A Taste of Paradise
Page 1
ROMANTIC TIMES RAVES ABOUT
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING
AUTHOR CONNIE MASON!
A KNIGHT’S HONOR
“This is classic Mason.
Her fans will put this on the top of their to-read lists.”
GYPSY LOVER
“Mason’s romances are always a feast
for readers seeking a passionate, exciting story peopled with
larger-than-life heroes who take your breath away.”
THE PIRATE PRINCE
“A legend of the genre, Mason delivers a tried-and-true
romance with a classic plot and highly engaging characters.”
THE LAST ROGUE
“A delight. . . . This is a must read for Mason fans.”
SEDUCED BY A ROGUE
“Another wonderful story filled
with adventure, witty repartee and hot sex.”
THE ROGUE AND THE HELLION
“Ms. Mason has written another winner
to delight her fans who want sexual tension that leads to
hot explosion, memorable characters and a fast-paced story.”
THE LAIRD OF STONEHAVEN
“[Ms. Mason] crafts with excellence and creativity. . . [and]
the added attraction of mystery and magic.”
LIONHEART
“. . . upholds the author’s reputation for creating
memorable stories and remarkable characters.”
THE DRAGON LORD
“This is a real keeper, filled with historical fact,
sizzling love scenes and wonderful characters.”
THE BLACK KNIGHT
“Ms. Mason has written a rich medieval romance
filled with tournaments, chivalry, lust and love.”
MORE ROMANTIC TIMES
PRAISE FOR CONNIE MASON!
THE OUTLAWS: SAM
“Ms. Mason always provides the reader
with a hot romance, filled with plot twists and wonderful
characters. She’s a marvelous storyteller.”
THE OUTLAWS: JESS
“Jess is filled with adventure and passion. Ms. Mason delivers.”
THE OUTLAWS: RAFE
“Ms. Mason begins this new trilogy with
wonderful characters. . . steamy romance. . . excellent
dialogue. . . [and an] exciting plot!”
GUNSLINGER
“Ms. Mason has created memorable characters
and a plot that made this reader rush to turn the pages. . . .
Gunslinger is an enduring story.”
PIRATE
“Ms. Mason has written interesting characters
into a twisting plot filled with humor and pathos.”
BEYOND THE HORIZON
“Connie Mason at her best! She draws readers into
this fast-paced, tender and emotional historical romance
that proves love really does conquer all!”
BRAVE LAND, BRAVE LOVE
“An utter delight from first page to last—funny,
tender, adventurous, and highly romantic!”
WILD LAND, WILD LOVE
“Connie Mason has done it again!”
BOLD LAND, BOLD LOVE
“A lovely romance and a fine historical!”
VIKING!
“This captive/captor romance proves a delicious read.”
A TASTE OF TEMPTATION
“You’re safe with me,” Chris said, “unless you decide you’d like an introduction to sexual pleasure. There could never be anything more than that between you and me.”
“No, thank you,” Sophia snapped. “Becoming intimate with you doesn’t interest me.”
Chris stalked her until he stood before her, his eyes probing deep into her soul. “I could make it interesting.”
Their gazes collided. A simmering tension stretched between them. His features wore an expectant look, his expression dark with promise.
“I suggest that you use your powers of seduction on someone who will appreciate your efforts,” Sophia sniffed.
Chris chortled. “You do tempt me, my lady, despite our complicated past.”
Other books by Connie Mason:
A KNIGHT’S HONOR
GYPSY LOVER
THE PIRATE PRINCE
THE LAST ROGUE
THE LAIRD OF STONEHAVEN
TO LOVE A STRANGER
SEDUCED BY A ROGUE
TO TAME A RENEGADE
LIONHEART
A LOVE TO CHERISH
THE ROGUE AND THE HELLION
THE DRAGON LORD
THE OUTLAWS: SAM
THE OUTLAWS: JESS
THE OUTLAWS: RAFE
THE BLACK KNIGHT
GUNSLINGER
BEYOND THE HORIZON
PIRATE
BRAVE LAND, BRAVE LOVE
WILD LAND, WILD LOVE
BOLD LAND, BOLD LOVE
VIKING!
SURRENDER TO THE FURY
LORD OF THE NIGHT
PROMISE ME FOREVER
SHEIK
ICE & RAPTURE
LOVE ME WITH FURY
SHADOW WALKER
TENDER FURY
A PROMISE OF THUNDER
PURE TEMPTATION
WIND RIDER
THE LION’S BRIDE
SIERRA
TREASURES OF THE HEART
PROMISED SPLENDOR
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Epilogue
AUTHOR’S NOTE
DORCHESTER PUBLISHING
Published by
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 2006 by Connie Mason
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Trade ISBN: 978-1-4285-1710-3
E-book ISBN: 978-1-4285-0446-2
First Dorchester Publishing, Co., Inc. edition: March 2006
The “DP” logo is the property of Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
Printed in the United States of America.
