“No rough water, so far,” he told her, and you were sleeping so soundly, I wondered if you were going to wake at all?”
Leatrisha wrapped herself in her wrapper, and sat in the chair opposite Rand.
“I didn’t realize how tired I was. All this happening so quickly. Aunt Meredith was quite pleased to get me out of her hair, you know. I think my father was relieved that someone else would have to tame me, instead of him.”
“Do you need taming?” he chuckled.
“Perhaps,” she smiled back at him.
“When we are through eating, we should go out on deck. The stars are out. You might enjoy looking at them. They look so much more vast out in the middle of the ocean, you know.”
“Yes, that sounds enjoyable,” she agreed.
They ate in silence, and when they were finished, Rand helped Leatrisha with her clothes again. He enjoyed dressing the imp, he thought. She was so uninhibited and trusting, like a small child, while still having a mischievous side to her.
Leatrisha, closed her eyes, as she felt Rand’s hands smoothing over her corset in order to pull it tight, and have it fit snuggly under her breasts. Then he was putting the petty coat over her head, and next her dress, fastening each button with care.
“There my little indentured servant, just slip into your shoes and grab your shawl and we shall go topside,” he told her.
Rand put his arm around her waist, as he helped her up on deck, and they walked to the bow of the ship together. There were other passengers walking the decks as well, and Leatrisha held tight onto Rand, as he hugged her against him with his arm around her waist.
“Are you cold?” he asked. “There is a cool breeze blowing tonight.”
“A little,” she admitted.
“Here,” he murmured, pulling her in front of him and placing both arms around her, as they stood against the railing.
“It is fantastic,” Leatrisha, marveled as she looked at stars in every direction that she could see, “like the hand of God had scattered diamonds across the sky,” she breathed.
“I thought you would like it,” he whispered in her ear, and she felt his lips brush against her temple. “You are shivering though,” he noticed, and held her even tighter. “Do you want to go back down?” he asked.
“No. I don’t mind the cold that much, and the view is so enchanting, I can’t get enough of it.”
“Then we will stay here like this, as long as you wish,” he chuckled.
Leatrisha, leaned her head back against Rand’s strong chest, relaxing in his embrace. She felt contented, and excited at the same time. All she had to do was pretend like she was actually going to marry Rand, and her life would be her own, other wise. How easy could it be? This was better than she had expected.
“Good evening, Captain,” she heard Rand saying, and turned to look at the captain who was approaching them. “Have you met my intended?” he asked. “This is Leatrisha, Crawford,” he told him.
“Congratulations,” the captain said, looking fondly at the two. “I hope you enjoy your voyage together, and your future life turns out to be a happy one.”
“Thank you, Leatrisha murmured, turning her head up towards Rand. “We are so happy already.”
Rand leaned down and lightly kissed Leatrisha’s upturned lips.
“Immensely happy,” he added, when their lips parted.
The captain, continued to stroll past them, greeting other guests, as he went.
“Lettie!” Leatrisha, heard a voice call. “What are you doing here?” She straightened and turned to look at James as he came towards them.
“James! I could say the same for you!” Leatrisha exclaimed.
“Who is he?” James asked, glaring up at Rand.
“The man I intend to marry,” Leatrisha, informed him.
The hurt look on James’ face, pained her.
“It hasn’t taken you long to find a husband,” he said in sulky tones.
“You know that is why my father sent me to London,” she said hotly. “Where did you get the money for this ship, and why are you going to America?”
James gave a bitter laugh. “To get over you! And now I am stuck watching some other man holding you! I had been saving money for when I asked you to marry me, so I decided to use it and go to America to start a new life.”
“That is a good idea, James. America is a land of opportunity, according to Rand. Oh, Rand, this is a friend of mine, James. I grew up with him. James, this is my future husband, Rand Huntington.”
“I can’t believe you would turn me down and then marry a total stranger,” James stated bitterly.
“There are a lot of things you probably can’t believe, like the fact that I love him. That is the only reason I am marrying him. Not because my father demanded I marry him,” she replied angrily.
She did not want James to believe that she would bow to her father’s demands and just marry anyone he directed her to marry.
“You can sometimes be cruel, Lettie,” he mumbled.
“I never wanted to hurt you, James,” she replied.
“Does he know about us?” James asked.
“Yes,” Rand responded, before Leatrisha had a chance. “Lettie and I have no secrets. I understand the two of you satisfied some curiosities. It is over now, so don’t be getting any ideas. Like, Lettie said. We love each other, and nothing or no one is going to come between us. Isn’t that so Lettie?” he murmured, and lowered his head to kiss her again.
“Yes,” she replied, turning her body against him and putting her arms around his neck, reaching up and kissing him back.
“Then I will leave you,” James, whispered and turned away.
“So that is the naked boy you experimented with?” Rand chuckled.
“Don’t you dare say a word to me about that,” she hissed, “Can’t you see how stricken he was?”
She suddenly pulled out of his arms, heading back to their cabin, as she appeared to find her sea legs. Rand entered the cabin behind her, noting the downcast expression on her face.
