Underground Captive (20 page)

Underground Captive
             
             
             
             
             
             
             
130

    
             
Entering the dining salon, Jared found the room large and elegant.  The cherrywood table sat on an Aubusson carpet.  At the moment, only two of the twenty-four seats were vacant.  A gray marble fireplace sent out a cozy warmth.  On its mantel sat an Austrian crystal timepiece that matched the two chandeliers hanging above the long table.  An exquisite, unique, oval mirror, its frame made of the same crystal as the chandeliers and timepiece hung above the fireplace.  The pooled draperies on the floor-to-ceiling windows were the same color as the emerald dining chairs.  A cherrywood buffet sat against a wall.

Impressive
, Jared thought,
but not as impressive as Lismore
.

"Masta Jared Flemin' of Flemin' Carriage Comp'ny!"

At the slave’s announcement, the room immediately quieted.

Charles rushed forward and extended his hand.  "Jared!  Come in!  Welcome!”

"How are ye, Charles?  I hope I haven't held anyone up."

"
Non
, I assure you, if anyone has it's Nicollette."

"Women do like to look their best."

"
Oui
, you're right.  Come take your spot at the table.  I hope you don't mind you are seated at Nicki's end."

    
             
Jared’s senses leapt to life.  "Of course not."

"She shouldn't be that much longer."

Not replying, Jared walked to his seat.

    
             
Forty-five minutes later, Nicki floated into the room.  Whatever hostilities Jared and the others had for her tardiness dissipated immediately upon seeing her. 

    
             
Assessing her slowly, seductively, Jared's breath caught.  Her hair fell in great inky waves past her waist, cradling her small face.  An elaborately-trimmed, scarlet-red, décolletage gown had a tight-fitting lace bodice that bared her shoulders and arms.  Whalebone stays made her waist impossibly tiny and lifted the soft roundness of her small breasts.

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Walking to her seat, Nicki noted Jared's examination and approval of her.  His intoxicating virility sent her pulse racing and her heart lurching wildly.  She began the same slow, sensual perusal of him that he'd given her.  She forgot her manners.  Forgot that Pa Pa would consider this behavior scandalous.  She forgot the other people in the room.  She'd read about mesmerizing magnetism and devastating good looks novels, but until now she'd never experienced it.  Their visual interchange held deeper significance than mere attraction, than mere lust.

Of their own accord, her eyes strayed to his breeches and the thick bulge there.  Just as Charles cleared his throat, Nicki flushed at the sight her gaze had strayed to.  "Pa Pa, forgive me," she drawled breathlessly.  "I didn't mean to delay supper so dreadfully long, but I had a couple of things to finish before I came." She seated herself.

    
             
"We understand, Nicki," Phillipe Dureau's son, Gerard, said for everyone, before Charles could answer, as the men reseated themselves.

    
             
"Pa Pa?" she whispered, her hands clasped in front of her.

    
             
"Of course, Nicki."  Charles smiled, his eyes assessing.  "But I implore you, cherie, next time be a little more considerate."

    
             
"I promise, Pa Pa," she said, lifting the bell for the first course.

    
             
The Black Rider was planning a slave escape tonight; one that she was determined to stop.  To save time later, she’d decided to saddle Nur early, which had delayed her arrival at dinner.  Realizing she smelled of horses, she’d rushed up to her bedchamber, sponged herself off and changed gowns.  Luckily, she'd worn a hat and the smell hadn't gotten into her hair.  She couldn't allow anyone to know her plans.  It was bad enough that Sophie did.  If her father had asked where she'd been, she wondered what she would have told him.  That was one thing she didn't have to worry about.  Tonight, her father was too preoccupied with this meeting to question her.

             
Two slaves, each working from separate ends of the table, served the appetizer as a lively conversation commenced among the men. 

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Unable to keep her eyes off Jared for very long, Nicki observed him.  His hair, thick and fiery, gleamed copper, shining like newly minted coins.  A few errant strands fell rakishly across his forehead.  His profile showed inherent confidence and indomitable strength.  She remembered the feel of his firm, sensual lips against her own and knew she wanted to feel them again.  He turned toward her and his wide-set, gold-green eyes gazed hungrily into her own.  If he were dark, he'd look like a Greek god. 
Oui
, he was a god--a Sun god, who put all others to shame.  His eyes sparkled with mischief and he winked at her.  Delighting in their briefly shared, playful moment, she felt fully alive.

Remembering that she had yet to ask Jared to assist her in her search for her brother, Nicki concentrated on her meal from then on.

*  *  *

    
             
"Jared, do you know what's being planned for the captain of the Magnolia

Blossom?" Nicki asked as they waited for their second course.

    
             
"Nay, Nicki.  'Tis what we are here to discuss.  Captain Blossom and the Black Rider."

    
             
"That sonofabitch!"  Phillipe slammed his hand down on the table, his olive-black eyes becoming like bits of stone. 

"Father, refrain from your filthy language in the presence of Nicki," Gerard scoffed.

    
             
"Sorry, Nicollette, but I can't help it," Phillipe grunted grudgingly.  "I'm telling you I think that captain and that Black Rider person are the same."

