An Officer but No Gentleman (13 page)

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Charlie wished she could completely avoid Jaxon after the previous night’s humiliation.  It wasn’t embarrassing enough that he had not only kicked her out of his bunk
, but out of his quarters as well, and now she was going to have to walk the passageway in broad daylight to his quarters, dressed only in his nightshirt to get her clothing.  She had been up most of the night.  Her body was so accustomed to sleeping in four-hour shifts that sleeping through the night had been impossible.  When she finally decided she couldn’t hide anymore, she poked her head out to see if the hallway was clear and felt relieved to see her clothing folded neatly in front of the door sitting next to a ewer of fresh water.

Within twenty minutes, she was ready to face the world. Well, the world minus one.  She didn’t know how she could face Jaxon.  She didn’t even know what she had done wrong exactly, except for the second time, she had tried to show him she had feelings for him
, and for the second time, he had rejected her.

She cursed her upbringing. Surely, if she had lived on land, she would have seen how one goes about letting their feelings be known.  He must think she was a trollop.  She didn’t know why she couldn’t control herself around him. 

This must be the way Morty felt when she rejected him.

She waited until she heard Daniel go into Jaxon’s quarters before she could get her nerve up.  With Daniel there, she felt confident she could go in, check the wound and leave.  Jaxon would no doubt be glad for the buffer.

She stood at the open door until Jaxon noticed her there. “I’ve come to check your injury,” she said with forced cheerfulness.

Jaxon turned to Daniel.  “This would be a good time to get your things out of your cabin since Charlie had finally emerged.  Close the door on your way out,” Jaxon said, his voice gruff with irritation.

So much for not being alone
, she thought.

Daniel reached behind him for the door as he left, but locked eyes with his brother before intentionally leaving it fully ajar.

Jaxon crossed the room and shut the door.  “I’m just going to lock it to aggravate him.”

He untucked his shirt, unbuttoned it, and then completely removed it, tossing it on the bunk.

Did he not know how the sight of his muscled chest and stomach affected her?

She forced herself to focus purely on his wound.  She wasn’t going to look at his bare torso and the way his skin clung so tautly to his muscles.  His
scars would hold no interest—their secrets, no intrigue.

Charlie hunkered down on her haunches to get a close-up look.  It was a little redder than she expected.  Tentatively, she reached out and touched it.  His skin radiated heat.  Her expression did little to hide her worry.

“Your hands warmed up.”

She ignored him.

“Have you been feeling feverish at all?” she asked, feigning a cool, detached air and rising to her full height to making eye contact with him for the first time since she entered the room.

With the back of her fingers, she touched his forehead.  Her hand lingered there only a few seconds before she touched his cheek over the jagged scar.  Gingerly, she stroked his cheek with her thumb.

Why couldn’t she stop touching him inappropriately?  What was wrong with her? She placed her hand behind his neck to feel if he felt hot there as well.

“You feel a little warm to me.”

“You make me warm.”

“I make you mad.”

Jaxon saw the flash of hurt in her expression.  “You drive me mad.  There is a difference.”

Suddenly,
his mouth came down on hers.  He felt the pressure on the back of his neck increase as she pulled him closer.  Her breath was ragged and choppy—fast and shallow.

Jaxon could not have said why he did it.  Perhaps it was the fact he couldn’t forget the kiss from the day befo
re or maybe it was just because it had been so long since he felt a connection with a woman that his baser instincts had taken over.  He could still feel the way she had touched his chest the night before as if it was burned into his memory.  All night long his hand kept searching out her hand upon that scar expecting it to be there because he could still feel it.  How was that possible? 

He had begun to get annoyed when she hadn’t emerged from Daniel’s cabin.  The longer it took, the more irritable he became.  But the moment he saw her, he forgot everything else
, but getting her alone.

He pressed his body into hers, his strength pushing her back until his desk halted her.  Her body bent backwards like a willow over it
until her hips were on top.  He pulled her knees around his hips and ground his pelvis into hers.  Instinctually, she rotated her hips toward him.  Through their clothing, she could feel his erection against sensitive area between her legs.  She could feel nothing else.  Her world had narrowed to the sensation building there as he moved against her time and time again.

She didn’t hear the pounding on the door and had she; she wouldn’t have known wha
t it meant.  She only knew when Jaxon’s thumb brushed her nipple, her body convulsed in powerful waves of pleasure.

“Go away,” Jaxon shouted at the door pulling his lips from hers
, but continuing to grind against her repeatedly.

“I’ve brought my chest.  Open up,” called Daniel from the passageway.

Jax swore, as he pressed into her one last time.  He watched as her eyes opened—they were smoky with passion.  “Are you with me?” he asked quietly.  He lifted her off the desk to the floor.  Her knees started to buckle and he held on to her until she began getting the strength back in her legs.

“Damn it, Jaxon!  I am going to break this door down if you don’t open it immediately.”

“Hold on.  I’m coming.”  A knowing smile pulled at the scar on his cheek as he realized he brought her pleasure. He only wanted to kiss her and perhaps arouse her a bit, to tease of pleasures to come, it never occurred to him she would be so responsive.

“Can you stand?” he whispered as reached for his desk chair.  It scraped across the floor loudly and he helped her into it.  “Act naturally.  I’m going to let him in now.  He gave her a quick peck before letting Daniel in.

“Bloody hell, Daniel.  What do you think is going on in here?  You’ve only been gone a few minutes.”

Jaxon turned his back on Daniel and crossed the room.  He poured a glass of water and took it to Charlie.

“We were just discussing Charlie’s need to keep a medical log of whom she treats, when and for what purpose,” he lied smoothly.  “She was just about to check my wound when you started knocking.  I’m afraid she’s not going to be happy with me when she realizes I’ve pulled a couple of the stitches.”

