by Kitty Margo
Lifting another mint julep from the tray of a passing waiter, Suzanne tilted her pert nose, presenting her trim back to the stranger. Her rule of thumb was to play hard to get for at least an hour before turning on the charm. If there was one thing Suzanne knew, and knew well, it was a man. For some truly odd reason, one she would never be able to fathom if she lived to be one hundred years old, they seemed to enjoy the chase every bit as much as the capture of a woman. What poppycock! Why waste so much time? Who made up these nonsensical rules anyway? Just go after what you wanted and get down to business? That was her motto.
But no matter how ridiculous the ruse, she went along with their tiresome little game, presenting a shy, coy front for the required hour even though most times she was bored out of her skull with the pretense long before the allotted time had passed.
Leaving the apparently confused dandy, still trying to impress her with witty tales of his year abroad, she sashayed over to chat with Samuel and Beth, well aware that the stranger’s eyes were focused on every swish of her skirt. Glancing over her shoulder to make sure he was still entranced -- he was -- she asked Samuel, “Do you by any chance know the daring man ogling me from across the room?”
Samuel followed her gaze and when their eyes met the stranger raised his glass and tipped his head. “No, I don’t believe I have made his acquaintance, but I will make a few inquiries.”
“Too late,” Beth whispered behind her fan, watching the stranger make a beeline through the crowd. “He’s heading this way.”
Suzanne drew in a quick breath. A man who didn’t follow the silly rules. She liked him already.
“Good evening, lovely lady.” The dashing man stopped behind her as Suzanne turned to face him. He flashed a dazzling smile that caused her heart to flutter against her ribs and a pulse to throb somewhere in her nether region. He was absolutely to die for and, evidently, already besotted. “I don’t mean to intrude, but I have been mesmerized by your beauty all evening and was wondering if you would do me the honor of this dance?”
Another of Suzanne’s mottos; rules were made to be broken. “Why, yes,” she simpered, smiling up into a pair of dancing hazel eyes. “I would love to.”
Taking her hand, he led her through the crowd until they were a safe distance from the prying ears of her family. It had been Sean’s experience that overprotective family members, especially brothers, could be a nuisance when it came to strangers bedding their sisters.
“But sir, if you have been mesmerized by little ole me all evening, why did it take you so long to ask me to dance?” Suzanne purred, a shiver tingling down her spine when he stopped and drew her into his muscular embrace.
Leaning over her, his warm breath tinged with the aroma of tobacco caressed her when he spoke. “It would seem that every man in attendance tonight suffered the same affliction and I was forced to wait my turn.”
His words caused her to smile coquettishly. So he had noticed. “True, my dance card has been full since shortly after I arrived.”
Sean gave her his most captivating smile as he crushed the conceited, overly coddled daughter of some wealthy planter against his hard, lean body. He could withstand her whining, self absorbed ways for a few hours. After all he wasn’t seeking a lifelong partner, just a titillating one night romp. “May I ask who it is that I have the pleasure of dancing with?”
He touched his lips to her palm causing her stomach to knot itself into a dainty bow. Priding himself on being an excellent judge of women, Sean correctly read her reaction and drew her sinfully close, causing several eyebrows to raise.
“Suzanne Jordan.” Immediately upon hearing the name Jordan, Suzanne could have sworn she felt an imperceptible tightening of Sean’s hand around her waist. So, he had already heard of her. What man hadn’t?
“Jordan? I once knew a Captain Jordan.” He paused as if deep in thought. “From Charleston I believe. My ship was docked in a port next to his somewhere in the Caribbean at one point. I cannot remember which port right off hand. There have been so many over the years. Let’s see? Windjammer. That was the name of his ship.”
“The Windjammer?” Suzanne was incredulous. “That was my husband’s ship!”
“Was?” Was Jordan’s ship now languishing at the bottom of the sea? “He doesn’t have the ship anymore?”
“Yes, he still has the ship, but he doesn’t have me.”
Sean stopped dancing and held her at arms length feigning a look of complete astonishment. “Why on earth would any man let you slip out of his grasp? He must be mad!”
