Busbee, Shirlee

by Lady Vixen

  Saber almost smiled at her possessive reference to the ship, but his voice gave no hint of his thoughts as he replied, "Allen is not a fool! He had only to remain safely undetected on La Belle Garce and supply his superiors with sailing dates and routes of other privateers."

  At Nicole's look of disbelief, he added, "I too have my own methods of finding out things. It was a simple task to have a certain . . . er . . . friend in Jamaica inquire briefly after a supposed crony in the Navy. Naturally no hint was given as to -Allen's orders or his whereabouts, but the information received revealed clearly that the Admiralty Office in London thinks very highly of young Captain Allen Ballard."

  Appalled and not a little distressed to think that Allen actually was the spy she had suspected, Nicole paled. She had no doubt that Saber would present his information to the proper authorities and Allen would hang! For the moment her own peril took second place to Allen's greater danger, and she studied Saber with consideration.

  He was, from all appearances, unmoved by the day's events, almost disinterested. If it had suited him for Allen to remain on his ship, he would have allowed him to do so, just as he would have ignored her own disguise indefinitely. She wasn't positive of her own role, but suspected that he had grown bored with the situation and had decided to end it. She had the inner conviction that his desire for her had been a final factor, and she sought a way in which to turn his possible passion for her into an advantage. She asked carefully, "If it were beneficial to you, would you forget about Allen's identity and allow him to escape?"

  "My dear Nick," he asked quizzically, "are you attempting to bribe me?"

  She nodded slowly, a sense of excitement coursing through her veins. But Saber shattered her mood by laughing cruelly, "What have you to offer? You're penniless, and I don't believe Allen is in position to bargain with me."

  It was a delicate situation and Nicole was playing on the very risky assumption that Saber desired her willing, instead of kicking and clawing. It was all too true, but taking a deep breath she said boldly, "I have nothing to offer except myself. I propose a trade—I come to your bed willingly and remain as long as you will, and you release Allen—you have my word on it!"

  CHAPTER 9

  Nicole's wild proposal left Saber nonplussed. After several unnerving moments, he asked curiously, "Are you saying you'll become my mistress, if I release Ballard?"

  "Exactly!" she said with more confidence than she really felt.

  For a long minute Saber's gaze traveled slowly over her body. Unconsciously she stiffened with anger at his blatant appraisal of her body, and forgetting herself, she lifted her chin angrily and snapped, "Well, is it a bargain?"

  A slight mocking smile curving his mouth, Saber moved away from the desk and walked unhurriedly up to her, his body warm and hard as he pulled her slowly into his arms. Nicole was conscious of a trembling in her legs that had nothing to do with fear.

  "Why not?" he murmured and then his mouth, seeking and exploring, covered hers.

  Telling herself she was doing this for Allen, Nicole stood unresisting and uncertain in Saber's arms. Her lips were soft and untaught under Saber's, and after a second he raised his head and teased, "You'll have to do better than that, Nick."

  Incurably honest and slightly nettled, Nicole shot back, "How can I, when I don't know what I'm supposed to do?"

  One eyebrow flew up again, this time in derisive disbelief. "Are you going to continue this virginal pretense? I wouldn't if I were you. I saw you that afternoon when you met Allen at the lagoon, and I was witness to your eager embrace. Don't ever, my dear Nick, play me for a fool."

  Grimly she said, "I'm telling the truth, and I would be silly indeed to attempt to deceive you about something that can be so easily proved."

  She watched the dark bearded features closely and wished he were not so adept at hiding his emotions.

  What was going on behind those inscrutable amber-gold eyes? His face did not betray him, and Nicole stirred uneasily in his arms as the seconds passed and he remained silent. Finally he said quietly, "There's only one way to find out, isn't there?"

  Nicole nodded slowly, her heart thumping madly. Watching her face intently, Saber released her and said abruptly, "We'll leave here." A sudden grin creased his face, and with a wicked glance at her he added, "I foresee a very pleasurable respite for us."

  Nicole said nothing. He had accepted her rash offer and she was committed to seeing it through. At least she had the comfort of knowing Allen was saved. She remembered uneasily that Saber hadn't agreed exactly, but had only implied in so many words that he did.

