Enthralled (3 page)

"God," he groaned,
lifting his head for a moment. Then his mouth came down again, the penetrating
pressure a revelation.

Teel enjoyed it for mere
seconds before she fell asleep.

The next day, Teel remembered
little of what had happened the night before. She'd gone up on deck for some
fresh air, and then Chazz had appeared. She vaguely recalled a sensation of
having his strong arms around her, then nothing.

Darby told her cheerfully that
she was allowed on deck. He had asked a crewman to carry her up to a chair.
"Not that you aren't as slim as a reed and as light as a feather and that
I couldn't do it myself," he said, "but—" he shrugged, giving
her an owlish grin—"why should I strain myself?"

"Why indeed!" Teel's
tone had an amused tartness.

"You're a tall one,
that's for sure, and with your hair washed and a shower behind you, you look
half decent. Not that
I
like leggy gals with hair the color of a bay horse, mind
you."

"Thanks."

"But your
skin isn't so bad, and you have a nice long neck like a filly should. Why them
nuns let you keep your hair so long, I'll never know. I always thought nuns had
short hair under them wimpoles." Darby turned away to reach for a sweater
for her.

She was glad he couldn't see
the blush burning her cheeks. She pressed her hands there to cool them before
he turned to look at her again.

"Chazz has
been trying to contact your aunt on the ship-to-shore radio," Darby
informed her. "Once he does, Sister, you'll be on your way again." He
held the sweater out to her.

“Oh? Ah—thank you. It's very
nice. Where did you find all these clothes for me? So many of them are in my
size too."

Darby shrugged, jerking his
head in the direction of the guest cabins. "Them." He chortled.
"Chazz just burst in and took what he wanted. Why not? He paid for most of
them, that's for sure."

Teel was aghast. "I don't
like taking other people's clothes," she exclaimed. "Especially if
they don't choose to give them up."

"You have eyes like
liquid jade when you're angry, Sister," Darby commented. "Sure and
you must be Irish."

"I'm
everything. A little Irish on my father's side, but I'm also Swedish, German,
and Dutch. My father's grandmother was Spanish, and I had an uncle by marriage
who was Armenian. He sold Oriental rugs in upstate New York. So, you see, I'm a
real melting pot."

Darby looked momentarily
disappointed, then his brows lifted. "But the best part of you is
Irish," he declared. "I can feel it."

Teel's laughter rippled across
the cabin just as the door opened. The sound died abruptly as she faced an
indolent Chazz Herman, a thin black cigar held in his white teeth.

"You must be
making her better, Darby," he said. "That's the first time I've heard
the sister laugh." He pushed himself away from the door frame and
extinguished the cigar in a convenient silver ashtray. His walk, more a lope
than a stride, Teel decided, carried him to her bedside in an instant. He
leaned over her, a muscle in the right side of his jaw working, and she had to
struggle not to dive under the covers. His lips jerked upward in the semblance
of a smile, as though he had read her thoughts and fears and already dismissed
them. "I've come to carry you up on deck," he told her.

"The sun is shining and
the air is balmy. Before noon we'll be dropping anchor at a little island I
know. You can swim if you feel well enough."

"I don't want to swim. I
want to go home. My aunt will be worrying about me." She coughed to clear
the dryness from her throat. "You don't have to wait," she added.”
One of the crew is coming to carry me on deck." She knew her words were
terse and impolite, but she felt smothered by him, threatened by Chazz Herman.
It was unbearable strain to be in his company.

Chazz's mouth closed shut as
though he had just bitten through bone. His eyes had a hard sheen to them as he
looked down at her. She shivered under the cold heat of that look. "I'm
the one who's carrying you on deck, Sister." He spat out the words, harsh
mockery in his voice. Then he bent, stripped the silk sheet from her body, and
stared down at her as she lay there clad in a light cotton shift.

"Now, Chazz—" Darby
came forward with an outstretched hand.

