Текст книги "Wild Silver "

Автор книги: Iris Johansen

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5

Valentin stood in the doorway, his gaze traveling over Silver

from the top of her dark head to the tips of her sensible patent

leather boots. He bowed gracefully. „You look as fresh as a

spring daffodil.“

„I look no different than I did this afternoon.“ Silver

touched the bodice of her white shirtwaist. „I have nothing

else to wear. Not that I would have changed for dinner

anyway. Why should I care what you all think of me?“ She

came toward him, her back very straight, her carriage majestic.

„I didn’t choose to come here.“

Valentin grimaced as he looked down at his own elegant

attire. „Ah, such confidence. I’m afraid I’ve always relied

upon my tailor to lend me boldness when facing a social

evening.“

Silver smiled. It was difficult to believe Valentin could be

anything but confident in any situation. „I have a confession to

make.“

„Wonderful, I love to hear lovely women’s confessions. I

do hope it’s shocking.“

She lowered her voice to a whisper. „I did scrub my face

and brush my hair.“

Valentin’s laugh rang out. „A touch of vanity at last.“ He

offered her his arm. „Since we’re obviously kindred spirits,

may I escort you to the grand saloon, Miss Delaney?“

She slipped her arm in his. „I’m not nervous, you

understand.“

„No, of course not,“ he said gently. „But I am. So perhaps

you’ll be persuaded to bear me company this evening. A man

always feels more confident with a pretty woman at his side.“

She tried to hide the relief that cascaded through her. „I

don’t see why not.“ She didn’t look at him as she permitted

him to escort her from the stateroom. „You’ve been very kind

to me.“

She was glad for his polite chatter as well as his silent

support as they traversed the long, glittering expanse of the

saloon. The chandeliers shimmered with color, borrowing

brilliance from the stained-glass skylights and casting a festive

glow on the scene at the opposite end of the saloon. The long

dinner table was covered with a rich lace cloth and set with

fine china and tall white candles in silver holders. Four

musicians played on a raised circular platform a few yards

away from the dinner table. They were quite skilled but no one

was paying any attention to their music, Silver noticed. The

men and women seated at the table were too involved with one

another, their laughter and conversation so loud the music

could scarcely be heard. Dinner was already in progress and

four white-coated servants were bustling around the table

filling wineglasses and serving roast chicken from a silver

tray.

Her gaze flew to the head of the table. Nicholas was

dressed entirely in stunning black and white, his golden hair

shining with light as he bent to speak to the lovely red-haired

woman sitting on his left. He seemed very amused by the

woman, she noticed with a pang that she permitted to last only

until the instant she identified its nature. She swiftly shifted

her glance to Valentin. „I don’t see Mikhail.“

„Mikhail feels uncomfortable at most social functions and

Nicky seldom insists he attend.“

No one appeared to notice their arrival, and Valentin was

unobtrusively seating her near the foot of the table when

Nicholas’s voice rang out over the hubbub of conversation.

„Not there, Valentin.“ He casually gestured to a chair farther

up the table. „Seat her beside our good friend Bassinger, and

then come and sit by me. We want our newcomer to get

acquainted with our other guests, don’t we?“

„Do we?“ Valentin murmured. He shrugged resignedly, but

whispered in Silver’s ear as he escorted her to the chair

Nicholas had indicated, „Be careful, Bassinger is…“ He

trailed off. „I’ll see you after dinner!“

Silver nodded as she seated herself between a plump, pretty

woman in a violet taffeta gown and a slim elegant gentleman

with pale green eyes. „Thank you, Valentin.“

Valentin hesitated and then muttered something beneath his

breath before stalking toward the head of the table. He threw

himself into the chair at Nicholas’s right and immediately

reached for the wine goblet beside his plate.

„Count Marinov appears to be disturbed at being forced to

share you with the rest of us.“ The man at Silver’s left leaned

toward her and smiled intimately. „Who could blame him?

