Seduced: The Scandalous Virgin

Deborah Hale

Fresh from scandal in India, headstrong Genia Vernon is being shipped off to England, where she faces a gray future as companion to her aged aunt. When she meets arrogant rake Blade Maxwell on board, she has her one and only chance for a hot, passionate fling…

Blade wants to sow his wild oats one last time before duty forces him to marry. And being in such close proximity to fiery Genia has him more than tempted to break his golden rule—to never seduce a virgin!

In 1819, the British established a trading post on the tiny island of Singapura, in a move to break a virtual Dutch monopoly on the lucrative East Indies trade. Since vast fortunes were made in those early years, I decided the heroes of my new trilogy for Harlequin Historical would be partners in a successful trading firm. Having amassed money and power, they now faced the far greater challenge of finding lasting love. Watch for the Gentlemen of Fortune series, beginning with Married: The Virgin Widow out next month in Harlequin Historical.

Seduced: The Scandalous Virgin is the story of Blade Maxwell, a friend of the Vindicara partners returning to England from exile in the Orient. Eager to sow the last of his wild oats, Blade soon discovers the only available lady onboard is the beautiful, spirited Genia Vernon. Despite her attraction to Blade, Genia is still vexed with him for rejecting her overtures when they first met. Besides, she dares not risk being involved in any further scandal!

I love to hear from readers, who are welcome to contact me by email at hrwdebhale@aol.com. I also invite you to visit me on the web at www.deborahhale.com or through my Facebook page Regency Author Deborah Hale.

To my cousins and long friends, Dawn Kelly and Myrtle Graham, who know all my scandalous secrets!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Epilogue

About the Author

Chapter One

Singapore, December 1820

“A toast to my old friend, Blade Maxwell.” Ford Barrett raised a glass of potent Batavia arrack. “Perhaps it is no coincidence that the two greatest mischief-makers in the history of our school should meet up again so far from it. Though I am sorry to see him go, I wish him a happy return to civilization.”

“To Maxwell.” Ford’s business partners, Hadrian Northmore and Simon Grimshaw, drank the toast while Blade nodded his thanks for their good wishes.

He could not pretend he was sorry to leave Singapore. The British trading post had been founded on this tiny island less than two years ago and conditions were still primitive. Though Ford and his partners had made their fortunes as free traders, they all lived together in this simple, palm-thatched dwelling they’d built beside their warehouse. All food had to be imported, making it expensive and often unpalatable. The coming of winter would only relieve the oppressive heat by a degree or two. After three years’ exile in the sweltering East Indies, Blade longed for the familiar amenities of Penkensey Manor and a bracing Atlantic breeze.

At the same time, he tried to forget the price he would pay for those comforts.

“To your safe voyage.” Hadrian Northmore regarded Blade with greater cordiality than usual, now that he was about to leave. A North Countryman of humble origins, he’d made it clear he had little use for the son of an earl. “May your ship be spared from storms and reefs.”

“Pirates and mutinies,” added Simon Grimshaw in a fierce tone Blade was at a loss to explain.

“And may you not expire from boredom,” Ford concluded with a wry chuckle. “Though I doubt there’s much fear of that provided your fellow passengers include at least one fair female between the ages of eighteen and eighty.”

Blade grinned and hoisted his glass. “To the ladies of the good ship Hartwell and the last few wild oats I have left to sow!”

Ten long days later, Blade thought back to his last evening in Singapore as he gazed from the Hartwell’s starboard railing toward the Coromandel Coast of India. The ship had stopped to take on additional cargo and passengers from Madras before resuming its long voyage to England. Since this part of the coast lacked a proper harbor, everything had to be ferried out from the shore by native massoulah boats.

“Let there be just one likely lady among them,” Blade muttered under his breath.

The voyage so far had been deadly dull. The only female passengers were a middle-aged vicar’s wife and her niece, an empty-headed chit of seventeen who’d made a few awkward attempts to flirt with him. Though the girl was not ill-looking, Blade went out of his way to avoid her. Despite a well-deserved reputation as the black sheep of his family, he did have a few scruples about the sort of women he seduced. Happily wed wives were strictly off-limits, as were innocent virgins.

He sought the company of women for mutual pleasure. He did not want his conscience burdened by the loss of some poor girl’s reputation and the lifetime of misery she might endure as a consequence. Neither could he risk being forced to wed one of his paramours. His family had made it clear that taking a wife other than one they chose for him would result in his being disowned and disinherited. No woman was worth that.

Watching the rickety-looking boats struggle from shore through the pounding surf, Blade wished they might bring him just one lonely widow to console, or perhaps an estranged wife looking for a bit of excitement to enliven the coming weeks at sea.

His hopes quickly faded as the new passengers were brought aboard. Neither of the women came close to meeting his modest standards. Much as he longed to get back to his comfortable life in England, he wasn’t certain he could settle down properly without sowing the last of his wild oats.

Then one last passenger was hoisted aboard, looking much the worse for her wild ride through the crashing breakers. Her hat had blown off, sending her long dark hair rippling over her shoulders. Seawater had soaked her light muslin gown, making the fabric appear almost transparent as it clung to her body’s alluring curves. The lady looked as delightfully tousled as she might after a vigorous encounter with an eager lover.

For an instant Blade stood rooted to the deck as desire coursed through his body, igniting a hundred sensual fancies. Then his tardy sense of chivalry caught up with him.

Peeling off his coat, he strode toward the lady and began to wrap it around her. “Pray make use of this, ma’am, until you find some better covering.”

Pleased at being the first to reach her and ingratiate himself with this small favor, he bowed low and took the liberty of introducing himself as he waited for her thanks. “Blade Maxwell, at your service.”

The words had scarcely left his lips when his coat came hurling back at him and a strangely familiar voice addressed him in a tone that conveyed more scorn than gratitude. “I know who you are, Mr. Maxwell, and I will thank you to keep your coat and your hands to yourself!”

Blade looked up into the flashing hazel eyes of Genia Vernon, the only woman who’d ever seriously tempted him to break his rule about not seducing virgins. Her blazing glare warned him he would never get that opportunity with her.

The sight of Blade Maxwell on the deck of the Hartwell sank Genia’s spirits even lower than they were already. She had thought nothing could make her voyage of exile worse. The presence of a far-too-attractive charmer who’d spurned and humiliated her would make the coming months at sea very much worse, indeed.

“Why, M-miss Vernon.” Lifting his gaze to her face at last, Blade fumbled the coat she’d thrown back at him. “What an unexpected—” he seemed to grasp for a word that would not be too obviously insincere “—surprise.”

His momentary awkwardness rendered the man even more attractive than the usual easy charm—drat his hide! The roguish twinkle had faded from his silvery-gray eyes, making him look rather lost and in need of something part of her yearned to give. He appeared leaner than when she’d last seen him, and his patrician features had a chiseled look.

“I never heard of a surprise that was expected.” Genia seized a blanket offered to her by a crewman and covered herself with it, all the while trying to stifle her body’s wanton reaction to Blade’s touch. “If you will excuse me, I must retire to my cabin to change clothes before I catch a chill.”

In truth, her wet gown felt quite refreshing, but it provided a good excuse to get away.

“Of course.” Blade Maxwell made a graceful bow that seemed to mock her bedraggled state. His well-practiced charm overcame his momentary embarrassment at seeing her again. “We will have plenty of time to renew our acquaintance in the weeks to come.”

Did he think she was too stupid to see through his two-faced pretence of courtesy?

“Alas, I fear you are correct, sir.” With as much dignity as she could muster, Genia swept away.