  Her troubled gaze fell upon the trunk as he placed it on his shoulder; seeing her interest, Saber smiled coldly and said unkindly, "It wouldn't have done any good at all, Nick. Those code books left the ship this morning while you were in the storeroom for me. Higgins should be a good way down the road to New Orleans with them by now."

  Nicole went white, and nearly stuttering with rage, she demanded, "H-h-how could they be? You never went near the safe this morning."

  "You're not as clever as you think, Nick. It was a simple task to remove them last night and entrust them to the first mate this morning. A very loyal individual is Higgins," he finished in that irritating drawling manner of his.

  Nicole felt a sweep of guilt at the emphasis on loyal, but she hated the sarcastic inflection in his voice, and keeping her body as stiff and unyielding as possible, she let him propel her out of the room. The deck was deserted except for a few necessary crewmen who were standing idly about.

  No one spoke as the dinghy was lowered and they clambered aboard. It was a silent journey to the shore; the creaking of the oarlocks, the swish of the waves, and the occasional cry of a gull were the only sounds in the salt-scented sea air.

  Saber paid little attention to Nicole, and for a second as they walked away from the dinghy, she contemplated making a sprint away from the beach and into the safety of the palm-thatched buildings that lay just beyond the fringe of trees.

  "I wouldn't try it if I was you, Nick." Saber's cold warning caused her to nearly stumble in the sand, and quelling the unnerving thought that he must have read her mind, she inquired innocently, "Whatever do you mean?"

  He gave a grating laugh. "You know very well what I mean! Stop trying to gull me." Deliberately he added, "Remember poor Allen."

  Dispiritedly she acknowledged she had almost forgotten Allen, and with a twinge of regret she put aside the thought of escape.

  Some hours later, as they drifted up to a small pier, Nicole realized that she had been lost in her own thoughts as they slowly traveled up the black murky waters of the bayou. She sat staring blindly at the huge cypress trees with their trailing, ghostlike veils of gray moss. With a start of surprise she noticed that they had reached their probable destination, and like one awakening from an unpleasant dream, she shook herself mentally and assumed a mask of calmness to hide her inner turmoil.

  Thibodaux House was an old plantation. It had been wrested from the antediluvian wilderness when New Orleans was just a cluster of wooden shacks huddled together along a swampy, fever-infested bend of the muddy Mississippi River. Where there once had been swamp and forests of cypress and water oaks, now fields of cotton and sugarcane stretched to the very banks of the levees that held back the river and the constantly shifting bayous, which would have eagerly engulfed and covered the land again.

  The original house had long since been destroyed, and another more elegant dwelling had replaced it. The present house was less than twenty years old, and yet the massive oaks that lined the broad avenue leading to it were nearly a century old. Their huge knotted limbs almost met overhead, and from them Spanish moss hung like a soft gray-green mist, creating a long, shady arch through which Nicole and Saber traveled. The avenue ended abruptly and there before them stood Thibodaux House, majestic in the winter sunlight. Magnolias, pecans, and the ever-present oaks were scattered in studied carelessness near the house, like a frame
for a beautiful painting. And the house, as if aware of its great beauty, rose in proud splendor from the parklike expanse of emerald lawn that surrounded it. Galleries, wide and cool, encompassed all sides of the house; a railing of airy latticework across the upper story was tinted a soft green, while below the graceful brick-plastered columns that surrounded the lower floor were an incredibly glistening white. Shutters that adorned the many long, narrow windows repeated the same soft green of the upper railings, as did the two staircases at either side of the house.

  For just a minute Nicole allowed a feeling of pleasure to run through her as she admired the quiet, almost arrogant beauty of the house. But she wondered at Saber's presence here. Did he have such easygoing wealthy friends that he could call on them at will? Or had he, somehow by iniquitous means, acquired the house himself? And because she was suspicious and wary, she was able to conceal any admiration she might have felt.

