Master of Seduction

by Kinley MacGregor

  “Does Ben know?” he asked Morgan.

  “I sent Tarik up to tell him.”

  Jack nodded. “How much time before Wallingford arrives?”

  “An hour, maybe. He has three warships with him.”

  Jack ground his teeth together. “And I have none.”

  “You have mine.”

  “No, Morgan. I appreciate it, but I wanted to make my stand against him and so I shall. I’ve involved you in this too deeply already and I know how hard you’re trying to leave piracy behind. The best thing you can do is to hide yourself until all this is over.”

  Jack paused and looked back over to the bed where Lorelei still slept. “Just promise me one thing.”

  “Anything.”

  “If I die, see to it my wealth is distributed evenly between Kit and Lorelei.”

  “But Jack—”

  “Just promise me, Morgan.”

  “All right. I promise.”

  Not feeling a damn bit better, Jack said, “Now you better go hide your ship. If Wallingford recognizes it, he’ll skin your hide as well.”

  “I already thought of that. I had my crew take it to the other side of the island out of sight.”

  Jack gave a half-hearted laugh. “I taught you well.”

  “Yes, you did.” Morgan took a step back. “I plan to be there when you face him.”

  “I would rather you not.”

  “I know. But you need a reliable second there and I’m not some craven beast who would send you out alone.”

  Morgan’s loyalty had never failed to amaze him. He’d never understood it, but for once, he was grateful for Morgan’s sense of honor. “Just stay out of my way.”

  “All right. I will.” Morgan headed off down the hallway.

  Jack closed the door and leaned his forehead against it. There was no use in wishing for what could have been. He knew that. This was the course he had chosen and now it was his time to rendezvous with destiny.

  Walking over to the bed, he watched the early dawn light play against the creamy softness of Lorelei’s bare body. Even now he could taste the salt of her skin on his tongue, feel her hands playing against his back.

  Their time together had been so brief. And it was the best part of his life. If he had to die, then he wanted it to be now, with the memory of her still fresh in his mind. The last thing Jack wanted was to go grow old alone while trying to hang onto her memory and the few wondrous days they’d spent together.

  This tiny woman lying in his bed had changed him forever.

  Pulling the covers over her, he went to dress and wait for the inevitable.

  Lorelei came awake to the sunlight streaming in through the window, and to the smell of freshly cooked ham. Savoring the warm aroma, she opened her eyes to see Jack standing in front of the windows, staring out at the sea.

  As if he sensed her sudden alertness, he turned his head and looked directly at her. “Good morning,” he said with a hint of ill-humor in his voice.

  What on earth had caused him to be so grumpy first thing on such a beautiful day?

  To her, this day was glorious and she couldn’t wait to spend it with Jack. In fact, she’d thought of another picture she wanted to paint of him and she couldn’t wait to get started. Especially since her earlier one had gone down on board his ship.

  “Good morning,” she repeated. “What were you thinking of? Returning to sea?”

  Jack leaned with one arm against the side of the window as he continued scanning the scenery. He drew a deep breath before he answered. “No. I was wondering how long it’s going to take Wallingford before he comes ashore.”

  “What?” she gasped, bolting out of bed.

  Had she heard him correctly?

  Draping a sheet around her, she rushed to the window. Out in the harbor were three English ships. She knew the admiral’s as soon as her gaze touched on the crisply polished sloop which had all canons prepped and aiming straight at the island. None of the islanders were about and all the shutters in town had been pulled tightly closed. Everything looked deserted, no doubt in expectation of the ensuing battle.

  Lorelei wanted to run. She didn’t want to go home. Not now and certainly not like this.

  “What are we going to do, Jack?”

  The reconciled look on his face terrified her even more than the three ships prepared to blow them all to kingdom come. Dear heaven, he was going to go through with his mad plan after all.

  He spoke and confirmed her thoughts. “You are to dress and eat your breakfast while I wait on Ben. Then I shall go down there and meet them.”