    
             
Jared almost choked on the wine he was drinking.  "Excuse me, Phillipe?" he sputtered, placing the crystal goblet back on the table.

Nicki laughed.  "
Monsieur
Dureau, surely you are not serious.  How can he be one and the same?"

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"Nicki!  Mind your manners and control your laughter," Charles scolded.  "I do not see what is so hilarious."

"Forgive me,
messieurs
, Pa Pa," she said, giggling, but getting control of herself at her father’s warning look.  "
Monsieur
Dureau, if you don't mind, let me point out some facts to you."

    
             
"Of course, he doesn't mind, Nicollette."  Edmond Falgout smiled, leering at her.

    
             
The look daunted her.  Losing her thought, she chewed at her lower lip.

    
             
Jared scowled and stared coldly at Edmond.  "Nicki, do point out yer facts.  We're all interested to hear them."

Phillipe nodded.  "
Oui
, I agree."

Edmond continued staring.

    
             
Nicki thought she would really be ill, too ill to go through with her plans.  Edmond Falgout unsettled her.

    
             
"Nicki, are you all right?" Charles asked with concern.

    
             
A small, embarrassed laugh escaped her.  "
Oui
, Pa Pa.  Stop sounding like the typical father."

    
             
"I apologize,
mademoiselle
, if I have offended you in any way," Edmond rasped, glancing directly at her, his eyes still sending nauseating invitations.

    
             
Nicki looked at her father and Jared, then back to Edmond, who gave her a mocking smile.  She smiled uneasily and lowered her eyes.  "There's no need to apologize,
Monsieur
Falgout."

    
             
Impotent rage twisted in Jared as the second course was finally served.  Falgout, the bloody bastard, was looking for trouble.  One more lecherous infraction toward Nicollette and he'd bloody well find it.  Though fuming, Jared tempered down the overwhelming inclination to leap across the table and pummel Edmond into the ground.

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"As I was saying," Nicki stated, in control of her apprehensions.   "The Black Rider and Captain Blossom can't be one and the same person.  For one thing the men have different contacts."

  
             
Jared really did cough then.  He cocked his brow at Nicki and his scowl deepened.

    
             
Charles narrowed his eyes at her.

"And," she continued, undaunted by the stares everyone gave her, "they were both there the night you all tried to set Captain Blossom up.  How do you explain that,
Monsieur
Dureau?" 

    
             
Louis smiled at Nicki affectionately.  "She has you there,
Monsieur
Dureau."

    
             
"
Non
, it's her feminine mind that has her thinking that way," Phillipe sneered, flushing with embarrassment.

    
             
Nicki smiled sweetly, leaning back in her chair and staring in wide-eyed innocence at Phillipe.  "
Oui
, I guess you are right.  My feminine mind reasons things out and looks at them from a practical point of view not a pompous, unthought, and totally unrealistic masculine point of view.  Forgive me," she said with a sigh, shrugging and leaning forward again.  "I didn't mean to bring a little intelligence into your quest to find Captain Blossom and the Black Rider."

             
Jared cocked a brow at her, hard pressed to stifle a laugh.

    
             
"Young lady, you need to learn to act like that what I've just called you and not interfere where you don't belong," Phillipe said heatedly.

    
             
"Daughter, you'll apologize immediately," Charles growled.   "I'll not have you disgracing me at my table.  Show that your mother and I taught you manners."

 
             
Jacques Hebert shook his head.  "Charles, we are used to Nicki's ways.

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Phillipe got the tongue-lashing he deserved.  I agree with Nicollette.  There's no way that those two men are the same.  I, for one, would like to hear the rest of what she has to say."

    
             
"
Merci
,
Monsieur
Hebert," Nicki said, returning his boyish grin with a smile of her own.

    
             
Jared wanted to hear also.  'Twas what he came for.  He needed to know just what they had in store for Captain Blossom and the Black Rider.   Depending on what it was they planned, he'd proceed from there.  But he was very curious to know how this little minx learned her information.

    
             
"
Mademoiselle
Duplantier, where do you get your information from?" Henri Robicheaux inquired as if he'd read Jared's mind.

    
             
"A couple of the slaves volunteer the information.  Other slaves innocently tell the happenings and it just filters through plantation gossip.  You gentlemen would be surprised the information we ladies learn from our slaves."  Her soft laughter fluttered in the air.

"So do you know when the next escape is?" Pierre Charbonnet asked,

looking sharply at her.

    
             
Nicki hesitated before she answered, unable to tell them the truth right now, not until she herself was sure.  She moistened her lips.

   
             
"Non, I do not," she said innocently, keeping her eyes downcast.

    
             
Dammit, Nicollette
! Instinct told Jared the little hellcat lied.  But how did she...where did she? 
Blast it, what the hell am I trying to say
?  He'd have to stay to keep her occupied. 
Bloody hell!  Leave it to Nicki to cause trouble.

    
             
Jared's mind whirled.  He couldn't be in two places at once.  And he actually needed to be three places at once—watching Nicki, listening to the plans of the planters and assisting his servants.  He silently let loose a string of curses.