Payton's Woman (2 page)

“Inconvenience?” One
dark eyebrow arched as his grin broadened to reveal a dimple in his cheek. “It
will be my pleasure. Your pleasure also,” he added, and that remark brought
another round of chortling.

Julia knew what his
suggestive remarks implied but sensed his lewd comments were more for the
amusement of his companions. Something in those brilliant blue eyes staring at
her offered a spark of hope. “I can pay you. I have a few dollars.”

A short, stout man
elbowed the person next to him before he spoke in a loud voice. “Looks like the
Cap’n’s reputation has grown so much that women are willing to pay
him
.”

She glanced around as
the group broke into uproarious laughter. This drunken, slobbering lot would
probably slit each other’s throat for the last drink of rum. Her only chance
for help seemed to lay with the man standing before her. But
he
frightened her the most.

“I already have money.”
He patted the front of his shirt where he’d stuffed his winnings. “Quite a bit.”

He grasped the edge of
the dark-blue cloak that covered her body and pried it carefully from her
clenched fingers. “What else do you have to offer?” He tossed the edge of the
cloak over her shoulder.

The sapphire-blue
evening gown she wore plunged low in the front, causing the swell of her bare
breasts to spill over the bodice edge. The hot stares from every man in the
tavern seemed to scorch her skin, but she fought the urge to cover her bosom
with her hands. Any show of modesty would undoubtedly bring more scoffs and jeers.

Her body shuddered as
she imagined her fate at the hands of these filthy, lecherous beasts. She
wanted to turn and run but feared they’d never let her reach the tavern door.
Her screams for help would go unanswered.

Instead, she clenched
her hands into fists to steel her resolve. She lifted her chin a faint degree
to search for some sign of compassion in the lusting pirate standing before
her. “A small amount of money is all I have. I pray you won’t ask for more than
I can give.”

A leering drunk with
rotted, yellow teeth grabbed the other side of her cloak. He pulled at the
cloak to expose the swell of her other breast. “Looks like you’ve got enough to
give to all of us.”

The stench of his foul
breath made her stomach churn. Her body shook, and her knees buckled. She almost
collapsed onto the floor in a hysterical mass of quivering flesh but managed to
gather the remnants of her courage. She glared at the putrid smelling man and
clutched at her cloak in an effort to pull it free from his grasp.

“Let go,” she demanded.
Her voice shook with outrage, but she tried to squelch the tremor of fear.

With a show of ultimate
possessiveness, the dark-haired pirate grabbed the man’s wrist. She heard bones
grate beneath his grip as he pulled the offending hand from her cloak. He
released the man by flinging him backward onto the dirty, wooden floor. He gave
the rest of the men a chilling look. “Any man who touches her will have to
fight me.”

For the first time, she
grasped at the faint hope of finding someone willing to assist her.

“Will you help me?” she
begged, the desperation obvious in her voice.

Before he answered,
someone near the door spoke. “I’ll help you, miss.”

Footsteps scurried
around her as the crowd shifted to look at the stranger. His appearance didn’t
seem much different from the other drunks in the tavern. He looked just as
grubby and leering, but she recognized him.

Immediately, she stepped
closer to the blue-eyed pirate. She gripped his arm as though he’d already
consented to be her protector, but she kept her gaze on the newcomer. “You’re
the man who’s been following me,” she accused.

“I was just watching
after you to make sure you didn’t come to no harm,” he said, but the sneer on
his face belied his sincerity. He beckoned to her with one hand while his other
moved closer to the revolver strapped at his waist. “Come with me. I’ll take
good care of you.”

The man whose arm Julia
held shrugged free of her grasp. He pushed her behind his body. “She already
has someone taking care of her.”

The challenge in his
voice caused the crowd to stagger back a few steps, except for the short, stout
one. He handed him the knife he’d retrieved from the target.

“You might be needing
this, Cap’n Ty.”

“Captain Ty?” The
stranger’s eyes widened as he looked at the large knife and the man holding it.
“Captain Payton Tyler?” he asked, although the recognition of him, or at least
his reputation, seemed obvious.