She managed to maintain her brittle composure until she’d been shown to her little cabin off the roundhouse. Even once inside she did not dare vent the full force of her feelings, for fear of being overheard through the flimsy deal walls. The best she could manage was a violent dumb-show, shaking her fist in the air and muttering curses under her breath.

When the handsome Mr. Maxwell had arrived in Madras eighteen months ago, she’d been instantly smitten with him. The pulse-pounding attraction had been a most welcome diversion from her lingering grief over the death of her dearest friend and infant goddaughter. Desperately eager to seize any fleeting pleasure, she had flirted with him shamelessly, determined to leave him in no doubt that she could be his for the asking.

He had responded by going out of his way to avoid her. When circumstances made that impossible, he treated her as if she were some ancient dowager, rather than one of the most sought-after belles in all of India. To compound the insult, he embarked on an affair with a vapid officer’s widow twice her age. Her social circle in Madras had been too small for his conduct to go unremarked. He had made her a laughingstock.

That wasn’t true, Genia’s conscience forced her to admit as she gazed out the port window toward the retreating coastline. She had humiliated herself with her heedless behavior, just as she’d brought about her own disgrace and exile. But was she not being punished enough for her imprudence? Must she also suffer several months in the company of the man who’d spurned her, so he could now gloat over her downfall?

She only hoped Blade Maxwell would make as strenuous an effort to avoid her on the Hartwell as he had during their first acquaintance. If she did likewise, the next few months might just be bearable.

Genia took great pains to repair her appearance before her first dinner at the captain’s table. Unfortunately, her toilette made her so late that the only vacant chair was the one beside Blade Maxwell. Stifling a groan, she stammered her apologies and slipped into her seat.

Her hopes that Blade might ignore her were quickly dashed when he turned toward her with a smile that would have thawed an iceberg. “Your drenching doesn’t appear to have done you any harm, Miss Vernon. I hope you found your accommodations satisfactory.”

“I believe they will do very well.” She took care to avoid his gaze. A glimmer of well-feigned interest in those silver-gray eyes might tempt her to let down her guard.

Her heart began to flutter in the most ridiculous manner when he leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “Make certain to keep your cabin door locked at all times.”

“Why?” Genia cast a glance around the table at their fellow passengers. “You cannot suppose anyone would have designs on my person?”

He gave the most maddeningly infectious chuckle. “You need have no fear on that score. All the unmarried gentlemen are lodged on the deck below. You should be more concerned about the designs certain crewmen might have on your possessions. Some would consider an unlocked cabin an open invitation to pilfer.”

“Of course.” A fierce blush blazed in Genia’s cheeks. “Thank you for the warning.”

Was Blade Maxwell deliberately trying to bait her into making a fool of herself again? What had she ever done to him but make her attraction too obvious?

She sought to ignore him by turning her attention to the elderly gentleman her father had asked to watch over her on the voyage, but he was deep in conversation with the captain.

Blade persisted in quizzing her. “What takes you back to England, Miss Vernon?”

Genia nearly choked on a morsel of Bengal mutton. Blade Maxwell was the very last person in the world she wished to know the truth about what awaited her in England.

“I am going to live with my father’s aunt,” she replied once she’d cleared her throat. “She means to make me the heiress to her entire fortune.”

It wasn’t altogether a lie, Genia tried to placate her protesting conscience. Great-aunt Millicent might leave her a small legacy, though not likely enough to live in any comfort.

“A most enviable situation.” Blade took a deep draft of his wine. “I congratulate you.”

The newfound respect in his tone went to Genia’s head. “Yes. I shall be quite independent, able to live in perfect freedom without the encumbrance of a husband and children.”

Was she only professing to disdain what she had no hope of getting? Genia asked herself as she strove to resist Blade Maxwell’s disarming charm. No, it went deeper than that. But she was not about to confide her most intimate feelings to a rake like him.

Chapter Two

A woman of independent means who wanted nothing to do with marriage would be the perfect partner for a shipboard seduction. That thought hummed a constant refrain in Blade’s mind all the next week, growing more insistent with each passing day.

Now, as the passengers of the Hartwell gathered in the roundhouse to occupy the hours between luncheon and teatime, he could scarcely keep his mind on the cards in his hand. Instead, his ears were trained upon Genia as she entertained old Mr. Ramsey with a story.

Ever since their departure from Madras, Blade had become daily more certain that Miss Vernon was by far the most interesting person aboard. With the other gentlemen, even the dullest, she was unfailingly affable and vivacious. But whenever he tried to avail himself of her sparkling company, she turned suddenly waspish. Was she trying to show him what he’d missed by discouraging her interest when he’d first visited Madras? If so, she’d succeeded all too well.

Distracted by his constant thoughts of her, Blade played his cards so badly that his companions appeared relieved when he begged to withdraw from their game. “If you will excuse me, gentlemen, I could use a breath of sea air to blow the cobwebs from my brain.”

Spying Genia temporarily on her own, he approached her with a smile that had seldom failed to beguile its object. “Might I beg the honor of your company for a turn about the deck, Miss Vernon?”

A spark of irritation flashed in the lush, warm depths of her eyes. “I cannot prevent you from begging if you choose, sir. Indeed, it might be most amusing to observe. But I cannot promise you the answer you claim to desire. Have our recent encounters not persuaded you that my company might be more a trial than an honor?”

“Quite the contrary.” Blade lowered his voice to an intimate murmur. “They have only demonstrated that your abuse is far more diverting than the civilities of anyone else aboard. Take pity on my abject boredom, I beg you, and indulge me with brief stroll.”

“As you wish.” One corner of her full, wine-red lips arched. “But only because I am weary of making such effort to be agreeable to everyone. I shall relish the opportunity to be contrary or short-tempered if I choose. Let me go fetch my bonnet.”

Watching her walk away, Blade pictured her gown drenched with seawater, clinging to her body like a translucent second skin. Had that provocative glimpse of her fuelled his present combustible attraction? Or was he responding to the challenge she now represented? Whatever the reason, he found himself drawn to her far more intensely than when she’d pursued him.

A short while later, as they emerged onto the open deck, he offered her his arm.

“Such minor liberties are permissible at sea,” he explained. “For support, in case a lady should lose her footing on account of the ship’s movement.”

Though she seemed dubious of his assurances, it did not prevent Genia from slipping her hand through the crook of his elbow. That innocent touch, together with the subtle whiff of jasmine that hung about her, roused Blade’s desire in a way that was anything but innocent. He could not help imagining what a playful, adventurous lover she might make.

They had not strolled far when a school of dolphins caught their attention, bounding along beside the ship, leaping out of the sea then plunging back in. For a while, Blade and Genia stood at the railing, laughing at the creatures’ antics and marveling at their speed, strength and grace.

“Intriguing creatures,” Blade mused as they resumed their stroll, “so free and full of life.”

“Shall I tell you what intrigues me?” asked Genia.

Though he sensed a slight threat in her question, it also piqued his curiosity. “By all means.”

“I am at a loss to understand why you are suddenly so attentive to me. When you first arrived in Madras, I would have been delighted by any sign of interest from you. But you scarcely spared me a second glance. I do not think I have improved so much in the meantime. Is this a measure of your present desperation or are you after me for the money I may inherit?”

Beneath her bantering tone, Blade sensed genuine hurt and self-doubt. He had never imagined he could inflict either upon a woman so lovely and sought after.

“Forgive me for my earlier neglect.” He reached over to pat her fingers that grasped his arm. “And permit me to make it up to you in the weeks to come. I assure you it did not arise from any lack of admiration on my part.”

“Is that some sort of riddle I am meant to work out?” She cast him a sidelong glance that made him ache to feather kisses upon her delicate eyelids. “You ignored me because you admired me?”

