What the hell did this one want? As he lay feigning sleep, wondering at her mission, she touched his hair.
It took him a moment to recognize her. Could it truly be Jian Jun who stood before him? Without her armor, matching scimitars, and commanding headdress, without the dark smear of kohl around her eyes, she looked so different. Softer. The hardness of her had lost its edge. Long shining hair shimmering almost blue black in the light as it reached past her waist. A thin robe of light silk wrapped tight around the slight curves of her body that was obviously naked beneath, if the proud peaks of her nipples were any indication. She looked like a totally different woman standing here. The only question was why?
She was speaking, or at least her mouth was working and her hands occasionally would emphasize some point. He wished he knew what she was professing in such an emphatic way.
It wasn’t until he stood to wrap the sheet around him—the only choice to cover his own nakedness—did she miss a step and flinched. Her cheeks paled one moment only to flush a deep pink the next. He eyed her closely. Was she all right?
Will frowned. The movement tugged at the stitches holding his aching head together. His brain was still fuzzy from whatever the doctor gave him to drink. He had fallen into a deep sleep, but for how long? Hours could have passed. Time and day had been lost somewhere along the way. Time, day, his clothing, all his possessions, wealth, his ship, his crew, Tupper…
Perhaps that was why she was here. To bring him news of the others. To tell him Tupper had been found alive. Griffin, Hills, the rest of the men. Were they recovering nearby?
Will spied a quill and ink on a nearby table. He used it to scribble out, My crew—have you had any news of how many have been rescued?
He lifted the note for her to see, but at the look upon her face, he knew the answer before she shook her head. His mind screamed. Pain, anger and sorrow collided. This couldn’t be. He couldn’t be the sole survivor, could he?
Beneath his words, Jian Jun penned, My men still search, but I am sorry none have been found. The storm was fierce, and the currents are strong and deep beyond The Brothers. I have little hope of finding their bodies, let alone anyone still alive at this point. You are lucky to have made it to shore.
Lucky? A wave of grief flooded over him and nearly brought him to his knees. It was as if the air had been sucked from the room. He began to pace the small space like some caged beast with no hope of escape. Lucky! Aye, he was alive, but alone with nothing. No one. Was it lucky that he once again had to witness the sea claiming someone he loved? He could still see Tupper in that flash of lightning, shaking her fist at the heavens.
Pain punched Will in the chest. Jian Jun was staring at him with a horrible pitying look upon her lovely face. He couldn’t even explain to her what he was feeling. His whole life, he’d lived in a world of silent isolation, but at least he’d had Tupper and a few others who cared enough to learn how to communicate with him.
Now there was no one.
Will covered his eyes with a hand. He’d lost bloody everything....everything except his own miserable life. What kind of vicious cruelty was this?
The enormity of it all fell heavily upon him. His legs began to give way. Jian Jun was immediately at his side as his weight brought them both crashing down to the edge of the bed. He’d almost forgotten she was there. She shot to her feet as if the thin mattress were made of flames and picked up a brown glass vial from the nightstand. Jun placed a few drops in a cup of tea and held it to his lips. Her eyes urging him to drink. She tipped the delicate cup enough to give him a small sip. It was the same bitter concoction the doctor had given him to make him sleep. Ah…sleep. Deep and dreamless where he didn’t have to remember. Didn’t feel the pain of it all. If only he could sleep forever.
Without a second thought, Will snatched the brown glass from the table and drank the entire contents in one swift swallow. Jun’s face registered her shock. He didn’t care. If there were any justice in this world, the sour elixir would send him to a dark oblivion he would never wake from.
Will tossed the bottle aside and lay back upon the bed, rolling to his side. Blocking her and the rest of the world from his view. Waiting for the potion to take him away from his grief. He prayed the end would be swift.
* * * *
Jun watched in horror as the empty bottle skidded across the floor to land against the far wall. “You stupid fool, what have you done?”