This man they called
captain stared at the stranger without speaking. The only sound Julia heard was
the slapping of the wide blade against the palm of his other hand.

Several tense moments
passed before the stranger moved his hand from the revolver. He edged backward
a few steps. “I guess you can look after her all right.”

“I’m so glad you
approve.” The captain nodded in a mocking gesture.

In the man’s attempt to
escape, he bumped into the door. He reached behind him and fumbled for the
handle. After pulling the door open, he dashed out into the night.

Howls of laughter
followed him out the tavern. The men once more approached the captain and
clapped him on his back.

He turned to Julia. “Looks
like I’m your man.”

A cold, hard glare of
anger lingered on his face. She sucked in her breath at the chilling sight. She
didn’t doubt he could protect her from the other men, but who would protect her
from him?

Quickly, she gathered
her wits. A man’s ego could be a powerful thing. She’d boost it up so if he
felt tempted to fall short of her expectation of him, he’d be in fear of
crushing his own ego.

“I can see that you’re a
man of courage and honor...and decency,” she added to boost her own courage. “I
know I can depend upon you to see me safely away from here.”

The coldness vanished
from his face. “Courage, yes,” he said as a warmth gathered in his eyes, “but
if you want a man with honor and decency, the Devil’s Lair is the wrong place
to look.”

Her forehead crinkled
with worry. “I was relying on you to help me.”

“That I shall do,” he
swore, “just as soon as we agree upon a price. And I don’t want your money.”

As the leering crowd
snickered, her anxiety grew. “What do you want as payment?” she asked, although
fairly certain what he desired.

The captain touched her
hair. Slowly, he pulled a handful of the long strands over her shoulder. His
fingers slid the length of it until the back of his knuckles touched the swell
of her bare breast.

A queasy feeling gripped
her insides. Her heart beat so rapidly she thought it would burst from her
chest. She shifted her gaze from his face and focused on a neutral object on
the far side of the room in an effort to keep her body from trembling
violently.

Any hope of getting away
unscathed immediately dissolved. She knew what price this pagan, savage pirate
would demand from her.

****

Payton Tyler felt her
flinch when he touched her warm, naked skin. He moved his hand from her breast
and lifted her honey-blonde hair to his mouth. The ends brushed across his lips
like silken threads.

Nuzzling his face into
the handful of luxurious strands, he inhaled her scent. “You smell good, like
sunshine and flowers.”

He glanced at her face
only to discover she no longer stared with pleading eyes. Eyes that defied
description. A ring of dark blue, perhaps teal, faded inward only to be
replaced by an amber sunburst of color spreading outward from the black center.
Long, dark eyelashes framed the incredible eyes, but her eyebrows, fine and
delicately arched, were a similar shade of her honey-blonde hair.

His gaze settled on her
lips. She had an average mouth, not too full and not too thin, with a hint of
color the shade of pinkish coral. But they had a distinct, raised outline,
especially on her upper lip. Tiny, delicate twin peaks rose up from the deep
valley in the center and curved to the outer corners.

The tip of his middle
finger glided over the defined peaks. “I like this,” he replied, his voice a
gritty whisper.

When her lips thinned
and tightened beneath his touch, he forced his hand from her mouth. With a
lifetime spent at sea and shabby ports, he’d known far too many women who
traded their bodies to men for favors. This woman was not one of them.

His mind searched for
answers. Why was this innocent young woman dressed in such a provocative gown?
How did she end up in a tavern located in this dangerous part of town? And why
alone, so late at night?

But she had spirit. He
knew that much. He saw the terror that gripped her, yet she stayed her course.
She held her head high and looked him straight in his eyes while a pack of
hungry, lecherous sharks circled her lovely body and threatened to devour her.

The one thing he knew
for certain was she desperately needed help. His help. He would not deny her
request.

“Where do you want me to
take you?” he asked.

A sickening horror seemed
to grip the angelic vision before him. Her eyes, now wide and full of fear,
stared onto his. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly between hers.