The truth tingled on his tongue—that honor had prevented him from taking her virginity. But that would be as good as admitting he now had designs upon her virtue. He did not want to lose any hope of enjoying her company for the rest of the voyage. “The fact is, Miss Vernon, in spite of my admiration for you—indeed, because of it, I was rather afraid of you.”

“Afraid of me?” A melodious gurgle of laughter burst from Genia’s lips, though her eyes remained wary. “Why on earth…?”

“Because you were a very alluring, very marriageable lady and I dared not risk the possibility that I might be tempted to propose. Had I realized at the time that you had neither the need nor the inclination to wed, you may be certain I would never have neglected you so shamefully when we first met.”

One look at Genia’s face told him that had not been the right thing to say, either. Her lips pursed and her fine, dusky brows drew together into a frown that fairly begged to be kissed away. “You thought I wanted to snare you into marriage for your fortune and your title? Of course you could not risk a misalliance with a woman so far beneath you!”

She wrenched her hand away from his arm. Its abrupt withdrawal stung.

“Please!” Blade caught her fingers before she could storm away. “It wasn’t me who would disapprove, but my family. And it was not you they would object to, but any woman other than the one they would choose for me.”

“Your family will choose your bride?” Genia sounded torn between disbelief, contempt and pity. “And you would let them?”

Blade wished he’d kept his mouth shut. Until this moment, he had not confided in anyone the humiliating circumstances behind his journey abroad nor what awaited him upon his return to England. Yet part of him felt lighter and freer for having told Genia. “It’s not a question of letting. I have very little choice in the matter.”

“How can that be?” Though she sounded uncertain whether to believe him, her voice held an appealing note of sincere concern.

Blade hid his true feelings behind a self-deprecating grin. “It is a long and rather tiresome story.”

“You are not without your faults, Mr. Maxwell, but being tiresome is not among them. I doubt you could be if you tried.”

Her tart compliment tempted Blade to pour out his heart to her, but his body reminded him that he was looking for a paramour, not a confidante. “In that case, I promise to tell you every fascinating detail…if you will permit me the pleasure of your company for the rest of the voyage.”

Blade watched her face closely for a sign that his gambit might work. And because he could not bear to look away.

Could she believe the man who had once spurned her? In an effort to steel herself against Blade’s melting gaze, Genia reached for his arm again and gave a nod to signal they should continue their stroll.

Had he truly feared he might succumb to her charms? Though his explanation had a persuasive ring of truth, she sensed there was more to it. Would she discover what, if she accepted his bargain? Or was he only amusing himself by leading her on to make a fool of her again?

“What do you say?” he prompted her. “Don’t keep me in suspense, I implore you.”

“Why should I not?” If he could amuse himself, so could she. “Suspense can be very stimulating.”

“So it can.” Blade gave an appreciative chuckle. “I reckon we could stimulate each other in a great many ways that would make this voyage pass far more swiftly and enjoyably for us both.”

Genia savored that notion as she would have sucked on a sugarplum to extract every jot of sweetness from it. Though she was far from certain she could trust Blade Maxwell, that very danger lent piquancy to the prospect of a dalliance with him.

They paused at the bow of the great ship to gaze around them. The sky had never looked so vast, stretching out to every horizon to meet the restless, empty expanse of ocean.

“It makes me feel so small,” Genia mused “and of so little consequence.”

“In a way, I suppose.” Blade pulled off his hat to let the sea breeze ruffle his hair. The tropical sun glinted off frets of gold among the chestnut. “But it gives me a feeling of freedom, too, and endless possibility.”

His words struck a chord with Genia. This voyage might be her last taste of freedom. She must not let fear keep her from taking full advantage of it.

The ship’s bell rang, signaling a change of watch.

“Time for tea already?” Blade sounded surprised and rather regretful. “You certainly have made this afternoon pass quickly, Miss Vernon.”

In the back of her mind, Genia fancied she could hear her friend, Margaret, egging her on to encourage Blade Maxwell.

“Please call me by my given name,” she bid him as they headed back toward the roundhouse, “in private, at least.”

“I shall be honored, Genia.” He seemed to relish the flavor of her name upon his tongue. “It is too lovely not to be spoken often. Does this mean you are willing to spend time with me and permit me to make amends for my prior inattention?”

She was enjoying this little game—keeping him guessing. “What sort of amends did you have in mind?”

They were about to ascend to the quarterdeck when Blade suddenly tugged her into a shadowy, sheltered corner beside the stairs. He cast a swift glance aloft, to check if any of the crew might be spying on them from the rigging. Apparently satisfied that they were unseen for the moment, he leaned close and murmured, “This sort.”

His lips found hers and pressed a salty-sweet kiss upon them.

Genia knew she should pull away, or protest at the very least. Prudence reminded her of the disastrous consequences she’d suffered the last time she permitted a man to kiss her.

But Blade’s kiss was so much better.

Was it only the fulfillment of her thwarted infatuation with him that made it seem that way? Or did the danger of discovery and the risk of further humiliation add a delicious spice to it?

Genia sensed it was more that. His kiss was like a sinfully rich cake she could not stop eating even though she knew it might give her painful indigestion and make her grow stout. Perhaps Blade felt the same, for as his lips moved over hers in a velvet caress he gave a low appreciative moan, like a starving man biting into fresh-baked bread.

Surely he would not react that way if he was only toying with her for his amusement.

When she parted her lips to release a sigh of surrender, Blade’s tongue flicked between them, hot and teasing. It made her whole mouth tingle as if she’d eaten a spicy curry. And not only to her mouth. His kiss provoked a wicked tingle of desire in her breasts and loins, as well.

It felt like a sensual expression of the ravenous curiosity his earlier revelation had whet in her mind.

Time stretched and slowed, measured not by the monotonous precision of a clock, but by the frantic beat of her heart and the urgent rasp of her breath. In the intimate world of their kiss, yesterdays were forgotten and tomorrow had no meaning. It was the perfect forgetfulness she had long ached to find in his arms.

Then the ship gave a lurch that almost made them lose their balance and tumble onto the deck.

Jolted from the bewildering enchantment of Blade’s kiss, Genia came to her senses at last. What if they were caught in such a compromising situation? She had better reason to know the consequences than most women. She was already politely shunned by the other female passengers. What if none of the men would speak to her, either? What if the captain confined her to her cabin for the rest of the voyage? Those risks were too great to run for the fleeting pleasure of a kiss, no matter how delectable.

When Blade sought to renew their embrace, Genia mustered her willpower sufficiently to elude him and lunge for the stairs. “Please, Mr. Maxwell, I believe you have made amends quite enough for the present!”

She wanted to sound positive and in control, so he would not be able to gloat over having made such an easy conquest of her. Alas, the breathless quaver of her voice surely gave her confusion away.

Blade did not seem at all bothered by her belated show of resistance. Hurrying up the stairs after her, he gave a deep, devilish chuckle. “For the present, my dear Genia. But I hope I shall have the opportunity to make a great deal more.”

Chapter Three

How ironic, Blade reflected a few weeks after their first thrilling kiss, that this transient shipboard dalliance was proving far more satisfying than any of his past affairs.

Catching Genia’s eye across the captain’s table, he exchanged a conspiratorial smile with her. Perhaps not satisfying in the strictly physical sense, he had to admit, for he had not yet enjoyed the lady’s favors beyond several increasingly heated embraces. With so few chances to indulge his desire, he’d spent a great deal of time simply talking with her. He’d quickly come to appreciate Genia’s ready wit and warm sympathy as much as her many physical charms. Blade counted it a great personal triumph that he had charmed away her vexation with him and bid fair soon to win her trust. The better he came to know her, the more he began to doubt he could bring himself to bed her even if the opportunity arose.

