Dark Rider

  Stung, she jumped to her feet. “I certainly don’t want to remain with you. I’ve spent too much time here already.” She moved toward the stallion. “And Kapu was right to dump you onto the sand. I should have let him pound you into it.”

  “But you didn’t.” He rose to his feet. “As I said, you have a soft heart. It’s a very dangerous fault in a woman who wishes to maintain her independence.” He met her gaze. “Not to mention her untouched state.”

  She found her anger ebbing as she stared at him. Why was she still standing there? She should leave him as he had ordered her to do. She certainly didn’t want to stay with him.

  A warm breeze lifted his dark hair from his forehead and molded the material of his shirt against his body, the same wind that was caressing her naked breasts and causing the hair at her temples to brush across her cheeks. She became acutely aware of the salty scent of the sea, the rhythmic sound of the waves rushing against the shore, the grainy roughness of the sand beneath her bare feet. The air seemed suddenly thick and hard to breathe.

  “Go on!” he said sharply.

  Her hands shook as she mounted Kapu. She was about to turn away when she noticed how pale his stern face appeared in the moonlight. She hesitated before asking, “You’re sure you’re unhurt?”

  He drew a deep breath and said with great precision, “I’m not hurt, Kanoa.” An unexpected smile banished the grimness from his face; then he inclined his head in a bow. “I won’t say it’s been a complete pleasure, but it’s certainly been interesting making your acquaintance.” He stepped forward and slapped Kapu’s rump. “Run along.”

  The startled stallion lunged forward.

  “And, dammit, if you won’t cover yourself, stay away from the shore until we’re gone,” he called after her. “Some of my seamen won’t care how old you are.”

  She was several yards down the beach before she glanced over her shoulder. He was standing where she had left him, gazing after her.

  He smiled faintly and lifted his hand in farewell.

  She didn’t return the gesture. Staring ahead once more, she urged Kapu to go faster. The episode that had taken place had been most unsettling, and she wanted to put time and distance between herself and the Englishman. He had no role in her life, and yet for a moment he had seemed to have the power to dominate it.

  Most disturbing …

  “Well, I see you’ve found something to interest you.”

  Jared turned from watching the girl flying down the beach on the back of the black stallion to see Bradford strolling toward him. “I take it you grew bored with waiting.”

  “I finished the bottle of brandy,” Bradford said mournfully. “Most distressing. I should have noticed that it was only half-full.”

  “Three-quarters full,” Jared corrected. “I wonder you can still walk.”

  “No, you don’t. You know that I seldom get that foxed.”

  It was true. His uncle had an amazing capacity. He was always a little drunk, but Jared had seen him under the table only a handful of times. “You should have come with me to see King Kamehameha instead of staying on board. They served a heady brew that you would have appreciated.”

  He grimaced. “Too primitive. I prefer good French brandy.”

  “I enjoyed it.”

  Bradford nodded. “But that’s because you also have a primitive side to your nature. I noticed it while we were in Tahiti.” His gaze went to Kanoa, who was now almost out of sight. “Fine horse. Beautiful gait.”

  Jared should have known Bradford would notice the horse first.

  “I can’t tell much from this distance,” Bradford went on, “but the woman appears equally fine.” He slanted a sly glance at Jared. “I thought you were getting along quite nicely. What did you say to her to make her run away?”

  “She isn’t a woman, she’s a child,” Jared said curtly.

  “They grow up fast here in the islands.”

  “But I have no desire to be the catalyst.”

  Bradford’s brows raised. “Good God, you sound positively virtuous.”

  “She’s just a child,” he repeated. But one with a strange mixture of qualities—wary and eager, impulsive and caring, bold and yet uncertain.

  “Then what was she doing stroking you?”

  Christ, he had hoped Bradford had not witnessed that. He would enjoy the explanation far too much. “She wasn’t—” He stopped and then admitted, “Her horse threw me.”

  Bradford stared at him in astonishment. “Indeed?”

  “Yes.”

