My Angel (27 page)

His finger to her lips silenced her. ' 'No more. We will speak of this no more. You will come with me to my homeland and be my mistress. I'll take care of you just as I told you earlier, and you'll want for nothing. I will cherish and protect you. I--"

"I will be a wife or nothing." She rose, her insides a quivering mass of hate and love for this insufferable man. "I was innocent until you touched me. I don't care what you think. I don't care if you found me lacking. I should have insisted you listen to me." She turned, her spine stiff, and marched to the door.

Her anger knew no bounds. The door was still bolted shut.

"Misha! Misha!" She pounded on the door until her fists hurt as badly as her heart, until she could not raise her hand. Angela sank to the floor, her skirts rippling around her. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, willing Alexi and the horrid truth of his words to the back of her mind. Convincing him was hopeless.

He wouldn't allow her to escape, even into the hollow recesses of her mind. His voice came to her gently and soothingly.

"Come here, little one. In time you will learn that being a mistress is much better than being a wife. I will give you a house of your own and servants, all the jewels you want. You can see me most every night, lie with me, bear my children."

"No." But her answer sounded weak. She had no force behind the word.

He held out his hand to her, and woodenly she came to him.

When she stood beside the bed once more, she inhaled deeply, praying for the courage to tell him what he needed to hear. "I will not be your mistress. I will not climb into bed with you
ever again except as your wife. And if you ever touch me"--she took another deep, cleansing breath--"if you ever touch me intimately, I-I will scalp you."

His laughter came from deep inside, rambling up to fill the room. "You can try, angel. You can try. Believe me when I tell you that you aren't the first to threaten me with that particular dire event. No one has succeeded yet.'' Once again he patted the bed. "Come now. Sit on the bed with me. We can speak of more pleasant things."

"I will do more than try," she said, her fists clenched tightly.

"Very well," he said. "I will allow this tantrum for a while. But you will see the way of things soon then you will come to me. Angela, I cannot marry you. A marriage with you was difficult yet possible when I thought you were coming to me a virgin. But now..." he shrugged. "There is no way I could convince my grandmother of your suitability."

"Suitability!"

Fury raged within her, and, ready to explode, Angela drew her hand back but caught herself. The twinkle of amusement was still in Alexi's eyes. "A passionate woman is all I've ever dreamed of. I will give you everything your heart desires," he said. "And more, much, much more."

"You look for a wife as you would a horse."

"Bloodlines are important."

"Ha! When the same bloodlines are mixed so thoroughly that people turn crazy, they mean less than nothing."

"Point taken. I still cannot marry someone like you. I will give you trips to
Moscow
and to the sun-drenched
Crimea
. After my heir is born, we can explore
Italy
and
France
together. Everything you want is yours."

"Everything but your name and respectability."

She thought she saw regret--or perhaps a moment of pain--in his expression before he shuttered his feelings to her. "As my mistress, you'll have respectability," he told her, his tone soft, soothing.

If he meant to ease her mind, he only made the situation more intolerable. "I meant what I said. Lay one hand on me in the way of a lover and I'll see that you regret the day
you
were born. When I'm through with you, if you can still walk, you'll be minus your scalp."

He sighed deeply.' 'I will agree to this hands-off arrangement for a short time and under one condition. You must be able to tell me no."

"All right," she agreed quickly, her voice trembling, knowing that if he set his mind to her seduction, he would have her in the palm of his hand. "I have to say no, and you have to stop. Agreed?"

He grinned shamelessly. "I do believe I've won the first battle. I promise you I'll win the war, and you'll find yourself in my arms and in my bed. While I admire your courage and your convictions, I do mean to make love to you."

Stubbornly, she sat down on a chair on the opposite side of the room as far from the bed as she could manage. Folding her hands in her lap, she looked at her fingers, twined them together then undid them. The silence between them seemed to stretch on forever.

She had nothing more to say to him, and she didn't dare look at him.

The rustling of sheets across the room set strange sensations pummeling her insides. She clenched her fingers together then peeked at him through lowered lashes. He'd put his hands behind his head and relaxed. The sheets lay draped across his lap, concealing very little. His eyes were closed, but she knew he watched her. She knew, though, that the pose was merely pretense. Her dark warlord would not give in easily.

Wind whistled through the sails of the ship as it began to pick up speed. Crewmen bellowed orders, and bells clanged. From her position, she could see outside.
New York
swept by, the Statue of Liberty stood tall and proud then there was nothing but open sea and the breaking dawn of a new day.

The rhythm of the ocean and the sway of the ship began to lull her to sleep. She nodded, then jerked awake. A comfortable position eluded her.

"You can lie down beside me." The deep voice sounded soft and gentle.

She did want to lie down beside Alexi, but she wouldn't.

She ignored the offer and curled up in the chair. Once again she nodded off, her dreams haunting her, but she did sleep.

~ * ~

When she woke she was in Alexi's bed, naked, the sun shining through the open window and the smell of salt spray vibrant in the air.

"Alexi," she whispered, Alexi wasn't in the room. Angela stretched, every muscle in her body screaming out painfully. She rose and wrapped a sheet around her.

A pitcher of water and a bowl sat on a table. She washed then took care of her other needs in a closed-off room of the cabin.

"You have a lot of nerve, Devil Blackmoor,'' she said indignantly, one hand holding the sheet in place as she searched for her clothes. "You're insufferable, and I'll have you know that your little game won't work. Keep me naked, for all I care."

"Now that's what a man likes to hear."

How he'd opened the door without her knowing or hearing was beyond her. He stood just inside the doorway, his hands full of platters of steaming food, a lascivious grin on his face.

Her stomach rumbled.

"Hungry?" He laughed.

"You know I am." She picked up the ends of the sheet, walking awkwardly to the table where he set the food down and looked at him expectantly.

"No food until I get a kiss," he told her solemnly and straight-faced.

She felt a sledgehammer hit her gut again. "That's blackmail."

"No, it's payment for all the work that went into the breakfast." Platters still in hand, Alexi moved farther into the room.

"Then I should kiss the cook," she told him tartly.

"I am the cook." He laughed. He set the dishes on the table, silverware and china rattling noisily. She rose quickly, thinking to step by him.

"You're not going anywhere," he said and wrapped her in his arms, his mouth descending to hers. The
kiss was hard and demanding. His lips pressing against hers evoked pent-up emotions and a deep-seated anger. Alexi ravaged her mouth and she responded hungrily, once again giving him power over her heart and body. But he didn't seem to want the power. He ended the kiss by nibbling on her bottom lip, then soothing the small hurt with his tongue.

The smile bestowed upon her then was all-male and powerful. He knew he could have swept her off her feet. He could have made love to her if he'd wanted to. His smile told her that he chose not to.

She stepped back, shamed by her reaction, admonishing herself for her own weakness.

"You didn't say no," he told her, his voice gentle, almost as if he understood the raw emotions ripping through her--and the indecision. Almost as if he knew she battled herself.

"I'm saying it now." Bravery in the face of such tenderness was hard to come by. She gathered it, shielding herself from her need to give him all the love she felt deep in her heart, reminding herself that he meant only to use her and shame her.

"Ah, but I do believe your denial comes after the fact. Deny me all you want, but it won't change what just happened here. I could have made love to you, and you would not have protested. Nor will it undo the kiss you just bestowed upon me. One you thoroughly enjoyed. Be honest with yourself. You want me as much as I want you."

"Wanting you was never an issue." She spoke with heartrending honesty. Still, he didn't understand. She was afraid he would never understand.