Not that he didn’t want her. His body ached with yearning for Genia day and night. Even carnal dreams and taking matters into his own hands provided only temporary, unfulfilling relief. It took only the briefest glimpse, the sound of her voice, even a thought of her to reignite his desire hotter than before.

The trouble was he had begun to care more about her future welfare than his own satisfaction. Genia claimed she did not wish to be encumbered by a husband and children, but he suspected the true reason behind her reluctance to wed and hoped she might someday change her mind. If that happened, he did not want her marriage prospects ruined because he had taken her virginity.

After tea, he and Genia took their customary stroll around the ship. They had discovered this was an opportune time to catch a few moments of privacy. By lingering out on deck until darkness began to fall, they could take advantage of the long shadows to steal a passionate embrace.

“Are you ever going to make good on your promise?” asked Genia as they watched some of the other gentlemen fishing for albacore.

“What promise?” Blade countered. “The one to make amends for my earlier neglect? I assure you, I have endeavored to fulfill it at every opportunity.”

“So you have.” She laughed—a warm, hearty sound that never failed to nourish his spirit. “It will take very little more to persuade me of your sincere repentance. But it is the other promise I meant, to tell me why you would allow your family to choose a wife for you.”

Secure in the knowledge that they would move in very different circles once they reached England, Blade felt safe confiding in her. “My family shipped me off to the Indies after one scandal too many. Father said three years should allow the tattle to die down and give me plenty of time to sow my wild oats. After that, he would expect me to return home and make myself useful to the family by marrying a neighboring heiress.”

The teasing mirth in Genia’s eyes was quenched in a blaze of indignation. “But he cannot force you to wed against your wishes. You are his son, not his slave!”

“A slave would be of more value.” Blade gave a bitter chuckle. “I am nothing to him but a cipher, a spare cog for the family engine, a measure of insurance lest some harm befalls to my elder brother. In the meantime, if I do not toe the line and marry the chosen bride, I shall be disowned and disinherited.”

“You make it sound as if you are bound for the gallows.” Beneath the warm sympathy of her tone there rang a steely challenge. “But surely that needn’t be. You could make your own way in the world, leaving you free to make your own choices.”

“Hardly the gallows,” Blade protested. What she’d proposed was not nearly as easy as it sounded. “More like the world’s most comfortable prison cell.”

A troubled frown did nothing to detract from Genia’s beauty. “And what is your crime, pray?”

Blade shrugged as if in jest. “Being of no earthly use to anybody. Not having a scrap of ambition except to amuse myself. Being no good at anything that matters.”

He found himself telling her about Ford and his partners, the successful business they had built from nothing. “Part of me envies them for having accomplished so much. Yet I shudder to think of the hours they work and the conditions they endure. Compared to them, I am too idle and irresolute to make anything of my life.”

When Genia shook her head and parted her luscious lips to contradict him, Blade refused to let her. These feelings had been brewing within him for so long, despite his effort to divert himself with superficial pleasures. She was the first person who truly seemed to listen and care.

“I hope that sowing my last wild oats on this voyage may make me ready to settle down and shoulder my responsibilities.” Urgently as he longed to unburden himself, Blade regretted having confessed too much—both to her and to himself.

The past haunted him with its ghosts of failure and unworthiness. The future lay in wait to take him captive. Only in the present moment, with Genia, was he free to grasp at a few last moments of happiness.

“We should get back to the roundhouse.” He glanced up at the sky, which seemed darker than usual for the hour. Now he saw why. A great bank of dark clouds massed on the western horizon like some vast, mountainous continent. “I fear we may be in for a storm.”

Grasping Genia’s hand, he led her toward their usual trysting place beside the stairs to the quarterdeck. “We should take advantage of this opportunity. If we sail through rain, it may be some time before we can enjoy another stroll.”

“I wish we could have more time,” breathed Genia when he had backed her into their darkened corner, “and privacy to enjoy moments like these.”

“So do I.” Blade drizzled kisses down her neck and caressed her softly curved body through her light muslin gown. “I wish we could be cast away together on a deserted island.”

Genia ran her fingers through his hair and arched herself toward him. “What would you do with me there?”

Blade grazed her ear with his lips then flicked his tongue over it. “Slowly peel every scrap of clothes from your body to begin with.”

The mere thought made his shaft strain against the lap of his breeches.

“What then?” Genia’s racing breath seemed to blow over the banked coals of his desire, whipping up a blaze.

“I would spend hours admiring every part of you.” His fingers caught at her skirt and hiked it up. “With my eyes and my hands.”

Reaching under the hem of her gown, he grazed the warm, smooth flesh of her thigh.

“With my mouth.” He pressed a fevered kiss upon her as his fingers played over the silken floss that crowned the crest of her legs.

Did he arouse her as devilishly as she aroused him? His forefinger found the hot, wet answer to that question. The discovery of her ripe willingness demolished his honorable intentions. The ravenous ache in his loins demanded he take her then and there—upright, pressed into a shadowed corner.

Greedily plundering her lips, he continued to stroke her with one hand while tearing at the buttons of his breeches with the other. He would plunge into her soft, moist depths and lose himself there!

The thunder of feet on the quarterdeck stairs jolted Blade back to his senses. What price would they pay for this indiscretion? He pictured Genia cruelly humiliated while he was forbidden to spend another moment alone with her.

The keening shriek that broke from her lips gave voice to his thwarted desire, too.

Wrenching his unwilling fingers from between her legs, he jerked down Genia’s gown and hoisted her into his arms at such an angle that it hid his open breeches.

“Pardon me, sir…ma’am…” sputtered a young crewman.

“No need to apologize. Miss Vernon appears to have twisted her ankle.” Blade hoped the lad would attribute his ragged breathing to alarm for Genia’s welfare. “I must get her back to the roundhouse at once.”

“Yes,” Genia gasped. “I could do with a cup of tea.”

Whether he believed their flimsy story or not, the young crewman pretended to. “Can I help, sir?”

“Good of you to ask, but that will not be necessary.” Relieved to have been saved from his baser urges, Blade resolved to express his gratitude in the form of such coveted items as patent soap and plug tobacco. “I will attend the lady.”

When the lad hurried away, Blade set Genia back on her feet and they hastily rearranged their disheveled clothing.

“Forgive me,” he muttered. “I did not mean to get carried away like that. I swear it will not happen again.”

He braced for her to berate him as he deserved. A few ardent embraces was one thing. Attempting to deflower her up against the wall like a cheap strumpet was something else entirely.

Blade was pleasantly dumbstruck when Genia slipped her arm through his and whispered, “Happen again! I’m not certain I can forgive you if it doesn’t.”

What must Blade think of her after her scandalous suggestion and the wanton way she’d behaved on deck? That thought made Genia queasier than the rolling of the storm-tossed ship.

After their many long talks during the past weeks, she no longer suspected him of leading her on to make a fool of herself. Neither could she doubt his sincere desire for her. Yet she could not escape the conviction that there was something more behind his original coolness to her than he’d admitted. Had he been put off by her blatant pursuit? Considering how much more attentive he’d become when she resisted his charm, that explanation seemed all too likely.

But how could she continue to resist him when her lips tingled with the memory of every single kiss he’d pressed upon them? The mere thought of him made her breasts and thighs ache for his touch.

As Genia sat in a quiet corner of the roundhouse, rain lashed against the bank of windows that ran along the stern of the ship and heavy seas buffeted the Hartwell. Just as Blade had predicted, the storm had kept them cooped up in the roundhouse, unable to indulge their desires with even a hot, fleeting kiss. Genia felt like an oil-soaked rag that might burst into flame at the tiniest spark.

