Lissa turned on to her face and hated herself. Her few token efforts to resist him had been easily controlled. She had been a pushover for him. Why am I such a fool? she asked herself, and had no answer to give.
Chris's urgent lovemaking had merely worried her. Luc somehow managed to light a quick-burning fuse inside her every time he touched her.
How long would it take them to get to England? She had little money and she knew nobody in England. She was as much at Luc's mercy as she had been at Chris's. If Luc could beat down all her weak struggles in one evening, what chance had she got of holding out against him until they reached England? And even if she did, what was she going to do once she left the yacht?
CHAPTER EIGHT
Faint white ribbons of light drifted across the cabin when Lissa opened her eyes next morning. They had sailed into mist, and whoever was in charge of the yacht had switched on an intermittent hooter which gave hoarse sighs every now and again. Lissa lay listening to them, staring at the ceiling. There was a strong swell this morning. The yacht flounced like an angry woman and she wasn't sure her stomach altogether approved of the motion.
There was a tap at her door. 'Come in,' she called in a slightly nervous voice.
Dandy appeared with a tray. 'Morning, princess,’ he said cheerfully, shooting a quick look at her. 'Misty, but it's beginning to clear.'
'The boat keeps rolling about,' Lissa complained.
Dandy grinned. 'You wait until we're right out in the Atlantic!'
She made a face, 'I think I'd rather get off now.'
He eyed her consideringly. 'Feeling queasy, are we?'
'A little,' she admitted.
Dandy glanced down at the tray. 'Want this?' He uncovered a plate of bacon and egg and Lissa turned her head away, her nostrils wrinkling at the odour.
'Not much,' she muttered, swallowing. 'I'm sorry.'
'You've got to eat something,' Dandy assured her. 'Have some dry toast.'
She was reluctant to eat anything, but he insisted that she nibble a little toast and drink some of his strong coffee. 'Little dog slept with me,' he told her as he walked back to the door. 'He's up on deck getting some exercise on a rope.'
Lissa lay in the bunk for half an hour slowly adjusting to the pitch and swell. When she felt strong enough she got up and dressed.
As she emerged from the shelter of the gangway the wind almost lifted her like a doll. She grabbed at the rail and heard voices.
Luc's rose curtly. 'Mind your own damned business!'
'Don't take that tone with me, boy,' Dandy growled. His eyes flicked towards her over Luc's shoulder and his face changed. 'Morning, miss. Managed to get up, did you? Good girl!'
Luc did not turn. He stood with his back to her and Dandy glanced at him before shrugging and walking away.
Lissa looked at the straight, lithe body turned away from her, then she walked to the rail and looked out over the ocean. She heard Luc move, heard the slow fall of his steps. He came to a stop beside her and his stare probed her profile, reading her mood in the tightness of her skin.
'Dandy says you felt sick this morning. Better now?'
'Much, thank you.'
'You've never done any sailing before?'
'Only a little around the island.'
'I'm afraid it will get rougher as we move further into the Atlantic,' he warned her.
'So Dandy said.'
There was a pause, then he asked drily: 'What's the matter, Lissa?'
'Nothing.' She did not look round, keeping her eyes fixed on the rise and fall of the grey waters into which they were moving. From the look of the flat horizon Dandy was right-bad weather was waiting for them.
She felt Luc's hand at her waist. His fingers stroked slowly up her back and she stiffened. 'Don't do that!'
He ran that exploring hand along her body, ignoring the muffled protest. She swung, stepping away from him. Her green eyes flared at him angrily. 'If you don't leave me alone I'll chuck myself over the side!'
Luc's smile went. He considered her unreadably, his eyes cool. 'Don't make idle threats.'
'I mean it. If you don't keep your hands to yourself from now on I'll jump overboard.'
'Then from now on you'll only be allowed on deck when I'm with you,' Luc bit out coldly. His face was hard, his eyes like blue steel. 'If you're going to make childish threats you must be treated like a child.'
'You can't make me stay below!' Lissa flung back the angry words and the wind whipped them away across the water.
He smiled, a fierce twist of the mouth which had no humour in it. 'Just watch me.'
'You can't keep me locked up for ever,' she retorted. 'At the very first port we come to, I'll attract attention somehow. I'll scream and wave and break the porthole.'
'You won't get the chance, sweetheart,' he promised in a drawl. 'I'll see to that. I'll keep you far too occupied while we're in port to do a damn thing to attract anybody's attention but mine.'
Her face burned at the mockery in his eyes. There was a coldness beneath it which she hated, which made her situation so much worse, Luc intended to make love to her and his awareness of her inability to stop him, the cynical coolness of those blue eyes, made her veins run with ice.
'I must have been insane to imagine I could trust you,' she accused unsteadily. 'I should have known you'd make me pay dearly for any help you gave me.'
'You knew what I would expect,' he retorted, the lines of his face hardening.
'And it doesn't matter whether I want the same thing, I suppose,' Lissa flung at him, her voice brittle and hoarse.
His eyes narrowed. 'You want me, Lissa. Stop lying to yourself.'
The way he watched her made her throat beat with fever. She moved, but he moved faster. He caught her, his hand tightening around her wrist in a vice-Iikc grip.
'Are you determined to annoy me? Because if so, you're on the way to succeeding, Lissa. You may have been able to play fast and loose with Brandon for months, but you aren't doing it to me.'
'I'm not playing anything,' she said angrily, looking at him with defiance. 'Can't you even begin to see it from my viewpoint?'
'You're not playing games with me!' he bit out.
'Why can't you leave me alone?' Lissa groaned, pulling away.
Luc's blue eyes hardened. He yanked her forward by her tethered hand and trapped her between his body and the rail. His other hand jerked back her head and he kissed her ruthlessly, the wind tangling their hair and leaving a salt bloom on their skin.
When at last Luc lifted his head he was breathing heavily. She was trembling, her lips bruised, and yielding. The fierce thud of Luc's heart beat next to hers.
She met his blue eyes without trying to avoid them. Her whole body was melting in the passion he had unleashed in her.
'You really get to me, Liss,' he muttered thickly.
His eyes were leaping with the desire she could feel in the hard, body pressing against her. It left Lissa so weak she could only just manage to breathe.
Luc straightened, moving away, his breathing slowing. 'You're here and you're staying,' he told her. 'And you're mine. It's too late for you to have second thoughts. If you're regretting Brandon I'm sorry-you made your choice and you must stick with it. I've got you and I'm not giving you up.'
Lissa stared at the deck, her face very flushed.
After a pause Luc said curtly: 'Come below. We'll have some coffee,'