My thoughts exactly! “He was… I mean is… but it’s a long story that perhaps I will tell you someday.” Suzanne had no desire to rehash the whole Joshua and Lynna debacle tonight. She was much more interested in getting to know the sinfully handsome man who was presently crushing her against his hard frame in a way that was entirely too close for an unwed lady of genteel breeding to be held in public.
“I look forward to it.” Sean focused on her mouth as the tip of her tongue came out to moisten her pouty lips and they parted slightly as if she expected him to plunder her mouth right there on the dance floor. He knew a blatant offer of sexual favors when he saw it, and she had been married, so he wouldn’t be compromising her virtue. Not that it would have mattered. “Forgive me if I am being too forward, but I would enjoy getting to know you better, Suzanne. If I may call you that.”
“Call me anything you like,” she simpered. Then with a come hither smile she added, “the naughtier the better.”
“As you wish, Miss Jordan.” He pulled her even closer as his hand moved to squeeze the wanton vixen’s waist. “I have a room at the Charleston Inn, room 7, if you should care to continue our discussion later tonight.”
“As a matter of fact, I am feeling rather talkative,” she simpered, running her fingers along the hard line of his jaw. “And if I am not mistaken you are a man well versed in the fine art of conversation.”
“Rest assured that I shall give it my most valiant effort.” Bringing her hands to his lips one last time, he whispered, “I will be breathlessly awaiting our rendezvous.” As the band finished the set, he smiled down at her and winked before releasing her. “Until then, my pet.” Then he was gone.
As she watched him walk out the door Suzanne suddenly realized she hadn’t even asked his name. Good grief, she had planned a rendezvous with an unnamed man. Hopefully he wasn’t some villain after her valuable jewels. But she didn’t give it another thought as she began making plans to sneak out of the hotel later that night.
Much later as a satiated Suzanne lay snuggled against Sean’s sculpted body she thought to ask his name.
“Um…Desmond. Captain Eric Desmond,” he said, breathing heavily. The wildcat had exhausted him. He had practically sailed around the world, yet the girl had moves he had never seen on any continent.
“Eric,” Suzanne giggled. “I must admit that I most thoroughly enjoyed our chat.”
“As did I.” His finger drew invisible circles around the nipple on her left breast as he blew warm breath on the sensitive area. “Never have I been with a more… practiced female. And beautiful,” he added the untruth lest he offend her. “I fear you, my lovely lady, could be habit forming if one were not careful.”
Suzanne smiled saucily, loving the flattery.
“I still find it difficult to comprehend how any man could willingly give you up.” Sean realized he was laying it on a trifle thick, but she was much too narcissistic to see through his ploy. “If you were mine I would never allow you out of my sight.”
Shivers fluttered over Suzanne’s skin as he squeezed her roughly against him. He was a quick study and knew she liked it rough. Smart man. “Joshua felt that way in the beginning as well,” she spat with contempt. “In fact, we would still be married were it not for that conniving bitch.”
“This sounds intriguing. But what a loss it would be if you were still married.” His hand was moving down across her stomach, but he stilled it in
an effort to keep her mind on her current train of thought and continue talking. “Tell me more.”
Eager to have the dashing man so enthralled, Suzanne spread her legs wider - a blatant suggestion to keep moving his damn hand - and continued, “Lynna Rhodes Mathison Devereux Jordan. I think those are all the strumpet’s names. Ouch!” she cried as the hand that was behind her head tightened painfully in her hair. “Turn loose of my hair!”
“Forgive me.” Sean’s lungs constricted making it difficult for him to breathe when he heard the name. Lynna Jordan? Lynna Devereux? His sister by marriage? Was she now married to his late brother’s previous employer? It couldn’t be. She was dead.
Removing both hands from Suzanne’s person, Sean pushed up on the bed and sat against the headboard, trying to still his racing heart. He had dreamed of Lynna often since watching his ship sink. With her in it. Or so he had thought. “I did not realize my ring was caught in your hair.”
“Try to be more careful next time, would you?” she snapped, not at all pleased that he would be so careless with her.