“Don’t tell me you actually love the lad,” he said, as he came to stand over her, where she was sitting on the bed.
Leatrisha flashed her eyes up at him.
“Certainly not! But I am fond of him. He was always there when I needed him. He was like my brother. He taught me how to ride a horse.”
“Apparently that is not all he tried to teach you, Lettie. Had you let him do more than just touch you, your virtue would have been at stake. It has already been compromised, and by right you should be getting married. If not to him, to someone else. Since you have been exposed to the touch of a man, and touched him, as you claim you have, you may desire to expand your knowledge of the human body, which could get you in deeper than you may realize.
“I am going to hold you to our pretend engagement as though it is binding, until I give you further instruction. Therefore you are not only expected to remain virtuous for your own benefit, and to persuade others you are dedicated to me, but you will remain virtuous because I demand it of you, or you will answer to me.”
“Are you threatening me?” she asked between clinched teeth.
“It is a request, Lettie. I expect you to honor it,” he said almost kindly.
“And yet you have touched me in a sense, removing my clothes and holding me to you,” she accused.
“I am the man you are dedicated to. But rest assured, Lettie, I cannot touch you intimately, any more than any other man, or I would be duty bound to marry you, just as that young man should have been.”
“He wanted to marry me, and I wouldn’t have it!” she insisted.
“Which is what I am getting at. You escaped having to marry a person you did not want to be tied to, whom you did not fancy having as a husband. I am in a similar situation. You, are not the woman I want as a wife, and therefore I would not put myself into a position to be duty bound to marry you. Something you need to learn, my little imp.”
“What about
Monica, whom you admit to having as a lover? Wouldn’t you be duty bound to marry her?” she spat.
“Monica, is a widow. Once you have been married, you are no longer considered virtuous, as long as you keep your affairs discrete. Had she been a virgin, I would have been duty bound to marry her. Lucky me, that she wasn’t.”
“So if I were no longer a virgin, even if I had never been married, you would not be duty bound to marry me, if you compromised me?”
“But you are a virgin, Lettie, and that is how you are going to remain, as long as you are in my service. If it turns out otherwise, and you ignore your dedication to me, I will send you home to your father to deal with, do you understand?”
“Perfectly! In fact I like the idea, knowing that I will not have to worry about you taking my virtue! I do not want to marry you, any more than you want to marry me. And rest assured, I don’t plan to hand my virtue out to anyone else, either!”
“That puts my worries to rest, then,” he smiled. “I suggest you get dressed for bed. It is late.”
“I have been sleeping all day,” she complained.
“Well you will have to go to bed sometime, so get dressed for bed anyway, and then we can drink the wine we neglected at dinner. Turn around, and I will help you,” he said with little emotion in his voice.
He tried to keep his hands from trembling though. His vow not to touch her, was as much for his own benefit as for hers. This was not the woman for him, he kept telling himself. She is a wayward child, and would not suit him as a woman to help him run his plantation. Beside the fact that she was too young, she was also too flightily, headstrong, unpredictable, rebellious, beautiful, enticing, tempting, and because of that, way too dangerous for him to consider. All the things he craved in a woman, he thought, as he laughed at himself.
He politely turned his back, when she took the last of her clothes off to put her nightgown over her head, though she had not requested it of him. She wanted him to look at her, he thought, out of her determination to shock him in some way. He suspected her admittance to having touched a man was a way to try and shock him. Yes, she was going to be a handful all right!
“Put your wrapper on,” he told her, when he turned around and she was standing in a nightgown so shier, he could see every detail of her perfectly shaped body. She reached out for the wrapper and pulled it on.
“Aren’t you going to get dressed for bed?” she asked, tauntingly.
“I don’t sleep in clothes. I will disrobe at the time I intend to go to bed,” he told her.
“You would sleep naked next to a virgin?” She started to laugh. “So hypocritical of you,” she smirked.
“You have already seen a man. I would not be protecting your virtue from such a sight. Otherwise, I would respect the fact that you are innocent. The only problem is, you don’t act innocent, Lettie. You boast of your knowledge. As it is, I have to take your word for it, that you are still a virgin. Sleeping next to you is all I shall be doing,” he assured her.
Rand, worked at the cork of the wine bottle, until it released with a pop, and the aroma of the sweet red wine filled the small cabin. He poured her some in her glass, and then poured himself some, watching her put the glass to her lips, enjoying the way they pressed against the glass, and then took in his breath, as he watched her lick a drop of wine off of her bottom lip, so seductively, it quickened his groin. A whole month of this, was going to drive him to distraction, he thought to himself, trying to bolster up his inner will power.
“Tell me about your plantation,” she said, looking at him over the rim of her glass with those green cat eyes of hers. “And then tell me all about Monica. I especially want to hear about your love affair with her, in every detail.”
Rand laughed. “That you shall not get, but I will tell you about my plantation, if you wish.”