"Quiet, Darby." The
command ricocheted off the walls, seeming to turn the serene turquoise room an
angry, metallic color. Chazz swooped down and swung Teel up into his arms, his
gold eyes daring her to defy him.

She wanted to
level him with insults, but she couldn't form her lips around the scathing
words bursting inside her head.

"That's
right. Sister, keep quiet." An alien fury seemed to emanate from him. His
strong arms clasped her body.

She made a mental addendum to
her previous thought. She felt not only threatened by him but downright
menaced. What fuel burned him? she thought, caught between panic and anger. For
some unknown reason she had roused as fierce an antipathy in him as he had in
her. Perhaps anger responded to anger and grew.

Whatever the reasons, Teel
knew she would never be comfortable with this man, that they could never be
friends. She would be balanced precariously as if on the edge of a knife until
she could escape the
Deirdre
and leave its owner behind forever.

T
he days that
followed were
golden, warm, and relaxing. The constant ministrations of the crew left Teel
feeling thoroughly pampered aboard the
Deirdre.
After Chazz had first brought her up on deck, he had occupied
himself elsewhere, which relieved her. If only she could talk with her aunt
instead of getting second-hand messages through Darby, then everything would
have been perfect. She knew Aunt Tessa was fine and on her way home to Albany, but Teel longed to reassure her personally of her own safety.

Often the
Deirdre
anchored at sand
beaches on obscure islands whose names Teel forgot the moment she heard them.
Otherwise they cruised through crystal-blue waters. Teel didn't much care where
they went. Her most important concern was her returning health, her only
unsettling worry that of seeing Chazz Herman. But since days had gone by
without his appearance, she was at least partly successful at putting him out
of her mind.

"Darby"—Teel was
resting in a lounge chair on deck— "that lunch was delicious. Would you
tell the chef I love fish pan-broiled in lemon like that?"

"I hate to give him any
more compliments," Darby retorted impishly. "Rowan will be getting
above himself."

Teel laughed, delighting in
the Irishman's company.

"We're going to anchor at
Moon Bay today," he told her. "It's very beautiful there. Chazz
wants to do some diving." Darby lifted the tray from Teel's lap. "You
won't be able to dive, but you can sunbathe and swim."

"Darby," Teel
groaned. "I must get back to work soon. My vacation will be up in a couple
of days. Besides, I should get in touch with my school and let them know I'm
all right."

"Not to worry. Chazz took
care of that after he called your aunt. He says, among other things, that he
discovered you have more vacation time coming to you. He wants you to have a
nice rest on board the
Deirdre."

Teel jerked upright, wondering
what Chazz had said to the school and her aunt and angry at his
high-handedness. "Who said he was in charge of my life?" she
demanded. "I'm not one of his lackeys."

"Aww now, Sister, you've
hardly been treated like a lackey." Darby grinned at her glowering face,
then ambled off with her tray, whistling out of tune.

Teel gazed across the sapphire
waters. "He still has a hell of a nerve," she whispered, clenching
and unclenching her hands on the arm rests. "I'm not ungrateful for his
care of me," she murmured to herself, "but I'm damned if I'll allow
myself to be manipulated by a... a womanizer." She took a deep breath and
lay back to rest. She would need all her strength to tell Chazz Herman just
what she thought of his methods the next time she saw him. Not that she wanted
to see him. She did not. She yawned, not wanting to think of him.

They anchored well
off the beach at Moon Bay. The crescent-shaped harbor with its swath of white
sand leading to the clear blue water was a tropic jewel. As she leaned over the
rail, Teel could see almost to the bottom of the bay. Fishing boats, sail
boats, and power boats with water skiers swaying behind them all decorated the
bay with creamy wakes.

Off to one side was a section
delineated with orange flags that Darby explained was for diving. Neither power
boats nor sailing vessels were allowed in this area. Only a few craft
designated as diving boats moved within it.

