Bobbi Smith - Captive Pride

It was the need for distraction from his concern for Matt that had finally led him to accept Eve’s invitation to dinner. He needed someone uncomplicated, someone who would help him forget all the conflict in his life, and he felt certain Eve was the one. He understood her. He knew that she wanted him, and if he found that she could be content with a strictly pleasure-giving relationship, he would be more than willing to oblige.

There had been a time after he’d received Eve’s invitation when he had thought briefly of seeking out CC again. The memory of her heated kiss and the excitement of her sweet young body had continued to plague him. Several times he’d been in the midst of business discussions when the thought of her had entered his mind, momentarily diverting his attention from the important matters at hand. Even so, despite the mutual physical attraction they seemed to share, Noah had discarded the idea. CC had made it quite plain every time they’d been together that she hated him, and because he had no reason to believe that any future meetings between them would be any different from those of the past, he had pursued it no further. He was in no mood for a battle of wills with her, for he had had enough of irrational obstinance in dealing with Matt’s defiance. He wanted a woman who was willing and who wanted him in return, not a woman he had to force to admit her passion.

“How have your business dealings been going?” Eve asked just to make conversation. She had no real interest in his business affairs. All she cared about was getting Noah into her bed. With any other man, she would have dispensed with the small talk, but Noah’s reaction to her advances when he’d accompanied her home after the ball had tempered her aggressiveness. She knew she would have to bide her time, play the hostess and allow him to make the first move.

“Everything’s been going quite well,” Noah answered easily. “The Lorelei will be leaving Boston soon for a run to the islands.”

“You aren’t planning on sailing with the Lorelei, are you?” Eve asked quickly.

“No. I have another ship due in port soon, and I have to be here to handle the business transactions,” he informed her casually.

“I’m glad,” she told him in a sultry voice as she took a sip of her wine, her eyes meeting his over the rim of the crystal glass.

Noah’s smile was sensual as he read the open hunger in her gaze. “I’ll be staying in Boston until the spring.”

“Good. That gives us plenty of time to become better acquainted.” Her meaning was clear, yet she did not press.

“Indeed it does,” he responded, lifting his glass in a silent toast as his eyes raked over her. She was a beautiful woman. Her curves were alluring, her eyes upon him were heated in invitation, and her mouth, full and pouting, promised untold delights. Noah knew that Eve Woodham would not fight off his advances; if anything, she would welcome them. Eve would make a very sensual mistress.

Eve saw the flame of desire in his gaze, and she began to tremble in excitement. Never before in her life had she wanted a man so badly. Lord Noah Kincade was her dream. She stared at him in the flickering of the candlelight, admiring his devilish good looks. His dark hair was unpowdered, and his refusal to follow the style only convinced her all the more that he was a man of his own convictions. He was not like Geoffrey, who constantly strove to stay abreast of the most current fads. Noah Kincade needed no artifice to prove his manhood. His shoulders beneath his perfectly tailored coat looked broad and strong, and she longed to caress his hard-muscled chest. The crisp whiteness of his shirt and artfully arranged cravat enhanced the darkness of his tanned, lean features. Eve knew a desperate longing to touch him and kiss him and take him deep within her.

Noah smiled at her then, and the slightly mocking smile sent Eve’s pulses racing as she imagined that he’d read her thoughts.

“Shall we go into the parlor?” she suggested, still not confident enough to be more forward with him and hoping the more comfortable setting of the sitting room would encourage him to be more bold.

“As you wish.” Noah maintained his aloofness as he followed her lead into the fashionably furnished parlor.

“Please, sit down. Would you care for a brandy?” Eve gestured toward the comfortable-looking sofa as she moved to a small liquor cabinet. At his nod, she poured him a generous amount in a snifter.

“Thank you.” He accepted the glass as she sat down beside him.

“My pleasure,” she purred, leaning comfortably back as she savored her own drink.

Noah’s eyes were dark upon Eve as he raised the snifter to his lips to drink of the potent liquor, but as he tasted of the brandy he was reminded of the last time he’d partaken of it…and of the woman he’d met that night…CC.

Annoyance grew within him as the auburn-haired beauty drifted through his thoughts, and he wondered why he was thinking of CC when he wanted nothing more than to relax and enjoy the evening with Eve. As deceitful as he knew CC to be, he felt certain that she was probably out somewhere with John right now using her body to further their revolutionary cause. The thought of her sharing the secrets of her lovely body with another man enraged him, and Noah silently cursed himself for having agreed to Ryan Graves’s terms so quickly. Perhaps if he’d played his cards right, he might have had CC at his beck and call-willingly-until the Pride finally arrived. As it was, now that he had come to an understanding with the rebels, there would be no real reason for him to have any contact with CC again. He found the prospect unsettling but didn’t have time to dwell on it as Eve interrupted his thoughts.

“Is something wrong?” Eve was asking as she noticed the sudden, unexplained fierceness in his expression.

“No,” he denied, not even wanting to consider that memories of CC’s lovemaking might have the power to ruin a night of carnal desire in Eve’s arms. “Nothing is wrong. Absolutely nothing.”

Taking her glass, he placed it along with his on a nearby table and then wasted no time in pulling her into his arms. Eve was elated. He wanted her! Surrendering to his demanding kiss, she met him in that passionate exchange, forbidding him nothing as his lips parted hers and his tongue delved within her mouth to tangle erotically with her own.

Sensually she pressed herself against him, and her hands were never still as they took the opportunity to explore the width and strength of his shoulders. The solid, taut feel of his hard, masculine body beneath her hands thrilled her, and she could hardly control her need to be free of her clothing and naked in his arms.

Noah had thought he would be able to lose himself in Eve’s embrace, that a night of wild, undemanding passion was what he needed, but he realized now as he felt Eve’s hands boldly exploring him that she was not what he wanted…not what he needed.

The realization that he really did not want to make love to Eve came as quite a shock to him. A short time ago in England any woman would have done as long as she was comely and clean, but now all that had changed, and he was confused. Even the sweet Polly at the inn, who was as eager for his favors as the aggressive Eve, had not appealed to him since the night of the ball. He wondered what had happened in that brief, yet enthralling interlude with CC in the summerhouse that could have affected him so deeply.

As Eve melted against him, her body alive and throbbing with barely leashed passion, she was totally unaware that another woman-a woman she thought little of-held Noah’s thoughts. Hungrily she kissed him, moaning his name in a desire-drugged voice.

“Noah…I want you…”

The sound of her voice jerked him completely back to reality, and he took her by her upper arms and tightened his grip to hold her away from him. Eve was stunned by his halting of their embrace, and she stared at him in bewilderment for a moment before speaking.