“Of course.” Taking a calming breath, he slid back down to lie beside her, pulling her close. “But let us get comfortable so you can continue with this daring tale of intrigue.”
Loving being the center of attention, Suzanne fluffed her pillow and continued, “Let’s see? Where were we? Oh, so Joshua turns up… missing.” Here she paused and gave Eric a mischievous grin.
“Missing?” Sean returned her grin, touching a finger to her moist lips. Suzanne drew his finger into her mouth and sucked, her eyes conveying a wealth of meaning. “And did you have anything to do with his being misplaced?”
Batting her lashes coyly and ignoring his question, she glanced up. “And poor Lynna, ready to deliver his child any day, was simply beside herself with grief.”
“And this was recently?”
Situating herself between thighs that were already spread for her, Suzanne did her best to sound distressed. “Yes, Joshua was killed… um… went missing in mid September.”
Sean Devereux would bet his ship that Joshua Jordan was dead and his ex wife either did it by her own hand or hired someone else to do it. “And did she deliver a healthy baby?”
“Yes a boy, Beau.” Suzanne took his rigid shaft in her hand. It glistened with one pearly drop shimmering on the tip. “The child bears a positively uncanny resemblance to his father.”
“Does he now?” Sean placed his hand on her head, prompting her to take him in her mouth. She did, relishing the taste of him with a low moan. Sean groaned as her lips worked their magic, caressing him, running her tongue over the tip, pulling him deeper and deeper and fondling his sac. The girl was driving him insane with desire. Where had she been all his life?
After a few minutes of Sean having a death grip on her hair and desperately holding her in place lest she try to break suction, Suzanne knew he was close to the edge. Arching her back, she took the full length of him down her throat. It was a feeling unlike anything Sean had ever experienced. He wanted to savor the sensation, make it last for hours, but he knew that was physically impossible. He bucked twice and the explosion of flames ripped from his loins, causing him to cry out with pure erotic ecstasy. He shuddered for several seconds as she drained him dry.
Throwing his arms over his head, he relaxed and vowed to marry the girl come morning. For the love of all that was holy! He had never had a woman do that! She didn’t pull away at the pivotal moment, but caressed him with her tongue until the last pulse had stilled. The girl could move to the city, find employment in one of the finer brothels, and be wealthy overnight with the skills she possessed. “While listening to you talk I seem to remember hearing this tale, however I am a bit confused as I also recall hearing that a band of pirates abducted Captain Jordan’s wife off the Jamaican coast.”
She slithered up to press her body full length against Sean’s. “Yes, that did happen.”
“Then, I later heard the ship was attacked and his poor wife perished along with the crew.”
“I believe all you say is true, except for the unfortunate fact that Lynna did not perish.” Suzanne licked her lips then picked up his blanket to daintily pat her chin dry. “To make a long story short, somehow Lucky Lynna swam to a deserted island and it was her knight in shining armor Captain Joshua Jordan to her rescue.”
Sean’s eyes took on a faraway look and a smile curved his sensuous mouth.
Lynna. Alive? She had survived the sinking ship? But why hadn’t he seen her when he was floating in the water? For days? “Well, I’ll be damned!”
Suzanne rolled her eyes, hard pressed to conceal her irritation. “That makes two of us. Why couldn’t she just drown with the rest of that nasty pirate’s worthless crew?”
Sean cringed at her heartless words. The girl might have masterful lips, but she didn’t even know the meaning of compassion, while he remembered with vivid clarity each and every man that had gone under the water that day and never resurfaced, his own brother included. He had to close his eyes, take a few deep, calming breaths, and clear his head of the memory before he could even look at Suzanne without feeling an almost overwhelming urge to put his fist through her sultry lips.
Suzanne sighed, so lost in her own thoughts she didn’t notice when Sean’s eyes darkened ominously. Her personal needs were really all that mattered at the moment. She moved to lower herself onto him, but he stopped her with his hands on her hips. “Sorry, love, but you will have to give me a few minutes to rest before we attempt round three.”
Those certainly weren’t words Suzanne wanted, or expected, to hear, especially from the stallion beneath her. Unleashing an irritated breath, she plopped down on the bed beside him thinking unkind thoughts of Lynna.