  Horror filled her. “You can’t.”

  “I have to.”

  Closing her eyes, she prayed for an answer to keep him from this madness. Did she mean so little to him that he was now prepared to end his life over some insane need for vengeance? “Please don’t do this,” she begged, trying to reach that part of him she knew did care for her.

  “Would you have me run, then?”

  “Yes,” she said, hoping to sway him to common sense. “You and I could run away and find someplace where—”

  He stopped her words by pressing his finger to her lips. “Remember what happened to your grandfather? Remember what your grandmother’s last words to him were? ‘If you had fought like a man, you wouldn’t die like a dog.’”

  Anger coiled through her. “That’s a myth penned by a man who wanted to portray my grandmother as a monster. My grandmother’s last words to Calico Jack were that she loved him more than anything else on this earth. That she would always love him and that she had no regrets for the time they’d spent together.”

  Jack’s gaze softened. “If she were anything like you, then I don’t doubt that. However, it doesn’t change anything. I may have been many things in my life, but I’ve never been a coward.”

  Oh, how she wanted to beat him senseless for his stupidity! Lorelei’s gaze darkened.

  “Fine then,” she snapped. “Go kill yourself. But don’t expect me to watch.”

  “I don’t.” He turned around and headed out the door.

  Lorelei slung the sheet to the floor in a mighty rage. How dare he behave this way! Just who did he think he was, seducing her, making her love him, and then throwing his life away?

  “Well, I won’t let you, Jack Rhys. Do you hear me?” she said to the room as she retrieved her garments from the floor. “I’m not going to stand by and watch you die like my grandmother had to do with her Jack. I won’t let it happen this time. At least not without a fight.”

  Ignoring her breakfast, she started dressing.

  Morgan met Jack just outside the inn with Ben by his side. The street was completely deserted as the ocean breeze whipped through town, stirring up tangles of dust.

  “Wallingford has agreed to your terms,” Morgan said as Jack paused by his side. “He’s picking five men to come ashore and take Lorelei while he faces you on the beach. He’s chosen swords for the confrontation.”

  Jack didn’t look at Morgan; instead, his attention was fastened in the direction of the harbor as if he could see Wallingford already on shore. “I knew he would.” He indicated Morgan’s sword, which was hung against his hip. “May I?”

  “Sure,” Morgan said as he unfastened the buckle, then handed it over to Jack. “Just make sure you kill the bastard with it.”

  Jack strapped the sword to his hips. “That’s what I intend to do.”

  Ben cleared his throat before he spoke. “I certainly hope you know what you’re doing, Jack. You know if you fail, I won’t be able to offer you a pardon.”

  “I’m well aware of that fact.”

  Ben’s jaw tightened and he looked at Jack as if seeing him for the last time.

  Ignoring the dire look, Jack led them toward the small harbor, his mind set and his heart heavy. In spite of his best intentions, his thoughts drifted back to Lorelei and the way she’d looked lying in bed this morning, with her hair tossed about the covers and her bare skin against the
sheets.

  Out of his entire life, he had but one regret.

  And Lorelei was it.

  Jack ground his teeth together. He mustn’t think of her. Mustn’t let his feelings intrude on this match, or else he was definitely as dead as Ben predicted. His only hope for victory was his ability to control his emotions.

  Deadening himself, he walked across the beach. The water lapped up against the short wooden pier that jetted out into the lagoon. The beach was a natural harbor and ships would anchor a little ways off while their crews rowed ashore.

  This morning, there were four boats on the horizon. One a merchant ship that had come in yesterday, and the three British warships that stood like skeletal guardians of doom in the morning light. Even from this distance, Jack could see the activity of the crew as they launched the ship’s boats which would bring his most hated enemy into his grasp.

  One of Ben’s assistants was waiting for them. The thirty-year-old was dressed in a crisp brown suit that almost matched Ben’s. “They should be here shortly,” he told them.

