His hoarse bellow didn't affect her, for she was still reeling from the sight of his injured leg. The calf was a mass of scar tissue from the back of his knee to the edge of his heel. Alesandra didn't know how he'd come by the injury, but the agony he must have endured tore at her heart.
She thought it a miracle he could walk at all. Colin jerked the covers over his legs and told her again, though in a much more weary tone of voice, to leave his room.
There were tears in her eyes. She thought he might have seen them. She didn't want him to know the brief glimpse at his leg had caused that reaction. Colin was a proud, unbending man. He didn't want her pity, she knew, and he was obviously prickly about the scar.
Alesandra decided to turn his attention. 'Your shouts are most upsetting to me, Colin, and if you continue to give me such harsh commands, I'll probably cry like a child. I won't leave, however, no matter how mean hearted you become. Now kindly give me your leg. I'm going to wash it.'
'Alesandra, I swear to God, I'm going to toss you out the window if you don't leave me alone.'
'Colin, the sponge bath didn't bother you at all last night. Why are you so irritable now? Is the fever higher tonight?'
'You washed my legs last night?'
'I did,' she blatantly lied.
'What the hell else did you wash?'
She knew what he was asking. She tried not to blush when she answered him. 'Your arms and chest and legs,' she told him. 'I left the middle alone. Do quit fighting me, sir,' she ordered as she snatched his leg from under the cover.
Colin gave up. He muttered something atrocious under his breath and closed his eyes. Alesandra dipped the cloth into the cold water, then gently washed both legs.
Her composure never faltered, and it was only after she'd covered him up again that she realized he'd been watching her.
'Now then,' she said with a sigh. 'Don't you feel better?'
His glare was his answer. She stood up and turned away from him so he wouldn't see her smile. She put the bowl of water back on the washstand, then carried a goblet only half filled with water back over to her patient.
She handed him the drink, told him she would leave him alone for a little while, and then tried to do just that. He grabbed hold of her hand and held tight.
'Are you sleepy?' he asked her, his voice still gruff with irritation.
'Not particularly.'
'Then stay and talk to me.'
He moved his legs out of the way and patted the side of the bed. Alesandra sat down. She folded her hands together in her lap and desperately tried not to stare at his chest.
'Don't you own any nightshirts?' she asked.
'No.'
'Cover yourself, Colin,' she suggested then. She didn't wait for him to do as she ordered, but saw to the duty herself.
He immediately shoved the quilt back. He sat up, propped his back against the headboard, and let out a loud yawn.
'God, I feel like hell.'
'Why do you wear your hair so long? It reaches your shoulders now. It looks quite barbaric,' she added with a smile so he wouldn't think she was insulting him. ''Tis the truth, it makes you look like a pirate.'
He shrugged. 'It's a reminder to me,' he said.
'A reminder of what?'
'Being free.'
She didn't know what he was talking about, but he didn't look inclined to explain further. He turned the topic then by asking her to catch him up on business matters.
'Did Flannaghan remember to send a note to Borders?'
'Do you mean your associate?'
'Borders isn't an associate. He's retired from the shipping business these days, but he helps out when I need him.'
'Yes,' she answered. 'Flannaghan did send a messenger and Mister Borders is taking care of business. Each evening he sends the daily report, and they're all stacked up on your desk for you to look over when you're feeling better. You also received another letter from your partner,' she added with a nod. 'I didn't realize the two of you had opened a second office across the sea. You'll soon be worldwide, won't you?'
'Perhaps. Now tell me what you've been doing. You haven't gone out, have you?'
She shook her head. 'I've been taking care of you. I did write another note to Victoria's brother begging a second audience. Neil responded with a terse note, denying my request. I do wish you hadn't tossed him out.'
'I don't want him coming back here, Alesandra.'
She let out a sigh. He gave her a good frown. 'You're stirring up unnecessary trouble.'
'I promised to be discreet. I'm worried about Victoria,' she added with a nod.
'No one else is,' he countered.
'Yes, I know,' she whispered. 'Colin, if you were in trouble, I would do whatever it took to help you.'
He was pleased with her fervent promise. 'You would?'
She nodded. 'We are like family now, aren't we? Your father is my guardian, and I try to think of you as a brother…'
'The hell with that.'
Her eyes widened. Colin looked furious with her. 'You don't want me to think of you as a brother?'
'Damned right I don't.'
She looked crushed.
Colin stared at her with an incredulous expression on his face. The fever hadn't diminished his desire for her at all. Hell, he'd have to be dead and buried before he could rid himself of his growing need to touch her.
She didn't have a clue as to her own appeal. She sat so prim and proper next to him, wearing that virginal white gown that wasn't suppose to be the least bit provocative but still damn well was. The dress was buttoned up to her chin. He thought it was extremely sexy. So was her hair. It wasn't bound up behind her head tonight but fell in wild curls around her shoulders. She kept brushing the locks back over her shoulders in a motion he found utterly appealing.
Damned if he would let her think of him as her brother.
'Less than a week ago you were thinking of me as your future husband, remember?'
His unreasonable anger fueled her own. 'But you declined, remember that?'
'Don't take that tone of voice with me, Alesandra.'
'Don't raise your voice to me, Colin.'
He let out a long sigh. They were both exhausted, he told himself, and surely that was the reason their tempers were so fragile tonight.
'You're a princess,' he said then. 'And I'm…'
She finished his sentence for him. 'A dragon.'
'Fine,' he snapped. 'A dragon then. And princesses don't marry dragons.'
'Lord, but you're irritable tonight.'
'I'm always irritable.'
'Then it's a blessing we aren't going to marry each other. You would make me quite miserable.'
Colin yawned again. 'Probably,' he drawled out.
She stood up. 'You need to go to sleep now,' she announced. She leaned over him and touched his forehead with her hand. 'You've still got a fever, though it isn't as high as last night. Colin, do you dislike women who say I told you so?'
'Hell, yes.'
She smiled. 'Good. I remember telling you your suspicious nature would get you into trouble, and I was right, wasn't I?'
He didn't answer her. She didn't mind. She was too busy gloating. She turned and walked over to the door