You’re very lovely, Miss…?“

„Silver Delaney.“ She glanced at him briefly. She judged

him to be middle-aged; his features were nondescript and gray

threaded his dark hair like winter frost. His light green eyes

reminded her also of frost. Even though his lips were smiling,

his eyes were cold. „And there’s no reason why Count

Marinov should be disturbed.“

„I’m Lee Bassinger.“ The man’s smiled remained intact.

„I’ve heard a number of very interesting things about you. I

understand you’re Savron’s property, but tonight you appear

with Marinov. Is Nicholas sharing you?“

„I’m no man’s property.“ Silver watched as a servant

placed a chicken breast on her plate with silver tongs. „I’ve

heard of you too, Mr. Bassinger.“

Bassinger’s lips tightened. „Really? His highness has

spoken of me?“

She shook her head as she picked up her knife and fork and

cut into her chicken with exquisite precision. „Robert Danfold.

He said you were a very rich man with many riverboats in

your shipping company and offices in St. Louis, Memphis, and

New Orleans.“

His smile deepened. „That’s true. I’m as rich as you could

wish, and I can be very generous if a woman pleases me.“

She took a bite of her chicken. It was delicious, delicately

flavored with herbs. „He also said you were stupid enough to

lose this fine riverboat to Nicholas in a poker game.“

He stiffened, a flare of anger twisting his nondescript

features to ugliness. „Stupid? I don’t like being called stupid

by a whore.“

„I’m not a whore.“ She didn’t look at him as she began

eating in earnest. „But youmost certainly are stupid, if what

Robert says is true.“

His hand suddenly fastened on her wrist with painful force.

„I’m not – “

„Let me go.“ She glanced at his now livid face with eyes as

cold as his own. „Or I’ll skewer you instead of the chicken

with this fork.“

He glared at her with a venom greater than any she had

ever encountered. Then his hand slowly released her and he

smiled again. „You have spirit and I admire that in a woman.“

He was lying. Silver thought. He was an easy man to read

and was obviously one who liked only fear and respect to

surround him.

„I’m sure we’ll get along very well.“ Bassinger patted the

wrist he had so recently grasped with such cruelty. „You can

always count on me for any assistance you may require.“

Silver began to eat again. „I need no assistance.“

She proceeded to ignore him as the servant brought another

course and set it before her.

„Why did you do it?“ Valentin lifted his brooding gaze

from his wineglass to Nicholas’s face. „It would have done no

harm to let me sit beside her. I would have – “

„Protected her,“ Nicholas finished for him. He smiled and

shook his head. „But I don’t want her protected.“

„I know,“ Valentin said sourly. „But why Bas-singer?“

„She appears to think I’m Satan incarnate. I wanted her to

see there are a few men more degenerate than I.“ Nicholas

lifted his wineglass to his lips, his dark eyes dancing over the

rim. „Besides, she’s obviously come to no harm. She seems

more interested in her dinner than anything going on around

her. The lady has a hearty appetite.“

„I’ve noticed.“ Valentin’s tone was abstracted as his gaze

followed Nicholas’s to rest on Silver. „She was nervous about

coming here tonight.“

Nicholas paused in the act of setting his glass back on the

table. „Really? I find that difficult to believe. She appears

quite composed.“

„She has courage.“ Valentin’s hand tightened on the stem

of his glass. „Dammit, Nicky, I tell you there’s something

wrong. She told me she’d never met a count before. How

could that be, if she knew Andre in Hell’s Bluff?“

„I have no idea. Perhaps Andre was hesitant about

confiding his title to the citizens of such a democratic society.“

„Andre?“ Valentin’s tone was unbelieving.

Nicholas shrugged. „Perhaps he had changed from what we

knew of him. Men do change.“

Valentin nodded and then was silent for a moment before

bursting out, „But just look at her, Nicky. She doesn’t belong

here.“

Nicholas had been avoiding looking at Silver all evening

and he had no intention of changing that now. He was well

aware of the contrast she presented to the rouged and

besatined strumpets surrounding her. It had taken only one

glance to permanently engrave it on his memory. In spite of

the fiery sensuality that was so much a part of her, there was

also a simplicity, a pristine quality about Silver that set her

worlds apart from the company at the table. „It’s that hideous

schoolgirl uniform. I’ll have one of the women send her a

gown to wear tomorrow night.“

„It’s not the – “

„Stop it!“ Silvers voice rang out with bell-like clarity,

instantly capturing the attention of everyone at the table.