  Jack nodded and watched as the Englishmen climbed aboard the small boat and rowed toward the beach. It took very little effort to make out Wallingford and Justin. Especially Justin, who kept standing up in the boat and leaning forward as if wanting to jump out and swim ashore. Any other time, it might have been comical the way the man popped to his feet, only to have his father snap an order for him to sit down.

  Jack tightened his grip on the hilt of Morgan’s sword in expectation. With any luck all this would be ended before Lorelei finished dressing, and before Kit woke up to find himself an orphan.

  As soon as the boat was close enough for the men to wade ashore, Justin leapt from it.

  “You bastard!” Justin roared as he stomped through the waves and unsheathed his sword. He held his polished sword above his head, cursing with every step.

  As soon as he reached the beach, he charged Jack.

  Unsheathing his own sword, Jack deflected Justin’s blow, his body cold and numb, and once again under his firm control. “My fight’s not with you.”

  “Oh yes, it is.”

  Jack parried two more thrusts. “Don’t make me kill you, boy.”

  Justin’s face turned bright red. “You’re not man enough to kill me, you craven thief.”

  “Ouch,” Jack mocked. “What a vicious insult.”

  He shoved Justin away from him and looked to Wallingford, who watched them with pinched, worried features. It had been a long time since Jack had seen the man. He wore his uniform with the same pompous, self-righteous, stiff spine that had marked Wallingford and all his deeds.

  “Is this how you fight, old man?” Jack asked him. “You send a boy out to die in your place?”

  Wallingford said nothing as Justin lunged for him again. Anger taking a firm root in him, Jack sidestepped the thrust and brought his sword down hard across Justin’s blade.

  The boy staggered back from the ferocity of the blow and Jack seized the moment to shove him backward with his hand. Justin stumbled, turned slightly, then fell to the ground, landing on his stomach. His sword landed almost three feet away from his outstretched hand.

  Kill him!

  Jack hesitated, and in that moment of his laxity, Justin scrambled across the sand and retrieved his sword.

  Once more, he faced Jack.

  Now Justin’s face bore a mask of terror and fear that consumed him as he realized fully that Jack was the master and he just a mere pupil.

  Everyone on the beach now knew the outcome. It was only a matter of time before Jack ended this and took the boy’s life.

  They fought for several minutes more, but there was no longer any contest. Justin lacked stamina and skill. Sweat poured down the younger man’s face, making lines in the white powder covering his cheeks.

  “Nay!”

  The horrified plea tore through Jack like a blast of shrapnel. He looked over to see Lorelei being held back from their fight. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she struggled against Morgan and demanded he let her go.

  “Please stop this, please!” Her anguished cries shredded what little soul Jack still possessed.

  A part of me will love him forever, her voice whispered in his mind.

  And in that instant Jack knew he couldn’t kill what Lorelei loved. No matter the consequences.

  Letting go the sword in his fist, Jack watched as it arched up and landed blade down in the sand.

  The look on Justin’s astonished face would have been laughable had Jack not just consigned himself to the gallows.

  Breathing heavy and sweating profusely, Justin angled his sword at Jack’s throat. “On your knees, pig.”

  Jack gave a subtle shake of his head as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I bow before no man. If you’re going to kill me, then you’ll do it while I stand.”

  “Please, Justin, don’t hurt him.”

  They both turned stunned faces to Lorelei.

  Morgan let her go and she rushed toward them.

  “What did you say?” Justin asked as she came to a halt between them.

  Lorelei wiped the tears from her face. “It’s not him,” she said, grabbing Justin’s hand and lowering the blade from Jack’s neck. “That’s not Black Jack Rhys.”

  Wallingford joined them. In all his stiff formality, he surveyed Lorelei. “What are you saying, child?”

  Lorelei looked at Jack and swallowed. She took several deep breaths and composed herself before she spoke again. “Black Jack Rhys is dead and this…this man saved me from him.”

  “Lorelei,” Justin said in warning.