Darby helped Teel down the
ship's ladder into the dinghy, not even allowing her to carry the string bag
that held her personal belongings. He assured her that Rowan had made a nice
lunch for her.

Darby pointed to a cabana on
the beach that several crew members had set up for her. "It's there you
can sit when you come out of the water," he explained, scowling at her.
"And don't be forgetting that your skin is still sensitive, so use the
lotion and don't sit in the open too long." He cocked his head. "But
I will be saying that your skin has a nice golden color. Ah, but it is your
hair that is the most beautiful, with them red and blond streaks in it."

"You're a flatterer,
Darby," Teel accused him, laughing.

He cleared his throat,
embarrassed. "Now, Sister, don't you be shy about swimming. That's a nice one-piece
you have. No one will know you're a nun."

"Nuns swim, Darby."
Teel smiled at him as he spread out a blanket for her. She didn't tell him that
she had often posed in bikinis during her stint as a model because the
photographer thought her narrow-hipped, long-legged look perfect for
bathing-suit ads. Not even to Darby would she reveal that she was not a nun. As
long as she was on Chazz Herman's yacht, she felt safer in the disguise.

Darby sat with her for a few
more minutes, reminded her of the suntan lotion, told her to swim near other
swimmers, and pointed out a crowd of people. "I'll be back later in the
afternoon, Sister," he told her.

Teel called to him as he
turned away. "Is Chazz diving with his other guests?"

Darby made a face at her and
nodded, then left.

At first Teel just lay back on
her elbows in the shade of the cabana, watching the skiers and the swimmers.
She didn't want to look toward the orange-flagged area. Several times she
shaded her eyes and scanned the more remote section of the beach, where several
divers came in and out of the water. Could the one in the orange bikini be
Clare? Was one of the other women Elise?

Finally, even with the cool
breeze filtering through the cabana, Teel felt too warm. Standing up, she
lifted her arms to coil her long hair on top of her head and fixed it there
with two bone pins. She looked down at the almost transparent metallic green
lycra suit stretched over her body, noticing the prominent hip bone that
emphasized her recent loss of weight. Her firm, round breasts strained against
the material, the nipples clearly visible. No, Aunt Tessa would not think this
an appropriate garment—not for her niece and certainly not for a nun. Teel
smiled to herself as she thought of Aunt Tessa, then lifted the water goggles
and placed them over her eyes just before entering the water.

The ocean felt
cold on her overheated skin, but refreshing nonetheless. She reveled in the
gentle waves. Wanting to avoid other swimmers, she headed diagonally away from
the cluster of people. At first she stroked easily, content to get the
exercise, but soon the colorful underwater world drew her attention, and she
dove repeatedly to get a closer look. She was searching the bottom for an
unusual crustacean formation she had just glimpsed when a dark shape angled
rapidly down toward her. A shark! Panic engulfed her as she twisted abruptly,
kicking wildly upward. As her head broke the surface, she gasped for breath.

"Hey! What is it? Do you
have a cramp?" Chazz held her arm easily and pushed back wet tendrils of
hair that had fallen forward on her face.

"I thought
you were a shark," Teel choked out, trying to control her breathing. She
pushed at his shoulders, but her hands were shaking, and she had no strength.

Chazz smiled devilishly down at
her, his hair as sleek and black as licorice as he treaded water beside her.
"I've been called that by several people, but I'm really quite
harmless."

"A likely story!"
Teel retorted, still breathing hard.

He threw back his head and
laughed. "My ego will never be in danger of over-inflating from the
compliments you throw me,
Sister
Terese Ellen."

Teel's skin tingled with a
sense of danger as she looked into his lion's eyes. She wanted to ask him why
he had emphasized the word "Sister," but some instinct kept her
quiet. "You don't have to worry about getting a big ego," she said.
"You have one already. Now would you please release me. I'm a good swimmer
and in no danger of drowning." "You may not be, but I am.."
"What did you say?"