„What the devil,“ Nicholas muttered, already halfway out

of his seat.

Silver was standing, glaring down at Bassinger. She

reached for a cooled bottle of wine from a copper bucket

carried by a passing servant. „You don’t listen well. I told you

to stop.“ She held the bottle over the man’s head. „Now!“

The rich red wine poured over Bassinger’s head, streaming

in rivulets down his cheeks, matting his dark hair, and turning

the gray streaks threading it to pale pink. He sat frozen in

disbelief.

Laughter exploded from the other guests at the table,

soaring around Bassinger with a stinging mockery that caused

his pale cheeks to flush with color.

Silver set the empty bottle down on the table. „Now, don’t

do it again.“

Bassinger was pop-eyed with rage and seemed to have

trouble forcing the words from his throat. „You… you…“

Valentin started to his feet. „He’ll kill her.“

„The hell he will.“ Nicholas pushed back his chair and was

striding around the table. In three paces he was beside Silver,

jerking her chair out of the way and grasping her by the elbow.

„I believe it’s time we retired for the evening, my dear. What a

pity. Such a pleasant dinner, don’t you agree, Bassinger?“

He began to propel Silver firmly away from the table and

down the long, carpeted expanse of the saloon. „Don’t fight

me,“ he said in a fierce undertone. „I’m in no mood to kill

Bassinger at the moment. I had something else entirely

planned for tonight.“

„I don’t intend to fight you. Why should I? I don’t mind

leaving the table. I’d already finished dinner.“

He blinked. „You’d already finished…“ He suddenly began

to laugh. He slowly shook his head, his eyes still sparkling

with humor. „Do you usually finish your meals by anointing a

gentleman’s head with fine wine?“

„He wasn’t a nice man,“ she said simply. „He was afraid to

vent his anger on me so he was being cruel to that poor woman

on the other side of him.“

„Cruel?“

„He was pinching her thigh beneath the table.“

His gaze searched her face. „Men often fondle women.

Perhaps she enjoyed it.“

She shook her head. „He was hurting her, but she was too

frightened to stop him. I could see it in her face.“ She

shrugged impatiently. „Stupid woman. She should have been

the one to pour the wine on his head.“

Nicholas opened the door to the stateroom and stood aside

to let her precede him. „You call her stupid, yet you drew

Bassinger’s anger against yourself to protect her.“

Silver entered the cabin. „She was afraid. Sometimes it’s

not easy for women to stand up to men.“ She whirled to face

him. „But he hurt her. Why would he want to hurt her?“

„Some men find it gratifying.“ Nicholas closed the door

and locked it behind him. „I don’t understand it either.“ He

turned to look at her. „Beautiful things should be treated

gently, with the most exquisite care.“

Silver felt suddenly breathless. „Women are not things.“

He bowed slightly. „I stand corrected.“

„But you don’t believe it. You think women are weak and

puny. You think we’re nothing.“

„I’m not such a fool. I believe some women have great

strength.“ He smiled crookedly. „Perhaps the reason men try to

keep women weak is that we know their strength is often used

to subordinate and destroy us.“

„Destroy?“ She shook her head. „I don’t wish to destroy

anyone. I want only to be left alone to go my own way.“

„Impossible.“ His voice was velvet soft. „You’re not a

woman any man would be willing to leave alone. Haven’t you

realized that yet?“

The air in the stateroom was too close, and she couldn’t

breathe. No, the fault was with her, her chest was so tight. She

abruptly turned away. „Sweet words, but you don’t mean

them. You just wish to lure me into fornicating with you.“

„I mean them,“ he said gravely. „But the other is also true.

I’ve never denied my intentions. And I’ve never lied to you.“

No, he had always told her the truth, she thought, even

when a lie would have served him better. It was a realization

that disconcerted her. Honesty was the virtue she admired

above all others, and she didn’t want to admit even to herself

that Nicholas possessed that quality. „Go away. I’m tired.