  He started to laugh. “Amazing. You haven’t been thrown since you were a boy. Have you finally found an animal who doesn’t appreciate you?”

  “Possibly.” He shrugged. “I didn’t prepare him enough.”

  “Why not?”

  “What difference does it make? I was careless.”

  “You’re never careless. Not with horses.” He gazed at him speculatively. “Why?”

  “How do I know?” Bradford was right—the impulsive action was not at all like him. It had been evident the stallion was high-strung and dangerously unstable, he should have talked to Kapu longer, soothed him, let him grow used to his touch before mounting him. He deserved that toss and was lucky not to have been trampled. If the girl had not been there, he would have paid heavily for that impulse.

  Bradford’s gaze went back to the girl and horse. “Pretty?”

  Pretty? He didn’t suppose so. Except for the thick mane of shining dark hair that flowed nearly to her waist, Kanoa’s features were too bold and striking for her to be called pretty. Her jaw was too firm, her lips full and a little pouty, her brows winglike over huge dark eyes that dominated a triangular face. Those eyes had challenged him, and yet he had sensed something fragile and vulnerable about her when she had looked up at him with desperation. He repeated, “She’s a child.”

  Yet not completely a child. Though small, her naked breasts had been perfectly shaped, the nipples dark and pointed.…

  Bradford chuckled. “That’s not what I asked. She must have been a veritable Venus to have you so besotted you can’t answer a simple question. Did you find her at Kamehameha’s court? Maybe I should have gone with you.”

  “I didn’t go to Kamehameha to find a woman.”

  “But you found one anyway.” Bradford sighed blissfully. “I must admit I’ve enjoyed our sojourn in this paradise. Beautiful women who give pleasure and no guilt. Can a man ask for more?”

  “It seems he can. French brandy.”

  “Ah, yes, but every paradise has a serpent. This one is fairly innocuous.” His gaze returned to Kanoa. “But you shouldn’t have been so selfish. Why didn’t you invite her to the ship so that we both could enjoy her?”

  The flare of hot resentment Jared felt was as startling as it was totally unreasonable. He and Bradford often shared women, and these island beauties had proved eager for the diversion the two men offered them. “For God’s sake, why don’t you listen? The only thing that child wants between her legs is her damned horse.” He turned on his heel and strode down the beach toward the cove. “Forget her. We have more important things to do.”

  “Not so fast,” Bradford complained. “I may not be drunk, but I’m not so steady that I can run.”

  Smiling affectionately, Jared slowed his pace. “I was thinking only of your dire need for brandy. The sooner we get back to the ship, the sooner you can tap a fresh bottle.”

  “Well, perhaps I can run … a little.” He fell into step with Jared. “Did Kamehameha tell you what you wanted to know?”

  “Yes.” He felt a return of the excitement that had surged through him when the King had so casually given him the information he had been striving to learn since that hellish night in Danjuet. He had traveled to Paris and Marseilles, then had spent almost a year in Tahiti following Deville’s trail before arriving on the islands. It had seemed almost unbelievable that the long search had ended. “He’s here.”

  “Deville?” Bradford purs
ed his lips in a low whistle. “Are you sure?”

  “Charles Deville, a Frenchman who lived in Tahiti for a short time and then came here. It must be he. Everything matches too closely with what we’ve uncovered for it to be anyone else.”

  “Did he fit the description?”

  “Exactly.”

  “The wife and daughter?”

  Jared nodded. “His English wife died a year after he came here, and he took a Polynesian woman as mistress. There’s a daughter, Cassandra, but she never comes to Kamehameha’s court.”

  “Does DeVille?”

  Jared nodded. “It seems Kamehameha has made something of a pet of him. Deville’s done several paintings of the King and his wives. He’s permitted to roam all over the island, painting and living off the land.”

  “Will the king let you take him?”

  “He’ll have no choice.” He smiled with tigerlike ferocity. “If I find him, he’s mine.”

  “I’ve no doubt he will be. I only hope that Kamehameha isn’t too fond of him. I’d hate to have his warriors use one of those exceedingly ugly war clubs on you.”