Visit us online at www.dorchesterpub.com.
Prologue
London, April 1831
“Please, Chris, don’t stop,” begged the woman writhing beneath Captain Christian Radcliff.
“Never,” Chris gasped from between clenched teeth as he thrust hard, withdrew, and thrust again and again into the wet warmth of Lady Amanda Dartmore. If Chris had anything close to a mistress, it w
ould be Amanda, a nobleman’s wife bored with her elderly husband.
Soon they were both thrashing and moaning amidst the twisted bed sheets, each seeking the ultimate pleasure. Chris collapsed in a boneless heap, his breathing harsh and tortured.
“Must you leave London so soon, Chris?” Amanda asked breathlessly. “It’s a rare man who sees to a woman’s pleasure as well as his own. Believe me when I say I’ve been with enough men to know that most of them are selfish lovers.”
“Sorry, Amanda,” Chris said, pushing to his feet. “I’m leaving England in a few days, perhaps for good. My visit this time is of short duration. But if I return, you’ll be one of the first to see me.”
Amanda clung to him. “Dartmore is old and feeble. He won’t live much longer. I was hoping you and I . . . If I didn’t have a husband, would you marry me?”
Chris shook himself free of her questing hands and rose from the bed. “You are married, so your question is moot.”
Chris planned to sail to Jamaica within the week. Aware that he wouldn’t have another woman anytime soon, he had taken Amanda twice tonight while her husband slept soundly in another chamber, but now it was time to leave and bid his brother good-bye. He hadn’t lied to Amanda when he’d said he might never return to England; convincing his brother that this was a good move wasn’t going to be easy.
Legs outstretched, powerful body tense despite his outward calm, Christian sprawled in a chair in his brother’s comfortable study, facing the earl’s considerable wrath. Justin, the Earl of Standish, scowled at Chris over his tented fingers.
“Damnation, Chris, what do you mean, you’re leaving the sea to become a gentleman planter in the West Indies? Isn’t it time you stopped your adventurous life and returned home where you belong? You should be looking for a bride and thinking about setting up your nursery.”
“My adventures have earned me an excellent living. The Intrepid belongs solely to me. My trading ventures have made me a rich man. My inheritance from Grandmother has made me an even richer one. When I left England seven years ago, I never imagined I would own my own ship, or become rich.”
Chris had always relished adventure and the thrill of danger. The challenges and risks he had faced as a sea captain made him feel alive and vital. Pitting his wits against the elements was more exhilarating than anything Society had to offer. But now it was time to turn to something new, something entirely different and challenging in new ways.
“So why are you giving up that life to become a planter on the other side of the world?” Justin snapped.
“Hardly the other side of the world,” Chris corrected, “and I’ll still visit England from time to time to confer with my factor.” His handsome features grew pensive. “I owe England nothing. Society hasn’t been kind to me, if you recall.”
“Time glosses over all sins. The incident that caused you to flee English shores has become but a distant memory.”
Chris’s voice hardened. “I haven’t forgotten, Justin. How could I forget killing my best friend?”
“It was an accident, Chris. The girl played you for a fool. She was using you to make Desmond jealous. She only appeared to favor you to bring Desmond up to scratch. She was young, and so were you and Desmond. You were too infatuated with her to think clearly.”
“Perhaps, but because of her I killed my best friend in a stupid duel that would never have taken place were we not both deep in our cups. Desmond had already discharged his pistol and missed . . . deliberately; I shot wide to the right, intending to miss him. I had no inkling he would stagger into the bullet’s path as I fired.”
“Precisely what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Justin argued. “It was an accident. No one cares anymore. You can return home and take your place in Society.”
Chris shoved his fingers through his thick dark hair as he struggled for a reply. “I care. Society no longer interests me. That life was lost to me when I fell in love with a frivolous beauty and fought a duel with my best friend for her attention.
“I’ll never forget the appalled look on her face when I told her I had killed Desmond. That was the moment I realized she had been playing games with men’s lives. She never wanted me. It was Desmond’s money she wanted. She led me on to make him jealous. I cannot believe how gullible I was back then. I will live with the guilt until the day I die.”
“We all make mistakes, Chris. You admitted yourself that the last seven years have been profitable ones. All is well that ends well.”
Chris pushed himself from the chair and walked to the window, his gait that of a man who had spent years navigating a pitching ship’s deck. “How can you call an innocent man’s death a good ending? Nothing has changed to absolve my guilt. I deprived Desmond’s parents of their heir. I hold myself just as guilty as the faithless chit. Lord knows I’ve tried to banish the girl from my memory.”