Good night.“

He chuckled. „You’re nothing if not direct.“ His smile held

an entrancing sweetness. „Aren’t you going to undress for me

again?“

„No.“

He lifted a brow. „Why not? Don’t you want to see me

suffer? Are you softening by any chance, Silver?“

Her gaze rose swiftly to meet his. „I’m not softening. I just

want you to leave.“

„And I will leave.“ He moved across the room and stood

before her. „As soon as I tuck you into bed.“ He reached up

and began to slowly unbutton her shirtwaist. „I told you I

intended to act as lady’s maid, remember? Surely you’re not

afraid?“

„I’m not afraid.“ Silver lowered her gaze to his swift,

clever fingers unfastening her blouse. His knuckles were

lightly grazing her breast with every move, and that light touch

was causing a most peculiar sensation. Her breasts felt as if

they were swelling, tautening more with each passing second.

She moistened her lips with her tongue. „I don’t fear anything

you can do to me, but I don’t need your help.“

„I think you are afraid,“ he taunted softly, pausing to look

at her. „Or you’d be willing to let me have my way in this.“

She drew a deep breath and then lifted one shoulder in a

half shrug. „Go ahead. It means nothing.“ She tried to keep all

expression from her voice. „Be quick about it. I wish to go to

bed.“

„Very quick.“ His fingers left the half-unbuttoned

shirtwaist and with two swift movements stripped away her

waist-length jacket and tossed it aside. „You see, I obey your

every command.“ He finished unbuttoning her shirtwaist and

pushed it down over her shoulders and then slipped it off

entirely. „Much faster than you would do it yourself.“ His

fingers deftly untied the satin ribbons of her bodice and

pushed the straps of her camisole from her shoulders. „Let me

see, this was the way you did it last night, wasn’t it?“ His gaze

was fastened on the thin muslin clinging to the tips of her

breasts. „But there’s something different, isn’t there?“

She could feel the furnace heat of his body reaching out to

touch her like a burning brand. She took a deep breath and the

male scent of him surrounded her in a sensual haze. „I see

nothing… different.“

„Perhaps I’m mistaken.“ He slid the camisole down, down,

with painful slowness until the white ribbons contrasted with

the pink of her nipples. „No, I believe you’re considerably

more… ripe, Silver.“ Then her breasts were bare, full golden

mounds spilling saucily over the lacing of her camisole. His

eyes were midnight soft as he looked down at her. „I can make

them even more ripe. Would you like me to do that?“

She was burning, heavy, her nipples hardening under his

gaze as she struggled against the tightness constricting her

lungs. „You said… you would hurry.“

„Ah, yes, I did say that.“ He slowly pulled the camisole

over her head, letting the soft material brush her swollen

breasts like a caress. „I’ll go faster after this, but you’re so… I

don’t want to hurt you.“ The material tugged teasingly and

then released her breasts. Then the camisole was over her

head. „There, it’s gone.“ He threw the camisole aside and

stepped around behind her.

„What are you doing?“ She looked over her shoulder,

startled.

„Nothing.“ He took a step closer, his arms going around

her, his hands moving deftly to unfasten her skirt. „My looking

at you seems to have an odd effect on you.“ He smiled. „I

thought you’d be more comfortable if I finished the task in this

fashion.“

„How kind,“ she said warily. The skirt had dropped in a

pool at her feet and she slowly turned her head to face

forward. Comfortable? She had forgotten what the word

comfort meant. Her heart was pounding, slamming against her

chest, and she could feel every breath he drew against her

naked back. He was unfastening her petticoats, his lips so

close to her ear that each word was a warm, sensual explosion.

„Do you see that picture on the wall? The one right in front of

you?“

„I’m not interested in your pictures.“ She tried to keep her

gaze from the mural he’d indicated but found herself staring at

it in compulsive fascination.

„Not my pictures. They were commissioned by the

gentleman you christened with that bottle of wine tonight.“

Nicholas chuckled. „One way or another Bassinger seems to

like to bring ladies to their knees, doesn’t he? That woman in

the picture has a lovely mouth but not as lovely as yours.