“You seem very subdued, Miss Vernon.” As if conjured by her thoughts, Blade suddenly appeared beside her. The warmth of his voice and the sultry shimmer of his gaze seemed to glide over her in a provocative caress. “Are you feeling ill from the turbulence of the ship? I could take your mind off it by reading to you.”

He pulled out a slender volume and sank onto the chair beside her. His nearness, his scent and the heat radiating from his body ignited a yearning she could barely contain. All that kept her from hurling herself upon him was the fear that it might drive him away.

“I am not seasick,” she murmured, “only dismayed that you have kept your distance from me since the other day. Were you offended by my forwardness? Do you only desire me when I shrink from you?”

“On the contrary.” Blade opened the book and pretended to read to her, though the ragged intensity of his voice betrayed desires smoldering dangerously close to the surface. “Your spirit and forthrightness are among the qualities I most admire in you. It is myself I do not trust in your company when you are so deliciously willing.”

“You’re certain?” Genia searched his countenance for proof of his sincerity and found it in his ardent gaze.

When old Mr. Ramsey walked past them, Blade raised his voice and read an actual passage from the book. As soon as the man was out of earshot, he answered her question. “Quite certain. If your cabin were directly above mine, I fear I would have long since bored a hole in my ceiling to reach you.”

His words kindled a wanton heat between her thighs that begged for his touch. Margaret had told her what raptures awaited her in the arms of the right man. But even her friend’s blushing, breathless descriptions had not prepared Genia for the sensation of Blade’s deft fingers probing her body’s most intimate secrets. That foretaste of the carnal delight had whetted her appetite for more. She longed to press her naked body against Blade’s and feel his fingers and lips work their sensual magic upon her. She yearned to lie beneath him and take him deep inside her in the way Margaret had described.

“I would have welcomed you with open arms.” That provocative whisper had scarcely left her lips when a violent gust of briny wind blew in one of the window panes, dousing all the candles in the roundhouse at once.

At the very same instant, the ship listed at a steep angle, throwing Genia from her seat and flinging her across Blade’s lap.

The other passengers cried out in shock, but she could think of nothing beyond the firm bulge of Blade’s straining manhood against her belly and the reassuring strength of his hands as he grasped her around the waist. He must have been equally conscious of her alone, for he seized the unexpected opportunity to fondle her bottom. The rhythmic caress of his hand conveyed urgent yet tender yearning. It sent ripples of tingling heat radiating outward from her bottom to the rest of her body.

Genia writhed in the throes of reckless delight, even as the darkened roundhouse erupted in cries of alarm. Neither the peril of their situation nor the danger of discovery and disgrace mattered at that moment—only the urgent passion that racked her body, straining for release. Arching her bottom higher, she spread her legs, begging him to touch her there, as he had during their last furtive tryst. Blade obliged, pressing the light muslin of her skirts between her parted legs to swipe over the exquisitely sensitive opening to her moist passage that ached to be filled.

“The ship is going to sink!” wailed the vicar’s niece. “We’re all going to die!”

Though Genia knew it might be true, she did not share the girl’s panic. If her life must be cut short, like Margaret’s, she would rather die in Blade’s arms than live a hundred years without him. Her only regret would be that she had not given herself to him.

The door of the roundhouse burst open and second mate staggered in bearing a lamp.

Wrenching his hand away from her backside, Blade tipped Genia upright and set her back on her chair. “You’re not hurt, I hope?”

The rasp of his breath and the husky timbre of his voice told her his frustration at being interrupted was every bit as painful as hers.

Though she wanted to scream out of thwarted longing, his tone of tender concern worked on her heart as his hands had on her body.

“Only a little winded,” she lied.

“Then I must see if any of the others need help.”

Genia held tight to her seat when another great wave tilted the ship at an alarming angle. As she watched Blade assist and reassure the other passengers, she was rocked by the realization that her feelings for him had strayed beyond mere physical desire into much more dangerous waters. The insight sent a shudder of anxiety through her, for she knew there could be no hope of a future together, even if she wanted one. Which she didn’t…did she?

“No injuries,” Blade reported to the second mate, “though some of the ladies are considerably distressed. Can I be of assistance to the captain? I was a keen sailor in my youth—on much smaller vessels, to be sure…”

“Thank you, sir.” The second mate relit the candles. “I reckon he’d be grateful if you could keep the other passengers calm.”

Blade nodded. “You may depend on me.”

After the second mate had lumbered back out into the storm, Blade turned to the other passengers with a wide, untroubled smile that Genia suspected might not be entirely sincere. “Captain Burns and his crew have matters well in hand. I’m sure our greatest danger is suffering falls when the ship rolls.”

He offered a footstool to the vicar’s wife. “The closer we are to the floor, the less we’ll have to fear on that score. I suggest we all settle down on stools and cushions. I can assure you there is nothing to fear as long as you have me aboard. I have been through more catastrophes at sea than you can imagine—quite a number of my own making. But I always managed to escape unscathed. I recall once when I was sailing around the Isle of Wight…”

When Genia sank onto a cushion beside him, the other passengers quickly followed her example. She listened as Blade spun tale after tale of his misadventures at sea, a sort of comical Odyssey. Though she guessed the intended purpose of his stories, she could not help being drawn into them.

Blade’s animation and charm worked wonders on the other passengers. As he came to the end of one story, he managed to weave it seamlessly into the next, making the terrible tempest in the middle of that vast ocean seem of no more consequence that a mild squall on the Solent.

When he finally paused to catch his breath, the vicar’s niece spoke. “I believe the wind has died down.”

“So it has!” cried Blade. “It’s nothing to what it was. We’re out of the worst of it, to be sure. I reckon this calls for a sip of wine, don’t you?”

A short time later, Genia lifted her wineglass in a salute to Blade. “Well done! Don’t ever again claim you lack ability or believe anyone else who tries to tell you so.”

“Talking endlessly about myself?” He gave a dismissive shrug. “That hardly signifies.”

“You did a great deal more than that, and I believe you know it. I recognize a natural leader when I see one in action. Perhaps the reason you haven’t cultivated your abilities is because you have not yet discovered anything that made you care enough to exert them.”

Something stirred in the depths of his eyes, leading Genia to hope he would take her words to heart.

Then, as if he feared she had seen too deeply into him, Blade leaned toward her with a sly grin and whispered, “Does exerting myself to find a way into your bed count?”

Though she feared that a night in his bed would only deepen the dangerous hold he had begun to exert upon her heart, she could not prevent herself from replying, “Most definitely!”

Chapter Four

He must have her!

Some compulsion, far stronger than mere lust, pulsed through Blade’s veins as he crept through the ship in the hushed, black depths of the night. He hoped the crew would be too exhausted from battling the storm to mark the furtive comings and goings of one passenger. But whether they were or not, he was prepared to risk the consequences of discovery for the chance to lie with Genia that night. The memory of her soft, ripe body pressed against him and the siren song of her encouraging whisper made it impossible for him to continue denying the hunger that bedeviled him.

Hearing the heavy tread of footsteps, Blade melted into the deepest shadows and held his breath until they passed. Then he set off again, all his senses on quivering alert. When he managed to reach the roundhouse without being caught, he heaved a sigh of relief that was short-lived. What if he found Genia’s door locked? How would he wake her to let him in without rousing all her neighbors, as well?

Preoccupied with that problem, he failed to concentrate as closely as he should on where he was going. His foot caught on some unseen obstacle, sending him sprawling to the floor.

Blade scarcely had time to scramble to his feet, let alone hide or flee before the captain was out of his stateroom, lantern in hand. “What in blazes brings you up here at this hour, Maxwell?