  She turned to face Justin. A silent plea was etched on her face as she addressed her fiancé. “Remember that night in the tavern? You asked me to identify Black Jack. I named him then, don’t you think I would do so now if this man were really him?”

  A muscle began to tick in Justin’s jaw and Jack waited for him to denounce her as a liar.

  Wallingford lifted his monocle up to study Jack in detail. After a pregnant pause, the admiral turned back to Lorelei. “Then who is he?” he demanded.

  “Ja-jac…Jacob,” she stuttered as she tried to come up with something. “Jacob Dudley.”

  Jack lifted a brow at the horrendous name she’d chosen. Granted, it was on the cusp, but couldn’t she have come up with something better than that?

  Why not call him Percy Poindexter, or Oscar Gridley?

  “Is what she says the truth?” Wallingford asked him.

  Jack debated on his answer. She had brazened much to face a British officer and give false testimony regarding a known outlaw. Part of him wanted his confrontation with Wallingford still, but the other part sought to protect Lorelei.

  It was that part he listened to. “I would never deign to call a lady a liar.”

  “Nor would I,” Justin added, sheathing his sword. “Now that I look at you I can see that I was clearly mistaken by my bloodlust. You’re not the man in the tavern.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Wallingford asked his youngest son.

  “Positive.”

  Ben came forward with a nervous laugh. “Of course he’s not Black Jack Rhys. Haven’t you heard that I swore I’d hang that pirate beast if he ever showed himself on my island?”

  Jack guarded his look as he turned his head to Ben. Now that was laying it on a bit thick, and not at all to his liking. Aye, he’d make the man pay for that.

  Later.

  “Well then,” Wallingford said with a sniff. “Justin, collect your bride and you…” He raked his gaze over Jack. “Come with me. I should like a word with you.”

  Jack went cold. “I don’t think so.”

  “It wasn’t a request, boy. And I suggest you obey.”

  It was on the tip of Jack’s tongue to tell him to go to hell and roast, but one look at Lorelei quelled the impulse. Concern was plainly etched on her face, and if he didn’t know better, he’d almost swear he saw love in her eyes.

  Of cour
se, if that were truly there, then it was no doubt meant for Justin.

  Justin pulled her away from Jack, toward the boat, and it took every shred of Jack’s control not to run to her as she looked back at him over her shoulder.

  It was only then Jack realized where he stood. It was the same spot that had haunted his dreams for years. The same spot where he had once told Thadeus that Jack Rhys would die.

  With an eerie chill skipping up his spine, he followed Wallingford to the boat.

  “Don’t worry,” the old man assured him in that stiff, pompous accent he deplored. “I shall have my men row you back to shore once our meeting is finished.”

  “As if I would ever believe anything that comes out of your mouth, old man.”

  Even so, Jack followed.

  His heart heavy, he watched Justin help Lorelei into the boat before he took a protective seat next to her. Jack wanted to shout in rage and toss the brat out on his arse. That should be his place beside her, not Justin’s.

  But it wasn’t.

  Why she had saved him, he didn’t know. In truth, he wished she hadn’t bothered. One sword stroke and all this pain would have ended.

  Unable to see the two of them together, Jack took a seat with his back to her.

  No one spoke as they made their way to the ship.

  Once on board, Lorelei was led away while Jack followed Wallingford to the deck below and into his officers’ room. It was a typical study with a large table and chairs set up for meetings. The oak panelling glistened from new polish and sunlight flooded in from the open windows.

  Wallingford closed the door securely before he faced Jack. “Why didn’t you kill Justin on the beach?”

  “Because no matter how much I hate you, I couldn’t bring myself to kill my brother.”

  Wallingford folded his hands behind his back as he approached Jack. He narrowed his gaze. “Is that the only reason?”

  “It’s the only one I plan to give you.”

  He walked past Jack as if pondering his words, then he turned to face him again. “Tell me why Lorelei lied to protect you.”

  Jack folded his arms across his chest. “How should I know. I’ve never understood women and their loyalties.”