The Pleasure of His Bed. Donna Grant

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СКАЧАТЬ of wealth, as well. I assure you my partner and I are committed to a safe and timely delivery.”

      There was a pause. A clinking of snifters.

      “I see this voyage as…an investment in America and in my shipping interests there.” Lord Havisham’s voice and sense of importance were riding a wave of happy intoxication, yet he splashed more brandy into their glasses. “I trust you will take every opportunity to make this a lucrative venture…for both of us. Pirates notwithstanding.”

      Pirates? Sofia’s eyes widened, and she shifted slightly…caught the men’s reflection in the gilt-framed mirror beside the fireplace. Zachary Havisham, even in his high, white wig, came only to the shoulder of his companion, the captain. And what a fine, square shoulder it was, too.

      “Dellakwahhhhhh,” she murmured, tasting his name, just as he was savoring the costly brandy her employer had poured. Saints above, he was a sight! All dark, masculine curls and a cleft chin and blue, blue eyes.

      He caught sight of her in the mirror with those stunning eyes and held her gaze as he replied to Lord Havisham.

      “Yes, sir, of late the entire coastline of America has become Blackbeard’s playground,” he said calmly. “But my partner, Morgan O’Roark, and I are experienced in the ways of such brigands, and we know alternate routes to elude them. Should we encounter pirates, my lord, I guarantee you we shall have our way with them!”

      “Yes, yes! Hear! Hear!” Havisham crowed, and then he clinked his snifter to Delacroix’s again. “By Jove, were I a younger man, I’d be sailing with you! Nothing quite like the salt air—”

      “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 СКАЧАТЬ