All Blade’s glib wit deserted him. He stammered some lame excuse about searching for a book he’d left behind.

“Time enough for that tomorrow.” The craggy old salt fixed him with a most intimidating scowl. “I warn you, Maxwell, I will not tolerate any mischief aboard my ship. If I get a whiff of it again, I shall be forced to take stronger measures. Do I make myself clear?”

With a jerky nod and a muttered apology, Blade fled back to his cabin to nurse his frustration. Perhaps if the Hartwell anchored at the Cape for a few days to take on fresh supplies, he might be able to escort Genia ashore and find some opportunity to be alone with her. But what if the ship sailed straight to England? Would their dalliance fade from the realm of unfulfilled dreams to one of wistful memories? He was not certain he could bear that.

Indeed, he was beginning to wonder how he would bear their parting, whether he bedded her or not.

Aching with arousal, he groped in the darkness toward his bed, which was suspended from the ceiling with chains to prevent him feeling the worst of the ship’s motion. He hoped sleep would soon overtake him, bringing with it delightful dreams about Genia. At this rate, it might be the only way he would ever get into her bed!

Stripping off his clothes, he crawled under the sheets only to find the bed occupied by someone else! Had he wandered into the wrong cabin by mistake? This night was going from bad to worse.

He began to stammer an apology when soft fingertips covered his lips, and he inhaled the lush sweetness of jasmine. Genia! Was he dreaming already?

If so, he would kill anyone who tried to wake him!

Seizing her in his arms, Blade pulled her close and kissed her with wild, possessive joy. His hands ranged over her body, seeking to persuade him that she was no dream.

Only when he had temporarily sated his craving for her sweet mouth did his lips blunder over her cheek to whisper in her ear. “How did you manage to steal down here without being caught?”

“I heard you and the captain in the roundhouse. While his attention was distracted, I slipped out and came down here to wait for you.” Spoken in the softest possible murmur, her words still had a triumphant ring.

Through the light fabric of her shift, Blade could feel the soft warmth of her breasts and the firm buds of her nipples pressed against his bare chest. Though those exquisite sensations threatened to drive him mad with need, the captain’s gruff rebuke thundered in his thoughts. Somehow he scavenged up enough restraint to pull away from Genia.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he hissed. “It’s too dangerous.”

She gave a low, bewitching chuckle. Then Blade felt the provocative brush of her fingertips over his bare chest. “I know what danger I can fear from you and I am willing to risk it.”

His body demanded he take her now, as they both wanted. But honor…and perhaps his heart…put up a valiant resistance. Raising her hand to his lips, he begged her, “Go, while I can still let you.”

When he tried to release her hand she clung stubbornly to his fingers. “A few moments ago, you were sneaking up to my bed. What difference does it make if I come to yours? Are you so perverse that you do not want me when I am willing? That is the reason you ignored me in Madras, isn’t it?”

“You don’t understand.” Raising his hand, with hers still clinging to it, Blade brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek. “I want you, Genia, God forgive me. I want you asleep or awake…though preferably the latter. I want you standing, sitting or lying down, happy or vexed. I want you anyway and every way, all the time. But never more than at this moment.”

She lunged toward him, her lips stumbling blindly over his face. “Then take me, for heaven sake!”

“I…can’t.” He forced the words out through resistant lips.

Genia reached out to caress his chest again. Then her hand strayed lower. “Your body tells me otherwise.”

Her eager yet innocent touch almost sent him over the edge. “So it does, the lecherous traitor. But I will not satisfy its carnal appetites at the risk of your happiness. Someday you may change your mind about wanting to wed. I will not ruin your chance of marriage by taking your virginity. That is why I did not take advantage of your very tempting invitation in Madras. I did not want to trifle with an innocent young lady and put her reputation at risk when I was not at liberty to offer her any honorable connection. I tried to persuade myself the situation is different now, but it isn’t.”

“I wish you’d told me all this sooner.” A note of tenderness crept into Genia’s voice. “I could have saved you a great deal of dithering. I assure you there is not the least possibility I will change my mind about marriage. And you need not fret about my reputation. I have already managed to sully it quite beyond redemption. That is why the other ladies have kept their distance from me, and why I have no proper chaperone on the voyage. It is why I chose this time to join Aunt Millicent in England and begin the next chapter in my life.”

So this delectable creature in his bed was no longer a virgin? Even as Blade roused at the prospect of being free to make a conquest of her at last, he could not stifle an unreasonable qualm of regret that he would not be her first and only lover.

It pained Genia’s conscience to deceive Blade with another half-truth, especially now that she understood his honorable motives for discouraging her earlier pursuit of him.

Though her reputation had been compromised, her virtue had not. She was still a virgin and would likely remain one until she became a withered old maid unless she seized her chance tonight. It was that prospect that had propelled her into Blade’s bed, despite the danger that he might claim her heart as well as her body. If she let that happen, their parting at the end of this voyage would be as painful as any bereavement.

Genia strove to block out that terrifying thought by concentrating on the delightful sensations of Blade’s nearness—the smooth heat of his skin, the melting whisper of this voice.

She seized the instant of dazed silence that greeted her confession to press her advantage.

“Let us not waste any more time on explanations that will only keep us from what we both want so much.”

For an instant, she feared Blade might renew his protests, giving her doubts time to catch up with her. Instead, he pulled her close again, playfully nuzzling her ear. “You will get no more argument from me. I surrender.”

“Excellent.” She chuckled as he grazed her neck and shoulder with his cheek. “I will give you very generous terms.”

“I have no doubt of that.” He fumbled for the hem of her shift then, tugging it up and off.

With a deep, exultant sigh, he eased her back onto the bed. Genia wriggled on the sheets, reveling in her nakedness.

Blade wasted no time relishing it, too. As he rubbed his bare body against hers, she soaked in the delicious friction and gave herself up to the ravenous heat it created. Then he kissed and nuzzled his way down her neck and over her collarbones.

A deep purr of pleasure rippled through Genia’s chest when his lips closed over her nipple and he began to suckle while fondling her other breast with his free hand. For what seemed like a blissful eternity, he pleasured her thus, making her breath race and her body writhe. Not content to be a passive recipient of his favors, she ran her fingers through his hair, down his neck and over his shoulders, trying to commit his form to memory.

When at last he pressed a parting kiss upon each nipple and began to range lower, she bent to whisper in his ear. “Now it is my turn to touch you and bring you pleasure.”

She wanted to convince him that she was a woman of experience. If he suspected her innocence, she feared he might send her away before he had properly initiated her into the secret wonders of womanhood.

“Believe me,” he breathed, “to taste your skin and caress your bare body brings me enormous pleasure.”

“Speaking of enormous…” She reached down to wrap her fingers around his shaft. Surely he would never suspect a woman who touched him with such wanton assurance of being a green virgin.

Blade gasped. “Have a care or you will drive me over the edge before I can oblige you.”

“Indeed?” Genia loosened her grip to run her fingertips over his straining flesh. “I have the utmost faith in your self-control.”

With a deep low growl, Blade fell back onto the bed and surrendered to her caresses. With neither experience nor tutoring upon which to draw, Genia relied upon her intuition and imagination, taking her cues from the way he moved and the sounds he made to discover what pleased him.

She had thoroughly familiarized herself with his manly parts when suddenly he clamped a hand around each of her wrists. “Enough now, woman. Give over and let me make you mine.”

Those words acted on her emotions like the whisper of his fingertip upon the center of her need. That was what she most wanted—to be his, to belong to him in the only way their circumstances would permit.