“And I thought we didn’t have any secrets from each other. I told you about my touching James,” she pouted.
“You merely told me you touched him. You did not go into detail,” he reminded her.
“Oh, do you want the details too?” she asked, taking another sip of the wine, and laughing low in her throat.
“Actually, no,” he said. “I think my imagination will suffice.”
“You see, we were out riding,” she began.
“Lettie, this is not necessary,” he almost growled at her.
“And I wanted to prove to him that I could jump the wall,” she smiled, ignoring his statement.
“And did you jump it?” he asked out of curiosity.
“Of course I did, Only I sort of went flying over my horse’s neck, and landed on my stomach, and the force of the fall burst all the buttons on my shirt. So it really wasn’t James fault when he turned me over, and I was bare naked in the grass.”
“Had he been a real gentlemen, he would have covered you immediately,” Rand told her.
“But he had never seen a woman naked before. You are not married, and you have had a lover, and yet you accuse James of not being a gentleman?” she accused.
Rand had to swallow. He wondered what he would have done had he been in James’ place. His silence answered her question, and she continued.
“So he reached out and touched me. It feels very nice to have a man’s hand on one’s breast. Did you know that? I suppose you do,” she laughed, “So I allowed it, and I felt it only fair that if he was looking at me, I should get to look at him, so we agreed to look at each other.
“Like I said before. I was curious, and so was he. I can tell you, I was rather shocked at first. I don’t know how a man could walk around with his, you know, man part, looking the way it was.”
Rand closed his eyes, and chuckled, envisioning the scene.
“He offered to let me touch him, if he could touch me. It was only fair, don’t you think?” she asked.
“You knew it was wrong though,” he accused.
“But when the opportunity has presented itself, and may never present itself again, one has to take advantage of it, so I did. The feel of him was rather curious, and just touching him caused strange feelings to rise up in me.” She paused and took another sip of wine. “And then he was touching me too. Not just my breasts like before. I was allowing him to touch my skin with his mouth, which felt so much nicer than…”
“I think that is enough!” Rand erupted, as he stood up.
“But I haven’t finished. I wanted to ask you about something.”
“What?” he asked impatiently, knowing she was baiting him.
“About when I was touching him. He didn’t want me to stop and…”
“My word, child. Don’t tell me, you…..you….brought on his seed?”
Leatrisha raised her eyebrows. “I don’t know what you are talking about? He wanted it so much that I got frightened, and insisted we stop.”
“Well at least you have a few brains in that head of yours,” Rand breathed, starting to relax. Hasn’t anyone had a discussion with you about where babies come from?”
“Certainly not! I hear it is too crude a subject!” she exclaimed.
Rand rolled his eyes. “If you are giving into your curiosity every time you turn around, crude or not, it should be explained to you.”
“All right then, go ahead and explain it,” she said, folding her hands over her breast and glaring at him without flinching.
Rand lowered his eyes and shook his head. “Suffice it to say that had James, decided to do more than allow you to touch him, it could have led to you losing your virtue. Sometimes it is beyond a man’s restraint, and James could have very easily…”
“Yes?” she prodded.
Rand could feel the perspiration breaking out on his forehead.
“I am not sure how to put it delicately. You know what James looked like. How you thought it would be uncomfortable to walk around that way?”
Leatrisha nodded, her eyes widening even more.
“Well, that happens for a purpose. It is nature’s way of preparing a man
to enter a woman so bringing on a baby is possible.”
“How disgusting!” Leatrisha bellowed.
Rand laughed at the expression on her face.
“Exactly! And that is the very reason you must refrain from touching any man you are not married to. You wouldn’t want to end up having a baby out of wedlock, would you?”
“Certainly not! That is the last thing I want!”
“I am happy to hear that. Therefore, you stopping when you did, probably saved you from his insistence that you let him go further.”
“He did say he wanted to meet me again the next day to do it again, only Father sent me away, when he caught us kissing.”
“Thank goodness for that! Don’t go thinking just because you touch a man that is all there is to the curiosity. Promise me you will never do that again!”
“I already promised you,” she said, with a frown. “You told me if I had any curiosity, to ask you. That is why I told you about it. Now you act mad at me for confiding in you!”
She stood up, a little hesitantly, as she tried to gain her balance, while the ship rose and fell, and the wine took hold of her senses. A tear trickled down her cheek.
“I…I thought you wanted to…to…help me know what to expect when I finally did get married.”
“There is plenty of time in the future for that. Seeing as how you are not going to get married as long as you are in my service, and you are not going to be with any man but myself during that time either. Consider yourself safe from future experiences with a man trying to take advantage of you.”
Rand put his arms around Leatrisha, and helped her over to the bed.
“I think you may have taken too much wine. You must not be used to it,” he murmured, as he removed her wrapper, and tucked her under the covers. “I will come To bed later,” he told her.
He turned to the door, needing to get out of the close confines of the cabin with her, after listening to her uninhibited tale. He needed a brisk walk on the deck to take more direct control over his unexpected traitorous desires, he told himself.
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