Would you like to do that to me?“

„Certainly not.“

His hand slowly pushed down her petticoats, his palms

skimming the naked flesh on her belly. She inhaled sharply

and flinched back. But that brought her into direct contact with

the hard muscles of his body. Very hard, she realized

breathlessly. As hard as she was melting soft, as taut as she

was pliant.

„Then would you like me to do that to you?“ he asked

thickly. „I will, you know.“ His palm was rubbing back and

forth on the softness of her belly, every touch causing an

aching clenching between her thighs. „I’d like to do it.“ His

fingers tightened suddenly in the hair surrounding her

womanhood, and he tugged gently. She made a low sound in

the back of her throat as a tiny explosion of heat tore through

her every vein. Her back arched, her shoulders pressing back

against him. „That’s right, let it come, Silver.“ His palm

covered her and he began to rub. „You like it so much.“ His

teeth gently bit at the lobe of her ear. „Let me do that to you.“

His warm tongue darted in her ear, sending another hot shiver

through her. „Let me do everything to you. This was what you

were meant for….“

„No!“ Her cry held the violence of desperation as Silver

wrenched out of his grasp and whirled away from him. She

turned to face him, clutching her loosened petticoats to keep

them from falling. „I will not.“ She backed away from him,

her naked breasts lifting and falling. „Go away!“

His black eyes were brilliant in his taut face, his nostrils

flaring with the harshness of his breathing. „Come back. You

know you want to let me touch you.“ His voice was as softly

seductive as the song of a nightingale. „You know I can please

you.“

For a moment she could feel the words pulling her with the

force of a riptide. Dear God, he was right, she thought

desperately. He could please her body. He could do more than

please her, he could drive her to the brink of sensual madness.

Even knowing how close she had come to submitting to that

allure, she still wanted to fling herself in his arms, run her

hands over his body, beg him to do whatever he wished with

her.

Beg. The repugnant thought brought her immediately to her

senses. She did not beg. Not ever. She drew herself up and

faced him. „Go away. I don’t want you here.“

He took a step forward. „Liar.“

She lifted her chin. „No, it’s lust. My body may want you,

but I am not my body.“ She touched her breast, glaring at him

fiercely. „I’m more than that. I am Silver Delaney. I don’t lie

down and spread my legs because a man tells me I must.“ A

patch of color burned in each of her cheeks and her voice was

shaking with feeling. „I am not a toy. I am not my mother!“

„I never said – “ He stopped, his dark eyes blazing.

„Dammit, you know you’re going to let me take you to bed.

It’s only a question of time. Why not…“ He trailed off as he

read the rejection in her face. His breath released in an

impatient explosion of sound as his hands clenched into fists at

his sides. „You’re sending me away?“

Silver made no answer.

He stood very still, looking at her, then he turned and

strode toward the door and threw it open. His voice held a note

of barely restrained savagery. „I have no liking for women

who pretend to be what they are not.“ His glance over his

shoulder was a burning sword thrust. „You’re no prim

schoolgirl, and the only reason you let me undress you was

because you wanted my hands on you. You wanted me,

dammit!“ The door slammed behind him with a force that

shook the crystal prisms on the rim of the lamp on the bedside

table.

Silver gazed at the panels of the door for a long moment.

He had been so angry. Why couldn’t she summon a like anger

to use against him? Her body still ached with hunger and

emptiness. She closed her eyes, a shiver of yearning rippling

through her. Nicholas could have filled her body and stopped

the aching. Had he spoken the truth? Had she allowed him to

undress her not because she wanted to meet his challenge but

because she desired him? She must stop thinking of him. He

cared nothing for her. He was the enemy. Tomorrow evening

she would escape this boat and never see Nicholas again.

An unexplainable thrust of pain pierced through her. No,

she thought in sudden panic. She would feel nothing for him.

Not lust, certainly not love. Nothing.

It was a litany she repeated over and over to herself as if

saying the rosary as she finished undressing and turned out the

lamp. A litany she continued to murmur as she lay in the

darkness for the many sleepless hours that followed.

Nothing. She must feel nothing for Nicholas.