  Even the black-and-white marbled floors of the huge main hall, the slabs laid out in a lovely diamond pattern, aroused no comment from her. Stiffly she stood at Saber's side as he talked in an undertone to a tall, slender negro dressed in a severe suit of dark cloth, the blackness of his skin intensified by the startling white of his shirt. She paid no attention to their soft conversation, but stared blankly down the hall, hearing nothing, seeing nothing. So lost was she in her efforts to appear indifferent that Saber's light touch on her arm, as he piloted her in the direction of the imposing front door, came as a shock, and she gave a start of surprise.

  Smiling down into her upturned face, he said coolly, "Nervous, m'dear? Don't be. I assure you I have no intention of falling upon you like a starving wolf."

  Nicole took no comfort from his mocking words, but then she suspected she wasn't meant to either. Pulling herself together, she cast him a look of undiluted hatred. Saber laughed, and his hand tightening around her arm, he propelled her out onto the downstairs gallery. Ignoring her obvious reluctance, he continued to force her in the direction of one of the staircases. At the bottom step they were met by a smiling young negress, her head wrapped in a gay red-and-white bandana. Saber greeted the girl with pleasure, and Nicole, sourly watching the black face light up with enjoyment at his easy words, wondered how he was able so effortlessly to charm whenever and whomever he wished. Well, he certainly wasn't charming her, she thought nastily!

  He glanced down at her and, as if guessing her thoughts, said lightly, "I'm sure you'll overlook my servants' pleasure at my return, but they for some, I'm sure you'll agree, odd reason happen to enjoy working for me. They haven't your clear-sighted view of my character."

  With bored nonchalance she said, "My dear sir, your relationship with your servants is none of my business. All I care about at the present is my bed and bath!"

  "Then you will no doubt enjoy the services of Galena. She will be your maid as long as you remain here. Be sure," he added in a hard voice, "to let her know if there is anything you require."

  "I intend to!" Nicole purred sweetly.

  Saber grinned; then he strode away in the direction of the overseer's office, a small brick building that was situated just beyond the plantation's kitchen.

  As was typical of the houses in Louisiana, the kitchen was a separate building behind the main house; then came the overseer's office, and behind it the dovecotes, and beyond that the two rows of small brick cabins that comprised the slave quarters. In the distance behind the slave cabins, Saber could see the green fields of sugarcane and just barely the tip of the sugar mill. For a moment he spared a thought for the family that had lost all this wealth merely on a throw of the dice, but he promptly forgot them as he pushed open the door to his overseer's office.

  Nicole wandered around the large pleasant bedroom in which she found herself, wondering how Saber came to find himself in such luxury. It was a marvelous room —soft woolen carpets covered most of the gleaming wooden floor; an enormous carved mahogany bed with cheerful yellow silk hangings was against one wall; small inlaid tables were placed here and there; a few chairs covered with excellent damask were arranged near the fireplace; and above the mantel a majestic gilt mirror reflected the entire room.

  Turning her back on the fireplace, she walked over to one of the long, narrow windows hung with drapes of satin in the same shade of yellow as the bed hangings and stared out gloomily. Life was the very devil, she decided unhappily. This time yesterday she and Allen had everything in the palm of their hands and now . . . Saber had blasted it all to hell! She stood looking out at the green expanse of lawn in the fading light and tried to imagine how she would feel this time tomorrow . . . after tonight!

  Silently she watched the sun sinking and wished as it disappeared slowly behind the towering oaks and cypress swamp that it was already tomorrow and that this evening were behind her. But in spite of an inward shrinking Nicole was not a coward and she had made a bargain. That she would like to change her mind was true, and as Galena bustled around in the background and laid out a robe of some silky material in a shade of deep green and a gown of a lighter shade, but not any less transparent, she had a wild urge to flee from the room and plead with Saber to forget her earlier foolish words. Yet the thought of Allen's fate stilled the motion. She knew that whatever plans Saber may have had for Allen, her intervention had changed them, and Saber would hold her to her word.

