by Bobbi Smith
Slater had been truly entertained watching Nick tonight. His friend was not one for jealousy, but Slater knew enough to recognize the green-eyed monster even when Nick didn't. No matter how much Nick might try to deny it, he was coming to feel something for this girl, and he resented the relationship she'd had with Philip. Why else would he have sat there through the meal so tense and on edge? Why else would he have shot the other man such deadly looks every time he tried to make conversation with Jordan? He was jealous all right.
When Nick had told him of Miss Layton's condition at the midday meal, Slater had seen the spark of delight in his eyes. Not that his friend wished i11-health on the older woman. But it had been obvious that his friend was looking forward to spending some time alone with Jordan, something he hadn't been able to manage since their outing to the beach over a week ago. It was even more obvious now, as Nick, anxious to get her away from the attentive Montgomery, pushed his chair back and made to stand up from the table.
"Shall we go for a walk on the deck, Jordan?" Nick invited.
"Yes, I'd like that. I'm sure I need the exercise after the meal I just ate," Jordan responded, getting to her feet as Nick helped her with her chair. A walk in the fresh air sounded heavenly after the afternoon she'd just spent in the airless sickroom.
"A walk sounds good. I'll..." Philip was about to say, casually of course, that he would join them for the stroll, but Slater inobtrusively clamped a restraining hand on his arm, effectively halting him.
Philip tensed as he watched them leave the dining room. Nick's hand was resting with possessive familiarity at the small of her back, and Jordan was looking happy and relaxed as she gazed up at him.
Philip was worried and it showed on his face. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were hard with suspicion. He didn't like the idea of Jordan being on deck at night alone with Kane while her chaperone was asleep in the stateroom. He'd seen the way Kane had been looking at her during dinner. There was a gleam of something in his eyes now that hadn't been there before, and it troubled him.
Slater waited until Jordan and Nick were completely out of sight before he eased his viselike grip on the impetuous young man's arm. "That wasn't smart."
"She shouldn't..." he began, then cut himself off. It was not his place...
"She's not your concern any longer," Slater warned him, and then bluntly added. "She does not need or want your protection."
Philip felt frustrated. He knew what Slater was saying was right, but Jordan was still his sister. Philip sat back in his chair, hoping she could handle herself with the worldly Dominic Kane and wishing Miss Layton a very speedy recovery.
The sky was a black velvet canopy spangled with a myriad of twinkling stars as Nick and Jordan emerged on deck. The normal bustle of the day was over, and all was quiet. They strode slowly toward the rail, her arm linked through his, to gaze out over the moonlit sea.
Nick was relieved to get away from the dining room. Between Montgomery's annoying presence and Slater's subtle, knowing smirk, he'd barely managed to tolerate sitting through the meal. If he hadn't known Jordan was so hungry, he might have made his excuses and left even earlier.
Nick wasn't sure exactly what it was that Slater found so amusing. He certainly didn't think there was anything funny about their situation. He'd hired Jordan to play the part of his adoring future bride, and yet he was being forced to sit across the table from her and make polite conversation with her ex-lover. It had not been an easy or comfortable thing to do, and it had been for that reason and that reason alone, Nick told himself, that he'd wanted out of there as quickly as possible.
As he walked the deck now with Jordan by his side, Nick was finally beginning to relax a little. There was a faint cooling breeze blowing and it felt refreshing to them as they paused by the rail.
"Is anything wrong, Nick?" Jordan asked. She'd noticed that he'd had very little to say during dinner and that his expression had been rather forbidding all evening.
"No. Not at all. We finally managed to escape the ever-vigilant Miss Layton, how could anything be wrong? We should be celebrating, you know."
"We are celebrating. We're taking a walk all by ourselves." Jordan laughed easily, then asked in a mock serious tone, "You don't think my reputation will be besmirched if I'm seen out here this late at night all alone with you, do you?"