Finally, things were falling into place for Suzanne where the harlot was concerned. Her revenge would soon be complete. “Oh Eric, it has been so tragic.” Though she really did try, Suzanne could not completely suppress her joyful giggle. “Poor Lynna fell ill three days after little Beau’s birth.”
“What?” Sean sat up in bed, once again forgetting the woman beside him squirming and begging for his attention. “And what was the diagnosis?” After drinking almost an entire bottle of wine, Suzanne had confessed that she was studying under the voodoo priestess on her brother’s plantation. Was Suzanne slowly poisoning Lynna?
“Childbed fever. Why, it has been simply awful to watch her becoming weaker with each passing day. She suffers from severe abdominal pain, raging fever, and has completely lost her appetite. I do declare, the poor girl looks as though she is wasting away before our very eyes. Patricia was forced to bring in a wet nurse to feed the baby, since all Lynna does is sleep. I don’t think she can possibly survive more than a few more days at most.”
Sean didn’t try to stifle a wide yawn, hoping she would take the hint and return to her hotel so he could think without being distracted by her insatiable needs. No such luck. The spiteful girl snuggled against his side and he could tell by her even breathing that she was asleep in seconds, without a care in the world.
Sean was still wide awake when the morning sun filtered through the flimsy lace curtains. Planning his next move.
On their third night together, Suzanne’s nude body slick with perspiration, she fell back on the bed totally spent. Indeed Joshua had more prowess than any of the numerous men who had made love to her, but Eric held a close second.
“I will dearly miss our nightly trysts,” she mused sadly. “My infuriating brother insists that we return to Cedar Hill. Samuel claims there is no reason for us to remain in the city any longer.” Her lower lip jutted out resembling a petulant child. “If he and that dowdy wife of his would venture out of their hotel room on occasion they might think otherwise and not be so eager to return to their insipid country life.”
“I will miss this as well,” Sean told the outright lie with a straight face, turning on his side to face her. True, she could do things with her mouth, lips, and throat that
he had never even deemed possible, but he had long since had his fill of the self centered, egotistical brat. Her mere presence disgusted him. “Forgive me if I am speaking out of turn, but from our conversations of the last few nights, it seems that you don’t particularly care for Lynna Jordan.”
“Care for her!” Suzanne practically spat the words, rubbing her hands down his chest and squeezing his limp member. “The happiest day of my life will be the day they slowly lower her stiff body into the ground to join her husband. And it shouldn’t be long.”
“But I thought you said her husband was missing?” Sean grabbed her hand bringing it to his lips. He was done with her. A sly grin played across his mouth letting her know he had figured out her ruse to get rid of both Joshua and his wife. “How can you be so sure he has reached his final resting place, my pet?”
“Just believe me when I say that I know.” Her laugh was a chilling sound that caused the hairs on the back of Sean’s neck to rise. Suzanne had already noticed the poor man seemed to have a problem with staying power. “And stop teasing me.”
He knew it! She did have something to do with Joshua Jordan’s disappearance. “I understand. But tell me, what did Lynna Jordan do to you that was so egregious, if I may be so bold as to ask?”
“She stole my husband. You see I was married to Joshua.” Her eyes misted as her mind wandered to another time and place. “It was the most wonderful day of my entire life.” Then her eyes cleared, snapping with anger. “Then she threw her body at him like some common prostitute until the poor man was infatuated with her whorish ways. She stole him from me and I will have my revenge, on both of them. One way or another.”
Sean was wise enough to realize that if he didn’t intervene soon Suzanne would see Lynna dead and in her grave, and what a waste that would be. He would never tire of Lynna. He had a plan already forming in his mind, but he would need Suzanne’s assistance to carry it out.
“Perhaps I can help you with that.” He smiled, lowering his mouth to her breast to put her in a more agreeable mood. From the sound of it, Lynna didn’t have a second to spare. She needed to be far away, where Suzanne couldn’t get to her, and the sooner the better. “I know a man who has a home on one of the islands. He would love to have a woman like Lynna Jordan in his bed.”