  “I don’t look forward to that prospect either. I’ll have to take him unaware.” He thought about it. “The king made a few hints about his desire for British guns. He might be persuaded to turn a blind eye to my taking Deville if he thinks there’s a possibility he’ll get what he wants.”

  “Still, it would be easier to kill Deville than try to take him hostage.”

  “But then I’d have no chance at getting Raoul Cambre. I want both of them dead.”

  Bradford shook his head. “I hope you get what you want, Jared. It’s been a long time and the trail is very cold.”

  “That’s why I have to leave Deville alive until I can squeeze information out of him. Deville was only the weapon—Cambre was the guiding hand.”

  “Does Deville have a house here on the island?”

  “Yes, a cottage in the foothills, but I understand he’s seldom there. It appears he has a passion for painting volcanoes. I think it’s best to go to Lihua’s village tomorrow morning and hire a guide who knows the mountains. We’ll try the cottage first, but I want to be prepared.”

  “I suppose I should be the one avenging John’s death. He was my brother, and everyone would say there is some sort of duty owing.” Bradford smiled lopsidedly. “I’ve always had trouble with duty. It has a damnable habit of getting in the way of pleasure.”

  “I’ve never blamed you.”

  “No.” Bradford paused. “I’ve always had trouble with hatred too. I’ve never hated anyone. I’ve often thought it was left out of my character. It’s hard to kill someone when you feel no hatred for him.” He shot Jared a wry glance. “However, you don’t suffer from a lack of hate.”

  “No, I have an abundance of it. Enough for both of us.”

  “Yes.” They had come to the longboat drawn up on the sand, and Bradford began to push it into the surf. “Which is why I left the matter in your hands.”

  And everything else, too, Jared thought without resentment. When Bradford had been saddled with a thirteen-year-old orphaned nephew to raise, he had resolved the issue by simply treating Jared as if he were a grown man instead of a boy. Jared had attended his first orgy shortly after arriving at his uncle’s London lodgings and in the following years was never chastised for drunkenness or licentiousness. The one and only beating he’d received was when Bradford had thought he’d ridden one of his horses too hard. He suspected Bradford loved his horses far better than any human being.

  But it was a passion they shared and one that had probably been Jared’s salvation.

  He didn’t have Bradford’s head for liquor and soon found he couldn’t ride in a race while reeling in the saddle from drunkenness; therefore, it was only sensible to embrace moderation. He’d also learned that if you cuckolded too many husbands, you were in danger of becoming ousted from court, where all the interesting racing took place; therefore, liaisons were formed with carefully chosen demimondaines.

  Until tonight.

  He had been right not to pursue the lust he had felt at the moment the girl’s hands had been on him. He had thought himself a jaded womanizer, but she had somehow managed to touch something soft in him. For an instant her loneliness and vulnerability had reminded him of the boy he had been, the boy who had come back from France and used every bit of recklessness and ferocity at his command to hide the pain and desolation. Now that he had found Deville, he could permit no hint of softness to hinder him.

  Besides, virgins could be trouble even in this society, where an untouched state was looked upon only with friendly scorn and amazement. He should be content with the women who swam out to the Josephine and offered themselves. Tonight he would rid himself of this lust with Lihua or her sister and forget all about Kanoa.

  And tomorrow he would seek out Deville.

  Lani met Cassie in the stand of trees at the foot of the hill leading to the cottage. “Come quick,” she said as she thrust Cassie’s riding habit at her. “The old woman is pacing like a tiger.”

  Cassie jumped from Kapu’s back, ripped off the sarong, and hurriedly dressed.

  “What kept you so long?” Lani asked.

  Cassie avoided Lani’s glance. “Nothing.”

  Lani’s shrewd gaze narrowed on Cassie’s face. “I think your ‘nothing’ may be ‘something,’ but we have no time to talk now. The old woman has no idea you went to my village. I told her that you hiked up to the volcano to be with your father. She may spit venom but won’t punish you, if you keep silent.”