Nick's gaze darkened as he looked down at her. She looked so young and beautiful and happy that he was hard put not to sweep her into his arms right then and there. Holding himself back, he lifted one hand and touched the softness of her cheek with a single finger. "Should anyone dare make a derogatory remark about your character, my love, I'll call them out for you."
His touch sent shivers of delight coursing down Jordan's spine. But just as she was about to let herself believe his words, she realized that an older married couple she'd seen in the dining room earlier had emerged on deck. His actions had all been for display. She turned away from his touch to gaze out across the sea.
"Your gallantry is appreciated, kind sir," she replied, keeping her voice light.
Nick was slightly insulted at her flippant remark and the way she'd turned away from him. "I've never said that to a woman before," he murmured.
Jordan felt a thrill at his statement, but denied it. "You've never been engaged before," she explained with a shrug.
"That's true enough. If I had, I wouldn't be in this predicament now. I'd be at home all settled down ...an old married man with four children and another on the way."
The thought of Nick having children filled Jordan with a real warmth. She was certain he'd make beautiful babies, for he was such a handsome man, himself. "Do you like children?"
"Yes, in fact, I've always wanted to have quite a few. I grew up without sisters and brothers and I've always felt like I'd missed something. What about you? You're an only child, aren't you?"
"No," she answered, before she realized she shouldn't say anything.
"NOT'
"I have a brother."
Nick frowned at her revelation. "Why didn't you mention him before? Where was he when you were forced to indenture yourself? Why didn't he help you when you needed it?"
Thinking quickly, she used Philip's middle name. "John couldn't help me. He's at sea."
"Does he know what's happened to you?"
"I hope so. I wouldn't want him to worry."
"And?"
"And what? There's nothing more he can do for me. There was no money. I had to start a new life, so I did." Jordan suddenly felt very cornered. She didn't want to talk about these things. She didn't want to have to watch every word that came out of her mouth.
Jordan started to look away from Nick, but he took her by the shoulders and made her face him. He lifted her chin with one hand so their eyes met.
"Just when I think I know you, I discover something new." How much more was there about her that he didn't know? The thought both intrigued and troubled him.
As he spoke, Jordan prayed desperately for the strength not to reveal any more to this man. She wanted to slide her gaze away from his, but his power over her was too great.
"There are so many secrets in your eyes, Jordan..." Nick was saying. "Will I ever learn them all?"
Every time he thought he had her figured out, she changed. When he first saw her on the docks, he thought her passably attractive-and an illiterate. He'd discovered later that she was lovely to look at and well-man nered, well-read, and well-educated. At the dressmaker's, she'd shown him her knowledge of fashion and good taste. On the beach, she'd seemed the sun-kissed gamin out to charm him with her innocence, even though he knew better. Tonight, in the lovely gown she wore, she appeared the sophisticate. Nick wasn't sure of anything anymore, but he felt determined to find out who Jordan really was.
Aware that the other couple had disappeared from sight, Nick was unable to resist any longer. Slowly, almost cautiously, he drew Jordan to him and bent to kiss her. The kiss was gentle, and he paused, pulling slight
ly away to gaze down at her in the moonlight.
Jordan's eyes had drifted shut as she'd lost herself in the wonder of his embrace, and when Nick saw her dreamy expression, all thoughts of remembering their bargain fled. Her lips were moist and parted and begging for his kiss, and he took them in an exchange that was devastating in its intensity.
There was no fighting for Jordan. She wanted this... she wanted him. She knew it was right from the moment Nick's lips met hers. That there could be no future for them didn't matter now. All that mattered was that she was in his arms.
Of their own volition, Jordan's arms wound around his neck, drawing him even closer to her. When his hand sought the swell of her breast, she arched against him, wanting to get as near to him as she could.
Audrey stirred in her bed and came slowly awake. At the feel of the boat's roll beneath her, a wave of nausea wracked her, and she managed to grab for the slop jar just in time. When her trauma had passed, she lay back weakly staring into the darkness and trying to compose her thoughts. Where was Jordan?