Captain Quinn slumped back and rolled away from her. She then saw the two marks upon his back. Just as Yeh Tien-shih had reported. Faded red scars where someone had tried to kill this man in the past. And now, he was trying to finish the job himself?
An icy resolve slipped over her skin. “No, you don’t.”
She grabbed for the pot of cold tea and pulled against his shoulder to get him to roll over on his back. He frowned at her and tried to push her away, but she sat on his arm and held him as still as she could.
“Drink.” She pushed the spout of the pot between his lips, but he stubbornly refused to open his mouth. “Damn it, open.” Her angry gaze locked with his. “Do not fight me. I swear I will break your teeth!” She had to dilute that tincture, or get him to expel what he had taken and fast.
With her free hand she pinched shut his nose. When he opened his mouth to breathe, she poured. Beneath her, he sputtered and choked and tried to throw her off him, but she kept bucketing tea down his throat. He thrashed beneath her, but she covered his body with her own. Tea soaked them both, and the bed, but she kept forcing him to drink until he gave her a great shove off him and rushed to retch in the potted bamboo near the door.
Jun let out a grateful sigh, trying to calm her racing breath and pounding heart. The poor bamboo may be done for, but the captain wouldn’t be dying, not tonight, anyway. It was then she realized she held his sheet. The man was dreadfully sick—and completely…breathtakingly naked.
She shook the distracting longing from her mind. Jun needed to get him back to bed and questioned her ability to do that on her own. But who would she summon to help her? Ting? Peng? No, she twisted her hair back out of the way and moved to his side. Jun’s fingertips hovered over the puckered skin of his pistol scars before wrapping an arm around the captain’s waist and doing her best to move him.
A good bit of sleeping potion would still have entered his bloodstream. If she didn’t get him moving soon, he’d be dead weight and there would be no choice but to fetch help...and have to explain how she came to be alone with a naked man.
She tugged at him. “Come now. Please. Back to bed.”
He turned, still on his knees, and hung tight to her leg, resting his head on her thigh. Jun slipped her free arm under his and attempted to lift him. To her relief, he started to rise. She braced herself as he used her body to pull himself to his feet. As he climbed her like a tree, the wrap of her robe shifted and twisted. In an odd dance, Jun got under his arm and was able to hold this hulking man upright.
By the time she wrestled them back to his bed, they were both struggling for breath. One shoulder of her robe hung loose to her elbow exposing half her chest, but it was his nakedness that most unnerved her. Had the scene not been so desperate and bizarre, she would have taken the time to appreciate the handsome view. The warmth of his body against hers. Skin against skin. Oh, please. Given his drugged state, the majesty of his body was not foremost in her mind. Jun bit her lip at the lie. Damn it…concentrate!
She tried to ease him back, but he slipped from her inadequate grasp and landed with a dull thud. Jun moved to rise and cover him, but in the shuffle, the tail of her robe had managed to get caught beneath his hip.
She raised pleading eyes to the heavens and begged for guidance. “Oh, Buddha, help me.”
Before she could extricate herself, he touched her arm. Jun’s gaze flew to his. His eyes were half closed, but he moved his hand to make a small gesture, touchi
ng his chin. She had no idea what it meant, but he repeated the motion. Was he asking for something?
Jun’s heart still pounded in her ears as she tried to make sense of him. He reached out to her again. This time, he brushed the tangle of hair from her cheek right before his eyes closed and his hand fell to rest upon the curve of her bare breast.
She held her breath in the shock of surprise at his warm wide hand cradling her so intimately. He couldn’t think after all this she wanted to have sex with him. Could he? The more alarming question was, did she?
Jun looked down and groaned. Half of her robe had been pulled away from her body revealing more than a single breast. Only the obi still held the garment to her waist. Why wouldn’t he think she was offering herself to him? The only thing more damning would be if she were straddling the man.
Then, he snored.