“It’s just as well,” Justin said. “If you recall, her family was impoverished; they came to Town in hopes of snagging a rich husband for her. They could scarcely afford her Season. After the duel and the scandal that followed, the family retreated to the obscurity of their Essex manor. Her parents have since died, and she hasn’t been seen in polite Society since the duel. The girl was but seventeen at the time. By now she must be married to some country bumpkin and living in poverty, the mother of several brats. Serves her right, I say.”
Chris turned away from the window. “Be that as it may, I will always carry the guilt of Desmond’s death.” Though it hadn’t been easy, Chris had done his best to forget the girl. The whole affair left a bad taste in his mouth and a pain in his gut.
Chris grew angry every time he remembered the trusting young man he had been. The girl he’d once thought he loved might have been too young to know her own mind, but she was old enough to tease and entice.
“Help me understand your need to move to the West Indies, Chris. Why this sudden urge to leave the country of your birth for good? At least as a ship’s captain you returned regularly to England to discharge or take on cargo.”
Chris placed his palms on the edge of the desk and leaned forward, his blue eyes fervent with determination. “I won a sugarcane plantation in a game of chance in Kingston, Jamaica. The owner, a buccaneer who had recently won it at cards himself, had no use for it and threw it into the pot. I won the pot and became the proud owner of Sunset Hill, a rather large plantation and distillery.
“When I visited Sunset Hill, I knew becoming a planter was something I would enjoy. And I love the island. It’s as close to paradise as I’ll ever get. I have the money to replace aging machinery and make repairs to the house, and I own a ship to carry my purchases to Jamaica. Truthfully, the challenge has energized me, and I cannot wait to return to the golden shores of Jamaica. English winters leave much to be desired.”
“I don’t like it,” Justin growled. “Jamaica is known for its frequent slave uprisings. How do you know such a thing won’t happen on your plantation?”
“That won’t happen because I’m going to free my slaves and pay them wages to continue working the fields and distilling rum.”
Justin shook his head. “Freeing your slaves may be dangerous. The other plantation owners won’t be pleased, no matter how pure and noble your intentions. Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?”
“I appreciate your concern, Justin, but I’m determined.”
“What about the Intrepid? Will she still ply the trade routes under another captain?”
“Aye, Dirk Blaine, my first mate, will captain the Intrepid. The ship will carry rum and other commodities such as sugar, tobacco and coffee beans to foreign ports. The Intrepid will not sit idle in port.”
Justin sighed and threw up his hands. “Apparently you cannot be dissuaded. All I can tell you is to visit often and take care of yourself. With the recent slave uprisings and the history of earthquakes and hurricanes, Jamaica will present challenges you may not have anticipated.”
“I am prepared to take on new
challenges,” Chris maintained.
“Then there is nothing more I can say but wish you well. How soon will you depart?”
“A week, give or take a day. My ship is being provisioned as we speak, and everything I wish to take with me has been purchased and is being stowed away in the hold.”
Justin rose. “Then you’d best come with me and bid your sister-in-law good-bye. Grace and I see you too seldom. Perhaps you will return in late fall to help me welcome our child into the world. It would mean a lot to Grace if you showed up for the christening.”
Chris slapped Justin on the back. “A child! Congratulations, old boy. I’ll make it my mission in life to return for the blessed event.”
They left the study together. While Justin worried about his brother’s future, Chris contemplated his new and exciting venture, a challenge he was eagerly looking forward to.
Chapter One
London, One Week Later
“I’ve come to collect my money, Caldwell. I cannot wait until your financial situation improves,” the thick-set man with thinning hair argued. “I’ve booked passage to Jamaica aboard the Morning Star. She sails in five days. I’ve been away from my plantation too long to delay my journey. If you don’t settle your debt now, I’ll summon the watch and have you carted off to debtor’s prison. I’m sure I’m not the only man in Town who holds your vowels.”
Rayford, Viscount Caldwell, had the sudden urge to thrash Sir Oscar Rigby soundly and send him packing. However much he hated it, he had to paste a pleasant smile on his face and try to placate the man.
“Now, now, Sir Oscar, there’s no need for threats. You’ll get your money.”
“When?”
“As soon as I’m able to repair my finances.”
“That will never happen, Caldwell. Everyone knows your pockets are empty. The amount you owe me is not inconsiderable. I can use the blunt to buy more slaves.”
The argument continued unabated. Threats flew back and forth. Voices rose to a wild crescendo, until even the three servants Caldwell could scarcely afford disappeared into the lower regions of the run-down town house.
Sophia Carlisle descended the stairs of the town house her stepbrother had rented, drawn to the study by the sound of angry voices. She had a good idea what the argument was about. Not a day went by without someone appearing at their door, demanding payment for one of Ray’s gambling debts or the foppish clothing he’d purchased for himself.