His next whisper left her as breathless as his lovemaking. “I have a few sheaths in my possession. But groping about in the dark to find them would be such a wasteful use of our time together. Surely a woman of the world like you must know the proper precautions to keep from breeding.”

What was a sheath? And sort of precautions could he mean?

Thanks to many candid discussions with Margaret, she had far more knowledge of men and intimate relations than most innocent maidens. But never once had those conversations turned to the topic Blade had just mentioned. Margaret had desperately wanted a baby, perhaps hoping it might keep her ambitious, hard-driving husband home more often. The last thing she’d have wanted would be to prevent herself from conceiving.

“Of course I know.”

Genia hated adding another falsehood to those she’d already told Blade. But if he discovered the truth about her virginity at this point, he might suspect she was trying to entrap him into marriage, when nothing could be further from the truth.

“I could tell you all the details.” She strove to sound confident and knowledgeable. “But I would rather not waste time on anything that keeps us from this.”

Hoping to rekindle his interest in continuing their mutual seduction, she pressed her parted lips to his and darted her tongue daringly between them. Her plan worked every bit as well as she’d hoped.

As she drank in Blade’s deep, torrid kiss, she felt his hands upon her breasts, which still tingled from his earlier attentions. After teasing her nipples to hard, thrusting little peaks that begged for one more swipe of his tongue, he moved on to flutter his fingertips over her belly and further down. His lips soon followed the trail his hand had blazed.

Nudging her legs apart, he knelt between them and grazed his cheek over the sensitive flesh of her thighs. The rasp of whisker stubble over her skin sent a scorching jolt of energy sizzling through her. Genia bit her lips together to keep from crying out.

She had no time to recover from it before the slick heat of his tongue sought the sultry core of her womanhood. Lapping over her to the rhythm of the ocean swells against the hull, it unleashed a storm of savage pleasure that quaked through her in wave after wave, drowning her in vast warm sea of delight.

Before she could catch her breath, she was vaguely aware of Blade rising like a powerful crest of surf, hovering over her then diving into her depths. There was a brief sensation of resistance and intolerable pressure followed by a searing pain. Then he was inside her, filling her, joined with her, and the pain did not matter.

His lips sought hers with demanding urgency as if he were drowning and her kisses were the air he needed to survive. She tasted the briny musk of her pleasure upon his tongue and felt the welcome weight of his body upon hers. His hips began a steady rocking motion that soon sped up to match the swift gust of his breath and the headlong gallop of his heartbeat.

The desire she had thought sated only moments before reared again with a hunger that fed off each thrust of his shaft into her. Some mysterious feminine instinct took control of her body, making her tilt her hips and arch herself to receive him.

That same intuition warned her when his release was at hand. All his energy seemed to gather, tense and swell. Then it burst forth in great shuddering heaves that battered down a floodgate within her, releasing a tidal wave of bliss.

Afterward, he cradled her in his arms, murmuring endearments and feathering kisses upon her brow.

Their night together had been everything she’d hoped for and more. She was not surprised that Blade had turned out to be such a skilled, inventive lover, but she had not expected the tenderness he’d shown her. While part of her was relieved that he had not suspected her virginity, another part secretly wished he might have guessed the truth.

Chapter Five

His high sea interlude with Genia had accomplished everything he’d asked of it—though not at all in the way he’d originally planned. Blade reflected on that irony one evening in April as the Hartwell sailed north past the Azores.

The time they’d spent together had made this long voyage pass swiftly—far too swiftly it now seemed to him. It had also given him the opportunity to suspect that he could at last be content to settle down with one woman for the rest of his life. But that woman was not one his family would choose for him. Indeed, she was one of whom they were certain to disapprove most fiercely.

With the end of the voyage in sight at last, the other passengers of the Hartwell were all in fine spirits. Blade tried to pretend likewise. On this fine, balmy evening with the wind not too high, they had gathered on the poop deck to enjoy a bit of music and dancing in the sea air.

Genia’s light step and vivacious manner made her a much sought after dancing partner. Blade wished he dared keep her all to himself—tonight and forever. The thought of her dallying with a succession of other men on the fringes of Society tore at him.

He managed to claim his share of dances with her, during which he treasured each touch of her hand, each sparkling glance, each special smile that was meant for him alone. After one spritely set, she must have sensed he craved a private moment with her, for she pleaded the need to catch her breath and retired to the taffrail with him.

As he stared down at the water swirling in the great ship’s wake, Blade could not contain the feelings brewing inside him a moment longer. “I wish this voyage never had to end! I wish we could sail across the Atlantic and keep going around the world.”

“I fear it would spark mutiny among our fellow passengers.” Genia glanced back at them with a rueful chuckle. “Like it or not, all good things must come to an end at last—voyages…friendships…lives.”

Something about the wistful way her voice lingered upon those last two words reminded Blade of several conversations they’d shared during the past few weeks. “Is that why you don’t want a husband and children—because you’re afraid of losing them, the way you lost your friend Margaret?”

Genia winced. “I saw what it did to Margaret’s poor husband, losing her and the baby. I know what it did to me. I was so desperate for any diversion to lighten my spirits, even for a few hours. Only on this voyage, with so much time to think and a sympathetic ear to confide in have I made peace with my grief. I’m not certain I could bear to go through that again.”

Perhaps uncomfortable with how much she had confessed, she tossed her head and shot him a teasing grin. “Besides, what sort of marriage could I make with my reputation in tatters?”

Did he detect a note of challenge in her tone? Blade wondered as he and Genia were summoned back to join in the dancing once more. If so, was he man enough to accept such a challenge, knowing what it might cost him?

What did her reasons for not wanting a husband matter to Blade? That question plagued Genia as she continued to dance, making her preoccupied and clumsy. He’d gotten what he wanted from their liaison and so had she. This voyage had been like a pleasant dream for them both, but soon it would be time to wake up and face the reality of their lives. She’d spent far too long trying to run away from hers. Now the time had come to pay the piper. The memory of these golden weeks with Blade would make it bearable.

When the dancing had finished and the other passengers headed back to the roundhouse for a late supper, Blade drew close enough to Genia to whisper, “Stay behind a moment. There is something I want to ask you.”

“Please,” she begged him as they hung back, “No more sighs and regrets. I don’t want to spoil our final days together by fretting they will soon come to an end.”

“A sensible sentiment.” He sounded chastened, but his next words came out in a firmer tone—the way he’d sounded on the day of the storm. “Would it not be wise to take that same view of life…and love, in general?”

“I beg your pardon?”

His countenance, usually so carefree, settled into a look of pensive solemnity that made him look older…and even more attractive. “I reckon life is like a voyage. One we may not properly appreciate because we fret too much about it ending, either for ourselves or others.”

As his words sank in, Genia realized she had been working toward that same conclusion for some time. What did it matter, though? There was only one man on whom she would be willing to risk her recently healed heart, and she had placed herself beyond the pale where he was concerned.

“What I am trying to say,” Blade went on, “is that I would like our relationship to continue, if you would be willing.”

“You want me to become…to remain your mistress?” Sorely as the prospect tempted her, Genia knew it was impossible. “But you are too honorable to betray the woman you will marry. And I could never stoop to steal the affections of another woman’s husband.”

Fearing Blade might charm her into an arrangement she knew better than to accept, Genia turned to go.

“You are right.” He caught her hand, the way she had caught his on that glorious night they’d shared. “I could not betray the woman to whom I’ve committed myself by bedding another. Which means I must wed the one who has claimed my devotion or remain celibate the rest of my life.”

He broke into a roguish grin. “I need hardly tell you, I don’t fancy that at all.”