  “I’ll keep silent.” Cassie pulled on her boots, trying to subdue her exasperation. Such a waste of effort to dress and undress for the benefit of one poisonous woman.

  “You always say that you’ll keep silent,” Lani said, “but you seldom do.”

  “I lose my temper.”

  “And taste the old woman’s sting.” Lani frowned in concern. “Be careful tonight. With your father away I may not be able to save you.”

  Sometimes Lani could not save Cassie from punishment even when her father was at the cottage, but she always tried. Cassie felt a warm surge of affection as she looked at Lani in her starched blue gown and high-bound hair. Life was probably more difficult for Lani than for herself. After running free on the island until her sixteenth year, Lani had come to her father’s bed and a household ruled by Clara Kidman. Cassie remembered well those first days of rage and conflict. Poor Lani—she had to fight not only Clara, but Cassie as well, who was as rebellious as an imp of Satan. In time a guarded peace was established, but Lani had been forced to make compromises. Charles Deville would seldom support either Lani or Cassie against Clara. After Cassie’s mother’s death Clara had become the housekeeper and had dominated everyone in the family. Deville’s solution was wonderfully simple and comfortable: he was just not there. It was rare indeed when he was at the cottage for more than one week every month.

  “Hurry,” Lani urged. “Her anger will only grow as time passes.”

  Cassie pulled on her other boot, gathered her hair in a bun on top of her head, and rose to her feet. “Go back to the house. I have to take Kapu to the stable.”

  Lani shook her head. “Tie him to the tree. You were supposed to be on foot. I’ll come back for him while you’re talking to Clara and put him in his stall.”

  Cassie tethered Kapu and started up the path toward the cottage. “Wait!” Lani hurried after her, plucked the ginger flowers from her hair, and dropped them to the ground.

  Cassie looked down at the flowers. She felt a pang of sadness as she remembered the feeling of freedom and happiness she had experienced when she had tucked those blooms into her hair earlier in the day. It should not be that way, she knew. Beauty should not be ground into the earth or hidden like something foul and forbidden. “This isn’t right.”

  “No, but it’s necessary.”

  “It shouldn’t be necessary.” She whirled on Lani. “Why do you stay? You??
?d be much happier back in your village. There’s nothing for you here.”

  “There is you.” A radiant smile lit Lani’s face. “That is much. And there is your father.”

  “Who is seldom here, and when he is, he uses you and then leaves you to face your problems alone.”

  “That does not matter.”

  “It does matter. You should leave him.”

  Lani’s brows lifted. “If he’s so terrible, why do you not leave him? Why do you not take your fine horse and go live in the valley on the other side of the mountain, as you’re always telling me you’re going to do? What of the herd of wonderful horses you’re going to breed?”

  She lifted her chin. “I will do it.”

  “When?”

  “I need a mare to equal Kapu.”

  “And are you going to find her in this cottage on the hill?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then why don’t you leave this terrible man you call Father and go make a life of your own?”

  “He’s not terrible. He’s just—it’s not the same. You’re not bound to him as I am.” She burst out, “He needs me.”

  “And you love him,” Lani said gently. “It’s easy to love Charles. He is gentle and kind, and it’s not his fault that he was not given the will to withstand adversity. It’s very hard to walk away from a man who needs you, isn’t it?”

  “Is that why you stay?” Her brooding gaze went to the cottage on the hill where Clara waited. “Because he has need of you?”

  “It’s a strong bond. I’m a woman who must be needed.” She touched Cassie’s shoulder with a loving hand. “Fulfilling that need enriches me. I feel blessed that I was allowed to come here.”

  Cassie blinked back tears. “You have no sense.” She went into Lani’s arms and gave her a hug. “We’re the ones who are blessed. We don’t deserve you.”

  “That is probably true,” Lani said serenely, then laughed. “Particularly if you cause me more trouble with the old one this night.”

  “I’ll be good.” Cassie stepped back and moved quickly up the trail. “I’ll be no trouble at all. I promise you.”