'Then why…'
Her hands were caressing his shoulders and it was becoming an agony to maintain his discipline. 'I can't promise you I'll stop if I kiss you again, Jade. Are you willing to take the risk?'
Before she could answer him, he started to ease away from her. 'That wasn't a fair question to ask in your present state.'
The passion began to clear her mind. 'What present state?'
He let out a deep sigh. 'I think I'm going to make love to you eventually, Jade,' he whispered. 'But you'll make the decision before passion clouds your mind.' His expression darkened when she started struggling against him. The movement reminded him of her soft breasts waiting for his touch. 'If you don't quit wiggling against me like that,' he grated out. 'I swear it's going to happen now. I'm not made of iron, sweet.'
She went completely still.
Though he was reluctant to leave her, he even assisted her in putting her nightgown back on. He refused to let her have her dagger back, even when she fervently promised him she wouldn't try to use it on him again.
'I was sound asleep,' she reasoned. 'And you were sneaking up on me like a thief. I had to protect myself.'
Caine took hold of her hand and dragged her toward his bedroom. 'You were having a nightmare,
weren't you?'
'I might have been,' she replied. 'I don't remember now. Why are you tugging at me?'
'You're going to sleep with me. Then you won't have to worry about anyone sneaking up on you.'
'Out of the boat and into the ocean, is that it?' she asked. 'I really believe I'm much safer on my own, thank you.'
'Can't trust yourself to keep your hands off me?' he asked.
'Yes, that's true,' she admitted with a feigned sigh. 'I'll have to restrain myself, though, or I'll surely be sent to the gallows. Murder's still frowned on in this part of the world, isn't it?'
Caine laughed. 'You won't be thinking about murdering me when I'm touching you,' he predicted.
She let out a low groan of frustration. 'You really aren't going to do. A protector shouldn't be lusting
after his charge.'
'And what about you?' he asked. 'Do you lust after your protector?'
He turned around to wait for her answer. 'I don't know,'
she said. 'I find you terribly appealing, Caine, yet I've never gone to bed with a man and I don't know if
I want you that much. Still, this attraction is becoming too much of a distraction. You aren't going to do at all, sir. Come morning, I'm going to have to find someone else to protect me… someone less appealing.'
She tried to pull away from him then. Caine caught her before she'd taken a step back toward her own bed. In one quick motion, he tossed her over his shoulder and carried her through the connecting doorway.
'How dare you treat me like this? I'm not a bag of feed. Put me down this minute, you bastard rake.'
'Bastard rake? Sweet, you've got quite a vocabulary for a lady.'.
He dropped her into the center of his bed. Since he fully expected her to bounce right back out and try
to escape, he was pleasantly surprised when she began to settle the blankets around herself. After she'd scooted to the far side of the bed, she fluffed the feather pillow behind her head and draped her hair
over her shoulder. The alluring blaze of red curls against the pristine white nightgown looked incredibly beautiful to him. The woman who had just called him bastard was now looking like an angel again.
Caine's sigh blew out the candles.
'I am a lady,' she muttered when he'd settled himself beside her. 'But you've riled my temper, Caine, and that's the reason for my…'
'Colorful vocabulary?' he asked when she didn't finish her thought.
'Yes,' she replied. She sounded forlorn when she added, 'Must I apologize?'
He kept his laughter contained. 'I fear you wouldn't mean it,' he answered. He rolled to his side and
tried to take her into his arms. When she pushed his hands away, he moved onto his back again, stacked his hands behind his head, and stared into the darkness above while he thought about the warm body next to him. She was certainly the most unusual woman he'd ever met. Why, she could have him laughing one second and shouting the next. He couldn't explain his reactions to her, for he didn't understand himself. Only one thing was certain in his mind. He knew she desired him. Her kiss had shown him that much.
'Jade?'
His husky voice sent a shiver down her arms. 'Yes?'
'It's damned odd, isn't it?'
'What's damned odd?' she asked.
He could hear the smile in her voice. 'You and me sharing this bed without touching each other. You do feel comfortable with me, don't you?'
'Yes,' she answered. 'Caine?'
'Yes?'
'Is making love painful?'
'No,' he answered. 'It's painful when you want to and can't.'