As Genia struggled to quell the foolish, impossible hope that bubbled up inside her, Blade sank to his knees on the deck. “Will you do me the honor of accepting my offer of marriage? I cannot promise I will live forever, but I will take the best care of my health and make every effort to avoid danger. I want our life’s voyage together to be a long and happy one.”

If only it could be as easy as Blade made it sound. “What about your family? They would never approve of me, and I cannot blame them.”

“More fools they!” Surging up from his knees, he clasped both her hands tightly in his. “If that is your only objection to marrying me, think no more of it. You made me realize I have wasted too much of my life minding my family’s approval. As a child, I tried so hard to win it, without success. Later, I became the black sheep of the family, trying to pretend I didn’t care. It is time to choose my own path for my own reasons.”

It touched her to think she had done that for him. But she could not bear to ruin Blade’s future as she had ruined her own. “That is all very well, but how will you live if they cast you out without a penny?”

Blade flinched. “I would not place a burden on your resources, if that is what you fear. You have made me believe I can succeed at something if I care enough to try. I care enough about you to try as hard and as long as I must to do you proud.”

His mention of her resources filled Genia with shame. The lies she had told, thinking they would never matter, suddenly loomed up like great rocks out of the fog to wreck her chance of happiness.

After all Blade had been willing to risk for her sake, she could not offer him anything less than the truth. Surely that would convince him not to throw his future away on someone like her. “If I had any fortune, or even the expectation of one, I would not begrudge you a penny. Though I am certain you are more than capable of earning a good living.”

In a halting voice, Genia confessed the truth of her situation and her petty motives for deceiving him.

“Is that the worst you have to tell me?” asked Blade when she had finished. He did not sound angry or disappointed or any other way she’d expected.

She shook her head guiltily then glanced around to make certain there was no one within earshot. “There is more. I deceived you again when I led you to believe I had prior experience with a man. I knew you would never think of bedding me if you knew I was…a…virgin.”

The look of shock on his face pierced her conscience to its core. “I am so sorry, believe me! But I knew it might be my only chance to know that kind of pleasure and—”

Blades raised a hand to bid her be silent. “Then it wasn’t true, about your reputation being ruined?”

“That part was true, I’m afraid. I was caught kissing a young officer in the garden one evening. He offered to marry me but I refused. I was afraid I might come to love him only to have him sent to war. Father was furious. He said I’d disgraced him with my impropriety and I must go to live with Aunt Millicent in England. The truth is I never did more than kiss a man before I took up with you.”

Blade’s dumbfounded stare had gradually changed to a befuddled grin. Now he found his voice again. “My dear Genia, you talk as if this will alter the way I feel about you or my resolve to marry you. I assure you it does not, except for the better. Now I can wed you without feeling like a fortune hunter.”

As she struggled to believe what she’d just heard, he gathered her into his arms, as if to demonstrate he no longer cared who saw them together in such a compromising position.

He did exercise enough discretion to whisper his next words in her ear, rather than cry them at the top of his lungs. “Few things could please me more than knowing I have been your first and only lover. But there is one. Please, my darling, say you’ll marry me. We may be two black sheep, cut off from our families, but I reckon we can make our way in the world together. Indeed, I look forward to the challenge and the opportunity to prove myself.”

After everything she had told him, in spite of all it would cost him, Blade still wanted her? More than ever Genia felt unworthy of him, in a way that had nothing to do with rank or fortune. She leaned into his embrace, elated yet frightened at the same time. There were other ways to lose a loved one, she realized—ways that could hurt even more than bereavement.

What if Blade did not succeed in spite of his newfound confidence and her belief in him? What if he came to regret the breech with his family of which she was the cause? What if he came to blame and resent her—being parted by death would be a mercy compared to that.

Then a bright flicker of the evening star on the horizon caught her attention. It reminded her of the mischievous twinkle she had often seen in Margaret’s eye. She fancied the ocean breeze carried an echo of her friend’s sweet laughter.

“Buck up, Genia!” they seemed to say. “This sounds like an adventure. And every adventure has its risks. Dare to be in love and happy. You know it is what I always wanted for you”

As she drew back to give Blade her answer, the thought of her dear friend and her own deep joy brought tears to her eyes.

Perhaps thinking they signaled her refusal, Blade looked utterly bereft.

Genia pushed past the lump in her throat. “If you want me, I am yours! I know you have it in you to make a great success of anything you undertake. That includes marriage.”

As they sealed their betrothal with a deep, ardent, tender kiss, the evening star seemed to sparkle brighter than ever.

“Let us go announce our engagement to our fellow passengers,” said Blade at last, “and see if there is enough wine left in the Hartwell’s stores to drink a toast!”

Epilogue

Two years later

As he stood beside his darling wife at the baptismal font of his family’s private chapel, Blade thought back upon his voyage from the Indies as the great turning point in his life. After Genia’s first introduction to his parents, he’d doubted they would ever darken the door of Penkensey Manor again in his father’s lifetime. Yet there was the Earl, beaming with pride at his first grandchild and the son he’d come to respect at last.

“Name this child,” the vicar addressed the godparents—the Earl and Countess of Launceton, Genia’s Aunt Millicent and Blade’s publisher.

“Theodore Vernon Maxwell,” they replied in chorus.

Blade recalled his shock and grief upon being informed his brother Theo had been killed in a riding accident, leaving him heir to the peerage. His parents had insisted that made it more vital than ever for him to wed the right sort of wife. They’d made it abundantly clear that a colonial girl of no rank or fortune did not qualify. When Blade had refused to give Genia up, they had carried out their threat to disown him. They could not prevent him from inheriting the title and estates, but while his father lived, he would be cut off without a penny.

The vicar dipped little Theo in the baptismal water, making the wee rascal squall at the top of his sturdy young lungs.

Blade gave Genia’s hand a reassuring squeeze. After that confrontation with his parents, she had insisted she would release him from any obligation to her. But he’d resisted her pleas as resolutely as their threats. It had been a struggle at first to make ends meet, but he had persevered until he found a good position with a shipping firm.

In his spare time, with Genia’s encouragement and help, he’d written an account of his travels in the Indies as well as advice for anyone going to the Orient. On the day the book was released Genia had confided the happy news that they were going to have a baby. Blade had taken it as an omen of good fortune and he’d been right.

The book had proven almost as great a success as his marriage, hailed for its uncommon blend of lively style and useful information. Not long after it came out, his parents had made an unexpected overture of reconciliation. Blade sometimes wondered whether his success had finally won his father’s approval, or whether his mother had gotten wind of their impending parenthood and refused to be estranged from her grandchild. He’d left the matter entirely up to Genia’s discretion. With the same openhearted generosity she’d once shown him, she had agreed to forgive his parents. Since then, they’d grown almost as devoted to her as he was.

When the baptism had concluded, Theo’s godparents clustered around the baby, vying with one another to coax a smile or chuckle out of him.

Watching their antics from a little distance, Genia cast Blade a smile that glowed with joyful pride, yet still held a glint of delightful mischief. “I wonder what your old friend Ford would say if he could see you now?”

Blade grinned back at her, wondering if he dared steal a kiss in church. “He would probably say I have reaped a fine harvest from the last of my wild oats. And he would be right.”

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In the process of tracing her Canadian family to their origins in eighteenth-century Britain, Deborah Hale learned a great deal about the period and uncovered plenty of true-life inspiration for her historical romance novels! Deborah lives with her very own hero and their four fast-growing children in Nova Scotia—a province steeped in history and romance!

Deborah invites you to become better acquainted with her by visiting her personal website www.deborahhale.com, or chatting with her in the Harlequin/Mills & Boon online communities.

ISBN: 978-1-4268-8013-1

Seduced: The Scandalous Virgin

Copyright © 2011 by Deborah M. Hale

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