Relief and indignation raged through her. Jun shoved his hand away, stood and yanked the silk of her robe out from beneath him, and finally threw the sheet over the rest of Captain Quinn.
Standing next to the bed, Jun jerked her clothing back into place and pushed the hair out of her eyes before dropping her face into her hands.
What foolishness had prompted her to come here? Thank goodness, none had seen her disgrace herself in such a way. However, past the shame of it all, a shimmer of pure desire trembled through her. She could still feel the heat of his body pressed against hers, his heavy touch upon her breast.
Lowering her hands, Jun gazed back at the sleeping captain. When was the last time a man had been so close to her or touched her so? She knew the answer to that. A slice of guilt passed through her, but she brushed it aside. It wasn’t as if she had come in here ready to seduce the man, no matter how attractive she found him. Of course, now, she’d never be able to get the image of his sculpted body out of her mind. The rich smoothness of his skin…and the feel of his warm hand…
Jun tugged on her robe tightening it, straightening her shoulders and regaining her sanity. No good could come of such ridiculous thoughts. She’d been happily celibate since Jian Fu had died. Well, perhaps “happily” was not the correct word. What did it matter? She was far too busy ruling the empire he left under her command to concern herself with such frivolous things.
Her gaze once more ran the strong length of the captain. He really was beautiful. Now that she knew what lay beneath his sheet, of course she wanted him. She was not made of stone. Yes, she was hardened by the circumstance of her life, but beneath all the leather, steel, and weaponry, beyond being a pirate queen, she was still a living, breathing woman. A woman with needs and sexual desires.
And Captain Will Quinn was, without question, a most desirable man.
Chapter 7
Jun held her breath as Ting finished buckling the final straps of the tight breastplate to the rest of her armor. The cool steel made her nipples contract into hardened peaks. Ironic that a wide, rough, warm hand would have the same effect on her last night.
She couldn’t get the scene out of her head. Couldn’t get him out of her head. How awkward was it going to be seeing him? Exhaustion clouded her mind. It had only been a few hours since she had left his room, fearing if she stayed any longer she would surely be discovered. But she didn’t dare leave before then.
The man had ingested enough sleeping potion to bring down a large ox. Even though she was successful in making him purge most of it, she had no way of knowing if he would stop breathing in the night without staying by his side.
It had meant a cold night on a hard floor, but when she left before dawn, his breathing still came deep and steady. The good captain’s foolish attempt to end his life had failed. Thank goodness. However, the level of undress and the rush of sensation at his touch had only served to make her own breathing erratic at best.
Jun couldn’t get the sight of him out of her mind. The more she tried, the worse it had become. Through those early hours as she sat on the hardness of that chilled floor, she had begun to imagine the scene ending in a much different way. As if Captain Quinn had not been drugged into unconsciousness. As if his intimate touch had not been an accident…
Perhaps he would have kneaded the sensitive flesh of her breast and teased the firming peak of her nipple, rolling it gently between his wide fingers before leaning forward and taking it into his mouth. His eager hands pushing down the rest of her robe, spreading its hems, spreading her legs. Impatience driving his heated touch up the inside of her thigh…
“Mistress, are you unwell?”
Ting’s concerned looked jerked Jun back into the present.
Jun stepped back, and turned away. Heat rushed to her cheeks and other susceptible areas. She gasped a breath. “I’m perfectly fine.”
“You’re trembling and flushed. Shall I fetch the physician?”
It was not a doctor she needed. The sight of the captain’s naked body flashed in her mind’s eye again. Jun nearly moaned at the rush of desire that settled hot and damp between her thighs. Had it not taken more than twenty minutes to don her heavy armor, she would have torn it from her body and jumped naked into one of her koi ponds to extinguish the building heat.
She turned back to Ting, notched her chin and composed herself. “The morning is already warm and steamy, promising a sultry day, that is all. Help me secure my hair.”
Ting eyed her warily. “Of course, Mistress.”
