dark curls…the secretive scent of lips that demanded attention he was happy to give. Few women knew what a delectable treat this could be—for both of them!—because they were too repressed or too shy to let a man sample them. This wanton puss wasn’t wearing a thing in the way of drawers, either.
He smiled devilishly at her. “You want me to lick you?” he teased. “I thought you felt penitent—the need to be punished—for your naughty behavior in the hallway. Such eavesdropping could get you fired from—”
Sofia chortled. “I’m escorting the girls to America because the missus suspects naughty behavior below stairs. Lord Havisham’s going to miss me much more than she will!”
The thought of that barrel-bellied coot in the powdered wig nibbling this morsel made Damon harder still. And if she would be aboard the Lady Constance…he’d spend most of the voyage to America