Lord of Temptation

“I can see that, darling. You’re doing a marvelous job.”

“I’m going to be a ship captain when I grow up.”

“I have no doubt.”

Tristan laughed, before signaling to Mouse—who more often than not went by Martin these days—to keep watch over his eldest girl. He crossed the deck and scooped up his four-year-old daughter from where she was playing with the wooden blocks he’d carved for her. “You’ll be sailing the ship next, Princess.”

“Papa! I’m the princess,” their eldest shouted.

“You’re all princesses,” he assured her, before sinking into the chair beside Anne. He leaned over toward her and whispered, “You’re my favorite.”

Laughing softly, she said, “Don’t let them hear that. You’ll have a mutiny on your hands.”

They’d purchased a lovely house near the sea. They went to bed every night with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. At first after he acquired the yacht, he often took it out for the day. But over the years, his solitary sojourns had become fewer. He designed luxury yachts. Mr. Peterson oversaw the craftsmen hired to build them. They sold them for a princely sum. The Princess had been the first. Below deck were comfortable accommodations that rivaled many homes.

Once or twice a year, they would travel to a distant port. Their three daughters were seeing small portions of the world and feared nothing. She suspected that someday they would provide quite a challenge to any young man who wished to court them.

Of course any such young man would have to be brave enough to face their father first. He would be far worse than her brothers when it came to protecting his princesses.

“Why don’t we leave the girls with the nannies and go below?” he suggested.

“Are you really going to leave your daughter at the helm?”

“Mouse will guide her. He won’t let anything happen to them.”

“He’s almost their big brother, isn’t he?” Tristan had hired him to care for the boat, to keep it in top shape. He lived in a small cottage near theirs. For a child who had been deemed worthless, he had a good life. As a young man now, he charmed the ladies. A talent Anne knew he’d picked up from Tristan.

She signaled for the nannies and when their two youngest were safely in their care, she rose and walked to the railing with Tristan.

“The sea doesn’t call to you as much anymore, does it?” she asked.

“No. An hour here or there suits me just fine.”

“Do you ever miss it, the life of adventure you led?”

He turned her in his arms, and she gazed into the pale blue eyes that she’d loved for so long now.

“You’re all the adventure I need,” he told her before lowering his mouth to hers, sweeping her away on the tide of his love.