Hell, he'd been all over her. He turned his gaze to the ceiling and tried to burn a hole through the rock.
'Do you understand what almost happened?'
She flinched over the anger in his voice. 'Yes,' she answered. 'I understand. I suggest we don't ever let ourselves become… involved again. It's too dangerous.'
'Damned right it's dangerous.'
'I'm sorry,' she whispered.
He didn't have anything to say about that. She turned to look at him again. Another clump of her hair fell over her left eye. She impatiently brushed it away.
His hair was as tousled as hers was. He looked as though he'd just awakened. She thought he was the most handsome man on earth.
She turned away from him. The silence was making her nervous. She looked at the fire, realized it was nearly out, and immediately added more twigs to the flames.
'Are you going to stay angry for long?'
'Go to sleep, Mary Rose, before I forget all about protecting your honor.'
She whirled around to look at him. 'Is that why you stopped?'
'No,' he answered. 'I stopped because you asked me to.'
He looked at her again and immediately lost some of his anger. There were tears in her eyes. It finally hit him that he hadn't been thinking about her tender feelings at all. He was too busy being self-centered. God, he was a cad. She had never experienced raw passion before, the way she'd responded to him was proof of that truth, and the burning need inside her must have scared the hell out of her.
'Then what does my honor have to do with anything? You said you stopped because I asked you to stop.'
He let out a sigh. He couldn't believe he had to tell her. 'Sweetheart, I damned near took your virginity and your honor. A couple of minutes more and I would have.'
It wasn't what he said but how he said the words that soothed her. His tone was softer, more civilized. And almost loving. She instinctively relaxed her shoulders and stopped gripping her hands together.
'So that is why you became angry?'
'Yes.'
She took a deep breath. 'I beg to differ with you.'
'You do?' The sudden outrage in her voice made him smile. It wasn't the reaction she was looking for. 'You're being very smug and male about this, aren't you?'
'I don't believe I am.'
'Then I shall enlighten you. You didn't almost take anything. I could have given you my virginity and my honor. I chose not to. I'm the one who asked you to stop. You were busy unbuttoning your pants. Remember?'
He was astonished by the vehemence in her voice. He could feel himself getting angry again, and all because she reminded him of his own lack of discipline. 'Tell me why you stopped.'
She shook her head. 'You're a lawyer. You figure it out.'
'You were afraid.'
'No.'
'Look, I know you wanted me. You were as hot as I was. I can still feel the marks your nails made on my shoulders. You do remember where your hands were, don't you?'
She could feel herself blushing over his reminder of how she'd behaved. She watched him draw one leg up and drape his arm over his knee. Every movement he made seemed to arouse her. God, she was despicable. She wasn't any better than a rabbit in heat.
'Of course I remember. I'm not sorry.'
'Neither am I.'
The emotion in his admission made her shiver and feel warm at the same time. Her reaction to him didn't make any sense to her.
She decided it was his fault. The man was deliberately making her crazy.
'Stop looking at me like that.'
'Like what?'
'You know.'
He did know. He turned to look at the fire. 'You still haven't told me why you asked me to stop.'
'And you aren't going to let up until I do. Isn't that right?'
'Yes,' he agreed. 'If you weren't afraid, what was it? You liked the way I touched you. Don't pretend you didn't. I remember how your body reacted. You were hot and wet for me.'
Her gaze flew to his. He was staring at her again, and the look in his eyes made her want to melt. 'Stop talking like that,' she ordered in a voice that sounded horribly weak to her.
'Tell me why you stopped,' he ordered once again. 'Then I'll stop reminding you.'
She closed her eyes. It was the only thing she could think to do to get away from him.
'For a lawyer, you're really dense. It wouldn't ever occur to you that maybe, just maybe I stopped because of your honor, not mine.'
'My honor?'
She knew he didn't believe her. She told herself she didn't care. Were all men as arrogant as Harrison and her brothers were? Heavens, she sincerely hoped not.
'Yes, Harrison, your integrity,' she said again.
'You are serious, aren't you… My honor.' The words came out in a whisper.
Well, hell, he still didn't know if he believed her or not. Yet when she opened her eyes and looked at him again, he could see the sincerity. He was thunderstruck and humbled.
'Your honor,' she whispered back. Then she rolled her eyes heavenward and turned away from him.
She was obviously disgusted with him now. He didn't have time to think about that. He was fully occupied trying to figure out how he felt about her protecting him.
'You've got more discipline than I do.'
It almost killed him to admit it. She thought he sounded offended by the possibility.
'How like a man to think he's the only one to ever consider such noble things as honor and integrity. Believe it or not, women can be protective too. It isn't a novel concept. It's plain reality. Haven't you ever heard of Joan of Arc? She gave her life for France 's honor, and for her own.'
'Joan of Arc?' He would have laughed over the comparison, but he didn't want to get killed. 'I don't believe she ever did what we just did, Mary Rose.'
'Of course she didn't. The woman was a saint, for heaven's sake. I'm not. I wasn't comparing myself to her. I was simply saying that I knew you couldn't have lived with yourself if you had been intimate with me.'
'I
'Oh, go to sleep.'
She moved over to the edge of her blankets so she could get as far away from him as possible. She pulled the covers up, closed her eyes, and tried to get some rest.
He knew he should have stopped tormenting her, but her reaction was so incredibly pleasing to him he couldn't resist. The prettiest blush came over her cheeks when she got flustered.
He was also thankful she was irritated with him. He'd tried to make her angry on purpose, and knew that if they had continued to argue with each other, he would have succeeded. He wasn't being a cad. No, he was being noble, or at least he believed he was. If she was angry, she'd stay away from him. No woman wanted to kiss a man she was thinking about killing. It all made perfectly good sense to him.
Hell, who was he kidding? He was really trying to protect himself. She had already proven she had more discipline than he had. It wouldn't take much to make him forget all about his good intentions. All she had to do was crook her finger in his direction, and he'd be all over her again. He had gotten a taste of heaven, and he had to try to pretend he hadn't loved it.
He didn't sleep much during the night. He kept his gun in his hand near his side and listened for every little sound. He drifted off twice. The first time, the soft flutter of wind awakened him. Someone or something was inside the cave with them. Harrison stayed perfectly still. He opened his eyes only a sliver and saw the woman then. His