“Please, no,” she
begged.

Her delicately outlined
lips trembled, and her incredibly colored eyes misted over with tears. Then the
realization occurred to him. Evidently his lovely angel thought he intended to
ravish her first, here, in front of these men.

“I mean,” he decided to
clarify, “where would you like to go?”

Her trembling mouth
stilled when she captured the lower lip between her teeth. The mist in her eyes
cleared after blinking several times.

“Union Square.” Her
voice revealed a hesitance.

“You mean the Public
Square on the other side of Chinatown?” He watched her nod.

“What’s she going to
give you for your help?” one of the men demanded to know, a heavy slur in his
voice.

Payton glanced around at
his companions as they panted in lustful anticipation. In order for his
reputation to remain intact, he’d have to give an equally lustful response.

“Whatever I want,” he
said before looking back at her. “Is that agreed?”

As she released his hand,
her gaze slipped away. “I don’t seem to have much choice,” she said, her voice
barely audible.

“Then the bargain is
struck.” He slid his hand around her slender neck. His thumb pressed against
her chin, forcing her face upward. “We’ll seal our bargain with a kiss.”

He slipped his arm
around her waist and pulled her to him. Warm, bare breasts pressed against his
naked chest. His blood turned hot. His heart pumped faster. Heat surged through
his veins. His muscles tightened, and his extremities stiffened. He pressed her
to his throbbing body. With her mouth a mere breath from his, he gazed into her
incredibly-colored eyes. Just before their lips touched, he paused. He wanted
to give her the kind of kiss which the drunken men around him would approve,
but he couldn’t treat her that callously. Instead, his mouth brushed over her
lips, more like a caress than a kiss.

Chapter Two

“Shall we go?” Payton
asked Julia.

Stunned, she stared into
his brilliant blue eyes. She’d prepared herself for a brutal assault of her
mouth, but this dangerous-looking, dark-haired pirate had given her a tender
kiss. She’d not believed him capable of such gentleness. Her mind reeled in
shock. But her body shivered with delight.

He relaxed his tight
embrace. His fingers skimmed down her back and lingered at her waist.

Her legs wobbled, and
her body swayed. She regained her balance just as his hands slipped away. A
tremor rippled through her, but not from fear. Warmth gathered in her belly and
spread to her toes. The feeling seemed so strange, so new, that she didn’t know
what name to give it. But she knew what caused the shiver that snaked around
inside her and the glow that spread throughout her body. It had started with
the pirate’s kiss. The moment his lips had brushed across hers, something had
awoken deep inside her. Instead of creeping back to where it belonged, the
feeling lingered and seemed to grow. A tiny spark had ignited inside and
threatened to turn into a blazing fire if left unguarded.

She took a deep breath
and let it out between pursed lips while forcing her mind to focus on what
happened around her, instead of inside her.

Payton stood in front of
her without speaking. A smile played upon his lips as his brilliant blue eyes
scanned her body.

The rest of the room
whirled with activity. The drunken men scurried around the tavern gathering articles
of clothing scattered about a table and chair. They returned to the captain and
offered him the items. Their tending to him conveyed respect. One man assisted
him into a black wool jacket while another held out his leather-billed cap of
the same color. A third man opened the tavern door and peered out into the
foggy darkness.

“You might be needing
this, Cap’n, if that scurvy looking scum is waiting for you outside.” The man
with yellow teeth handed him a revolver. “Do you know how to use it?”

“I think I can figure it
out.” He grinned as he slipped it into the waistband of his trousers.

“You can return it to me
tomorrow.” He glanced at Julia. A smile spread across his face, revealing more
rotted teeth. “After you get out of bed.”

Payton moved Julia to
his other side, away from where he’d sheathed the knife on his hip. “It’s going
to be a long walk. Will you be warm enough?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.” She
pulled the hood into place and wrapped the cloak around her body.

He grasped her hand,
about to lead her to the door when her cold fingers touched his warm palm. “Don’t
you have gloves?”