  Grimly, like a gladiator preparing for the arena, she let Galena unbind and wash her hair, and submitted with the same resigned air to a bath perfumed with the scent of jasmine. Closing her eyes, she willed her tense body to relax in the warm water and was surprised when she did so. She left the bath with regret and was enfolded in a large fluffy towel and coaxed over to the bed." Galena's soft hands massaged her body, and Nicole felt all stiffness leave. A lightly perfumed oil evocative of jasmine and honeysuckle was poured over her and smoothed into her skin. Numbly, she slipped into the flowing gown and robe, wondering where her will to fight had flown, and then reminded herself that there was to be no fight—she was to be willing, it was her own bargain.

  That same numbness was so strong that not even the appearance of Saber in a heavy gold silk robe that rioted with black Chinese dragons could shatter it.

  Acting as if it were a common occurrence to receive gentlemen in her bedroom, she watched impassively as Sanderson, the slender negro to whom Saber had spoken upon their arrival, set up a small table and proceeded to. serve them dinner. It was a meal worthy of royalty, but for the pleasure she derived from the succulent shrimp, the filet de boeuf aux champignons, and the wild rice and oysters, she might as well have been eating black dried bread crusts. A deep red Burgundy was served with the main course and Nicole emptied her glass as quickly as it was filled.

  Saber, lounging leisurely in his chair and savoring an after-dinner cigar with his brandy, smiled as she defiantly tossed down another glass of wine. She looked to Sanderson, but he, intercepting the decisive shake of Saber's head, pretended not to see and, correctly interpreting the glance his master sent him, quickly cleared all signs of their meal. Leaving only a decanter of brandy for Saber, Sanderson departed.

  With dismay she watched him leave, and then rashly deciding attack was the best defense, she took a deep breath and demanded, "And now?"

  Saber flashed her a lazy grin, but then after he stubbed out his half-finished cigar, his smile vanished and he said thoughtfully, "And now, little vixen... we find out just how much of the truth you have been telling me!"

  CHAPTER 10

  The words hit her like a blast of icy wind. Frozen, she watched him, her eyes dark with emotion, as he rose from his chair and approached her. For a moment he stood beside her and looked down into her face, his eyes gliding lightly over her faintly agitated features—eyes nearly black with turmoil and a full, inviting mouth. The gleaming, dark fire hair tumbling about her shoulders and framing her face gave her the look of some wood creature-—a wild creature untouched by man. His eyes lingered for a moment on that half-parted mouth, and then th
ey slid down to the gentle swell of her breasts, staring as if bewitched at the increased rise and fall of her bosom beneath the misty green veil of her gown.

  Nicole had never been so conscious of her body, but then she had never worn such a transparent excuse for a garment before nor, and more importantly, had she ever been the object of Saber's sensual interest.

  She felt a queer sense of detachment—almost as if this were happening to someone else. Even when he pulled her up into his arms, the feeling persisted. It wasn't her he was kissing, his lips warm and passionate against hers, his arms holding her pressed next to his tall, lean body, it was some other girl, and she, Nicole, was merely an onlooker.

  Saber, feeling her lack of response, and aware of her air of insularity, raised his mouth from hers. He could feel it in the slim body, so close to his, and in the indifferent softness of her lips under his. Speculatively he looked at her, his gold eyes narrowed and hidden by the thick black lashes. Perhaps she was as she asserted—a virgin—but he doubted it. And because he thought she was stooping to trickery, he wasted little time in preliminaries. Grasping the low neck of her gown in one quick downward swipe, he tore it from her body.

  Nicole stood naked and unmoving before him, her slender body bathed in candlelight. Gazing at her slim beauty—the high pointed breasts with the soft coral nipples, the narrow ribcage resting above a slender waist, the flat tautness of her stomach, and the dark lovely triangle between her long legs—Saber's breath caught in his throat, his desire erupted like a blazing volcano. Sweeping her up into his arms, he carried her to the bed.

  He slid onto the bed beside Nicole as she lay motionless on the scented sheets, her hair spilling out like a cloak of fire around her shoulders. Lying on his side next to her, barely touching her, he leaned over and leisurely, in spite of the driving urgency of his body, he kissed her, again evoking no response. With a frown of displeasure, he propped himself up on one arm and stared down at her face.