Hair… Her mind returned to the heavy ropes of his thick woolen hair, that had been surprisingly heavy and soft, and the rasp of beard that darkened his jaw had accentuated the shape of his mouth. Beautiful full lips. What would his kisses be like? Jun brushed her fingertips over her mouth.
She did moan then—aloud—startling Ting once more. Jun cleared her throat and moved to gather her weapons. “Were you able to get proper clothing for our guest?”
Ting handed Jun the final addition to her uniform, the unwieldy headdress that sat so heavy some days it pained her head. “Aye, the tailor spent a sleepless night, but delivered the garments you requested at first light.”
The tailor wasn’t the only one. It would be a long day, as well. Longer still if she couldn’t control her lurid musings. “Any other word this morning.”
“A flurry in the great hall. Several items found on the north beach have been gathered at the shore. They await your inspection. Perhaps from the stranger’s…pardon, Captain Quinn’s ship?”
Hope bloomed in her chest. “Any more survivors? Bodies?”
“No, mistress.”
Through her long night, beyond her ridiculous fantasies, Jun wished to have better news for him come first light, but it seemed the storm had spared just one member of the Scarlet Night. Living with such guilt would be a lifetime’s burden for him. After his desperate reaction last night, she worried if he would ever recover from such a tragedy.
“When you delivered the Captain’s clothing, was he awake?” Jun did her best to appear nonchalant when concern still nibbled at her.
“Aye, mistress.” Ting nodded.
Relief raised Jun’s spirits. She would keep him close. For protective reasons, of course. She was…concerned. This way she could keep him under strict scrutiny over the next few days without revealing her reasons why. After all, how would she explain her late night visit, and more so, to protect Captain Quinn from losing face. He’d already lost enough. “Please bring him to the hall.”
“As you wish.”
* * * *
All stood when Jun entered and gave her the proper bow of respect. Just once, she would like to slip unnoticed into a room and see something other than the tops of heads, but it was the price she paid. At the clap of her hands, everyone returned to their duties.
Jun took her place on the dais. Next to her seat of power, was a table laden with the day’s business and a pot of steaming tea. An eager servant stood at the ready. A bead of sweat had already started to
trickle down the channel of her spine. Hot tea was not what she wanted. Jun waved the girl away. What she desired most was…
Captain Quinn entered from the east like a shadowed sun. Following Ting, he moved with the grace of a sinuous cat. He stood tall. Head up. His gaze scanning the room as if searching for a familiar face in the crowd.
The addition of a proper cotton changshan with the wide-legged pants and long wrapped tunic did nothing to blend him into the crowd around him. Quite the opposite. The tailor must have misjudged the breadth of Captain Quinn’s chest as the wrapping was not as overlapped and reserved as it should be.
Jun raised an eyebrow and imagined Genghis Khan himself would not have made such an impressive figure upon entering a room. The captain was built like a mountain, yet he moved like a warrior, all sinew and barely disguised danger. She needed to learn more about the Scarlet Night. Captain Quinn did not appear to be like any merchant she had ever seen.
As he approached, Jun stood and waited until his gaze landed on her. She tried to read his face. Decipher his thoughts. Did he recall the events of last night? His glance registered no signs of it until he made a slow, deliberate sweep of her body from top to bottom and back again, resting briefly a few inches below her throat before lifting his heated gaze back to hers. Jun’s skin fairly sizzled.
Oh, yes, he remembered.
Jun’s face burned as the trickle of moisture reached the base of her spine. He missed nothing with those all-seeing eyes of his. And yet, he gave nothing away. No frown, no smirk, no indication as to what he might be feeling or thinking.
“He looks the fool in those clothes.” Peng startled Jun. She hadn’t seen him enter the hall, nor had she paid any notice of him sidling up to her.
Jun returned her attention to her work before she burst into flames. “Would you rather him in rags?” Or nothing at all…
Within A Captain's Soul Page 5