She leaned forward in her chair.  It was true.  The skin around three of the stitches had torn slightly and drops of fresh blood had appeared.  It hadn’t been like that when she had examined him a few minutes earlier.

“I thought I told you no strenuous activity,” she said, her cheeks still flushed with passion. “Luckily, they aren’t bad enough to warrant any further stitches.” She went to the basin, wet a washcloth then dabbed gently at the drops of blood.  “Good as new.”

He liked seeing the blush on her cheek, the ill-concealed smile, the way she glanced up at him when her head was tilted down.

“I think I’ll see if there is any willow bark in the medical cabinet.” A thought occurred to her.  “Do you have a medical cabinet?”

“In the galley.”

“Your fever isn’t high, but a little willow bark tea should keep it from going higher.”

Charlie stopped on her way out.  “Oh, I assume you won’t want me to go alone into the fo’c’sle to check my other patients.”

Daniel didn’t miss her swollen lips or the redness in her face where Jaxon’s unshaven stubble chafed her skin.  “I’ll be happy to accompany you after you bring Jax his tea.”

Daniel carried the chest into the room and closed the door behind him with his foot.  He put the chest in the corner under the hammock.  Daniel paced the length of the room then turned on his brother.  Criticizing the captain of the ship just wasn’t done, even if the captain was the older brother you loved and worried about.  If they were going to share the cabin, he didn’t need the whole thing to start off on the wrong foot. But he was also the first mate and he was the only one who dared to speak candidly with him.

“Don’t say it, Daniel.”  Jaxon could feel the lecture coming.

“Don’t say what?” Daniel’s tone was firm.  “Don’t say leave the lady alone?  Don’t say you weren’t brought up to treat women like harlots?  Don’t say everything your own conscience should be saying to you?”

“Look, I’ll concede that I think you were right about her being an innocent and my behavior is…lacking.  But something happens when I’m with her.”

Jaxon admitted to himself it had been ages since he’d been with anyone. Was that all that this was; his need for release?

Daniel had seen this rashness in his brother before.  How could a man who was so logical and intelligent be so foolish when it came to women? 

“Jax, I have two words for you.  Millie Adams.”

“Indeed?  How can you compare that insipid creature with Charlie?”

“I’m not comparing
them
,” Daniel said.  “It’s your judgment I question.  When you were writing your letters to Millie, did you think you were in love with her?”

Jaxon speared him with a hard stare.  He didn’t want to answer that questio
n. “Aye,” he admitted reluctantly.

“Looking back now, do you think you ever loved her, truly loved her?”

He could admit now, it had only been a schoolboy crush.  Millie’s beauty was beyond compare and he had an idealized image of her.  He spent years writing letters to her, but spent almost no time in her company.  If he had, he would have realized she was not the person he thought she was.  Having a girl back home to love was what he thought he wanted; it was why he pushed himself so hard.  But Millie was the wrong girl.  Was this attraction the same?  Was he only obsessed with her because she looked beyond his scars to see him?  No, whatever this was, Charlie felt it, too, he had no doubt.  Whereas Millie was nothing more than a beautiful shell, Charlie was the most fascinating woman he ever met.

Jaxon stopped and analyzed his last thought.  Why did he find her so fascinating?  He barely knew her.  Maybe there was some truth to what Daniel said.  It irritated him to think so.

“Do you have a point?” Jax asked dryly.

“You’ve barely met this woman.  Maybe what you’re feeling is not real. Maybe you just want it so
badly; you’re seeing things that aren’t there.”

“Millie Adams was a mistake—o
ne that I have no intention of repeating. 
This
is not the same.”  Jaxon would never admit to Daniel he had already entertained thoughts of marrying Charlie.  It was insane.  He met her less than twenty-four hours earlier, but a voice in him knew she was the woman meant for him.  He hoped he wasn’t being rash because he had been so rejected by women since he being keelhauled that he was latching on to the one woman who didn’t see his scars.  “I have not convinced myself that I am in love with Charlie.  As you said, we have only just met, but I am drawn to her like none who has come before.”

“Drawn like a moth to a flame?” Daniel asked sarcastically. He knew he was not getting through to his brother.  “It’s hard for me to trust your judgment where women are concerned
, when you have made such a mess of it before.”

He slammed his hand down on his desk.  “I do not need a nursemaid, Daniel!”  Jaxon raised his voice and could feel the scar on his forehead pull as his brow knitted.  “We are finished discussing her.”

“We are not finished discussing this by a long shot,” Daniel shouted and stubbornly crossed his arms over his chest. 

“It’s bad enough
I have to tell Aunt Pru what happened to Jimmy; don’t make me tell Mother what happened to you.”  His shouts were louder than Daniel’s.

Daniel and Jaxon stared at each other, ne
ither one understanding how the conversation had grown so heated. 

Daniel shrugged holding his open palms up. “I never thought a woman would come between us,” he said.  He picked up the sea chest he just placed under the hammock minutes before.  “Good luck.  I hope it all works out.  Just remember they all have a sheath for your sword.  Hers is not lined with…frankincense and myrrh.” 

Daniel saw the fist flying at his face too late to block it by lifting the chest.  The blow landed on his cheek, just below the black eye Charlie had given him.  “I’m not going to fight you, Jaxon.  You’ve made your bed….”

Charlie heard the raised voices as she came down the passageway and opened the door in time to see Jaxon hit his brother.

Daniel nearly knocked her over in his haste to leave making her spill some of the willow bark tea she carried.  “I’m taking my quarters back,” he said to her.  He paused.  Daniel knew
there was little he could do to stop Jaxon from rushing into a relationship with her.  “Oh, I just thought you should know; your ship was coming back for you yesterday when we set sail.  Jaxon knew they were no match for the speed of his Baltimore clipper.”