"Jordan?" she croaked her name hoarsely, but there came no reply. "Oh, my God," Audrey muttered, struggling to sit upright.
It was so dark, it had to be late. But if the hour was so advanced, then where was her ward? Jordan might have gone out for dinner, but she should have been back by now, safely tucked away in her bed.
Audrey became concerned, and that worry gave her strength. She had been hired to do a job. She had been hired to protect Jordan, and she'd let her illness interfere. She'd failed.
Determined to set things to rights, she swung her legs over the side of her bunk. Audrey sat there for a long minute waiting for the dizziness to pass before making her first attempt to stand. She had some difficulty, but by bracing one arm against the wall, she could move about. Fighting down the queasiness that threatened to force her to return to her bed, she lit the lamp, then reached for her clothing.
Nick's breathing was hot and heavy as he crushed Jordan to his chest. Kiss after drugging kiss had sent his desire soaring. He wanted her as he had never wanted another. The scent of her, the way she trembled at his touch, the honeyed taste of her passionate kisses, all threatened to drive him out of his mind. These few stolen moments weren't enough. His body commanded that he take her.
"Jordan..." he said her name in a deep and husky voice.
He held her a little away from him to look down at her, and what he saw in her open, unguarded expression electrified him. She wanted him just as much as he wanted her. He was sure of it. Her eyes were heavy-lidded and her cheeks were flushed. Nick knew he had to get them belowdecks to his stateroom before he lost his control and took her right there on deck. He kissed her once more, his lips parting hers in a soul-stirring exchange that left her knees weak.
"Nick..." she breathed, bewildered by the tumultuous emotions that were surging through her,
"Come with me..." he told her, taking her hand.
Jordan was lost in a haze of sensuality unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. Their kisses on the beach had been arousing, but tonight, here in the moonlight, something more was happening. She'd discovered the meaning of true passion, and she wanted Nick now as only a grown woman could want a man. When he drew her with him, she didn't protest but went willingly. This was what she wanted, what it seemed she'd waited her whole life for.
Nick didn't want to waste a minute of their precious time alone explaining. Slipping an arm around Jordan's shoulders, he started straight for the companionway and his cabin. He kept her close to his side, loving the feel of her near to him. He could hardly wait to have her in his bed, naked beneath him. He wanted to lose himself in her velvet softness. He wanted to kiss every inch of her satiny flesh and hear her moan with excitement as he pleasured her. He wanted...
"Thank heaven I found you two!" Miss Layton exclaimed as they came face to face abruptly at the top of the companionway. "I was so worried! I,ve been looking everywhere thinking something terrible might have happened to you!"
Jerked back to reality from the sensual oblivion that had enveloped them, the would-be lovers stood perfectly still, frozen in their heated tracks. Their hands fell quickly away from each other, and they were both grateful for the covering of darkness that hid their expressions from the conscientious guardian.
"Miss Layton... You're feeling better?" To Nick's profound relief, Jordan found her voice first.
"A little, my dear, a very little. But I knew I couldn't just lie there and not do my duty by you."
"Well, there was really nothing for you to worry about. Nick has been taking very good care of me. We just had dinner, took a short stroll around the deck, and were just heading back to the cabin now." Jordan didn't lie, she just didn't say which cabin.
"You're as much a gentleman as your father," Audrey complimented the still-silent Nick. "I'm sure Jordan must have been tired of being cooped up in our stateroom. I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves, but don't you think it's getting a little late now? We'd better go... oh...!"
She swayed, suddenly feeling terribly lightheaded and woozy. She put one arm out to brace herself against the wall, but Nick was quickly there at her side, supporting her.
"It looks like we'd better get you back to bed," he said sympathetically as Jordan hurried to take her other arm.
"Yes, let's get you back to our stateroom where you belong," Jordan agreed. Her eyes met Nick's over the top of Audrey's head, but there was nothing to say.
They helped her back down the steps. It was no short walk to the cabin, and by the time they reached the door, the guardian was leaning heavily on Nick.
