A soft but insistent tapping at the door acted like a wedge between them, driving them apart. Reluctantly they separated and Cloud walked to the study entrance.
“What is it?” he called through the door.
Landis answered. “Alexis’s bath is ready, Tanner. It’s late. You both should be preparing to go.”
“All right. I’ll send her on her way.” He turned to Alexis. “You heard him. It’s time to get ready.”
“My clothes?” she asked, standing.
“John will have already laid everything out for you.”
She nodded and walked to the door. Her hand lingered on the handle, as if she were fighting a desire to remain. He saw her draw in her breath. It was this action, rather than her hand on the knob, that seemed to open the door.
Alexis quickly went up the stairs. When she reached her room she discovered it took no effort at all to open the door. Her eyes went first to the steaming tub of water, then to the fresh towels placed on the floor at the tub’s side. Her glance continued to her bed. The object she saw lying there made her gasp. She approached the gown slowly, as though her movement might cause it to float away. She reached down to touch the airy folds of blue, then stopped, touching the filmy undergarments instead. They would seem real beneath her fingers. She thought the sky blue gown would not.
She undressed, folding her clothes neatly to prolong the anticipation of putting on the gown. She stepped into the tub, unaware it was still too hot to be comfortable. She washed herself lazily, never taking her eyes from the azure confection on her bed.
What had he thought when he bought it? she wondered. She touched her face with water to erase the smile that came to her lips. He had thought of no one but himself. The notion pleased her. He had known how she would look in that gown and the fact that he knew made her shiver helplessly.
What would the others see? Would they see Captain Danty? Could they be misled by the appearance of her in a film of blue? If there was another purpose to the dress besides Cloud’s pleasure, it was deception. How the deception would take form she wasn’t sure. She only knew the gown could be used as a weapon, possibly more dangerous than if she had carried her dagger. She would know how to wield that weapon when the time came.
She rose from the tub and dried herself briskly. She slipped on the undergarments, taking care not to disturb the gown. Sitting in front of the mirror, she arranged her hair, requiring a long time to complete a task that was new to her. When she was satisfied, she shook her head to make sure every curl stayed where she had positioned it.
In the mirror she caught sight of the gown behind her and she could not put off wearing it a moment longer. Cloud would be coming for her soon. She knew what he wanted to see.
She stepped into the blue slippers before she gently lifted the gown and slid it over her head. It seemed to her the dress required no further assistance from her hands as it floated over her, hugging her breasts but only caressing her hips and thighs.
She stood, facing the door, waiting for him to come. She never glanced at the mirror. Her mirror would walk into the room and she would see herself reflected more vibrantly in sea green eyes than in the finest glass.
She forgot, until she saw him standing before her, that her own eyes and face were also a mirror. She took in the hard, minimal leanness of his body accentuated by his dark blue trousers and high, glossy boots. His chest was hidden by white, starched ruffles, fresh and crisp. His jacket, the same dark color as his trousers, emphasized the firmness of his shoulders and arms. But what caught her attention and held it was the gold braid. It was meant to outline his jacket and declare his rank, but she could only think it outlined the man, surrounding him with a golden light.
She started to cross the distance between them but he stopped her with a glance that told her he had not completed his silent critique. She remained motionless, her arms at her side, while she watched his eyes remove every piece of clothing she had just put on.
Cloud, when he entered her room, knew only that his mind had conjured up an image once more. It took him several moments to realize this was not a vision he was seeing, but reality. He saw in her all the things that made her Captain Danty: the firm tilt of her chin, raised slightly under his scrutiny; the tautness of her smooth arms, even while they seemed to hang freely at her sides; eyes, bright with determination.
Her feet were planted some distance apart and he saw the legs that made it possible for her to stand firmly on a pitching deck.
He smiled. When she approached him he stopped her because he wanted to look at her again and know how the others would see her. This time he saw the tilt of her chin not as defiance, but as a beckoning call. Her arms were no longer taut, but soft, pliant flesh with no purpose except to encircle a man. The amber eyes he had first seen as determined now seemed openly hungry to him, and he was no longer aware of her legs, only the interval between them.
He felt as if two unseen hands were twisting his gut. He would be the only man tonight to know her as Captain Danty. In the blue haze that enveloped her slender body they would see only feminine purpose. If she had gone in black, her blood red sash around her waist, they would have seen only the pirate, never suspecting the woman. But he knew both, and his two visions melted into one as he stepped forward and took her hand, placing his lips in her palm.
“You are very beautiful. Both of you,” he added in a whisper.
Alexis withdrew her hand. “How will you address me this evening?” she asked, the hand holding his kiss closed tightly at her side.
“As Captain Danty.”
“Good.” She started to go but something held her back. There seemed to be some hesitation on his part. “Is there something wrong?”
He reached inside his jacket and withdrew the velvet case. “I brought you something else to wear tonight. After I purchased it, I realized that the decision to wear it is yours alone.” Offering no more explanation he handed her the case.
Now Alexis hesitated. She looked to him for a sign that she should either open it or set it aside. When he said nothing, she opened it. Her lips parted in surprise and she drew in her breath. She traced the slender line of the silver chain with her finger. She looked up at him.
“And I thought the shirt made me yours.” She gave him the necklace and turned her back to him. She felt a tightening in her chest as he brought it around her throat. She could see their figures reflected in the mirror across the room but she was only conscious of a bright silver flash at her neck and the hands that fastened it. His hands dropped to her waist.
She spoke to his image in the mirror. “Why did you think I would not wear it?”
“I didn’t know that you wouldn’t.” He stared at the slender linkage which held her immobile. “I only knew that I could not force you if you chose not to.”