"I'm sorry about this, Mr. Kane. I promise you, I'll be fine once we dock tomorrow."
"We should reach New Orleans by mid-afternoon."
"You can't imagine how I'm looking forward to it," Audrey replied with dying humor as Nick opened the door and helped her inside. "Thank you for all your kindness."
"You just take care of yourself. Jordan, I'll be waiting in the hall." He retreated from the room as she got ready to lie down. He closed the door, but waited just outside to say good night to Jordan.
Jordan helped her undress, then drew a blanket over her, stalling for a moment before she went to speak to Nick. As her passion had cooled her common sense had returned. The realization of what she'd been about to do sent a shudder through her. She had to make sure that she was never alone with Nick again. He was far too attractive. All he had to do was touch her and she melted. She almost feared that she...but no! That couldn't be. It just couldn't. Finally, no longer able to delay it, Jordan went out to see Nick.
While he was waiting for Jordan, Nick, too, had had time to think. His mood turned black as he realized what he'd almost done. He had almost broken his word to Jordan. Theirs was to be a relationship in name only. How could he have forgotten that? What was the matter with him? Why did a single kiss from her render him senseless?
It was ridiculous, Nick told himself. She was just a woman, like all the others he'd ever known. She was nothing special. Oh, yes, she had a pretty face and a nice body, but so had the other women he'd been with. What he was feeling was lust, pure and simple, and he would just have to learn to control it for the next several months, that was all. There was no way he was going to let himself get personally involved with her.
When Jordan emerged from the room, Nick's expression was guarded.
"Is she resting comfortably now?"
"As well as she can, I guess. Nick, I..." Jordan didn't get the chance to finish what she was going to say.
"You realize that it's a good thing we ran into her when we did, don't you?" He wanted to make sure this sort of thing didn't happen again, and he made sure his tone was serious.
"Of course," she said with a proud lift of her chin. Though his words struck pain directly to her heart, she would never let him know. He'd always told her that he wanted nothing to do with her in that way, and she should have remembered it.
They bid a rather quick, cool go
od night to each other and parted. Later, when Jordan lay alone in her bed across the cabin from the sleeping Miss Layton, she tried to imagine what would have happened had the chaperone not come to her "rescue." She envisioned herself in Nick's arms, losing herself to his strength and power. As she dwelled on the memory of his potent kisses, she could feel the flame of her need rekindle deep inside her.
With a smothered groan, Jordan rolled over and buried her face in her pillow. She shouldn't feel these things for Nick! But even as she tried to fight it, her body betrayed her. Her body acknowledged what she was trying to deny-she was falling in love with Nick.
Was she in love with Nick? At the thought, Jordan went still. Could it be? Was that what was troubling her so deeply? Was that why she couldn't get him out of her mind? Was that why his kiss and touch drove her to distraction? Slowly she came to realize it was true. No matter how hard she'd tried not to, she had fallen in love with him.
Jordan fought down another groan as she accepted the fact of her heart's wayward yearnings. She did love Nick. Yet even as she admitted it to herself, she also accepted the painful truth that she couldn't let it come to anything, for she could never really be the wife he needed. She was living a lie. She would only ruin him if the truth came out about her past. Jordan drew a ragged breath and curled on her side. Pferhaps with sleep the ache in her soul would ease.
Peri Kane Davidson, a vivacious, dark-haired nineteen-year-old, sat with her Uncle Charles Kane in the parlor at Riverwood, enjoying a cool glass of lemonade. A pretty girl with a lively sense of humor and open personality, she was a favorite of her uncle. Having heard that he wasn't feeling well, she'd come to spend some time with him, arriving only that very morning by steamer from New Orleans, where she lived with her parents, Marjorie and Randall.
"So tell me, Uncle Charles, where is my handsome cousin today?" Peri asked in a teasing tone as she sipped of her refreshing drink. She always heard a lot of gossip about Nick and knew quite a bit about his amorous escapades. She wondered where he'd gone and what he was up to this time.