'Oh. Then I must not want you very much, Caine, because I'm not hurting at all.' She made that statement of fact in a gratingly cheerful tone of voice.
'Jade?'
'Yes?'
'Go to sleep.'
She felt him turn toward her and immediately tensed in anticipation of another kiss. After waiting a long while, she realized he wasn't going to kiss her again. She was horribly disappointed.
Caine propped himself up on his elbow and stared down at her. Jade forced a serene expression in case
he had cat's eyes and could see in the dark.
'Jade? How did you get that whiplash on your back?'
'From a whip,' she answered. She rolled to her side and resisted the urge to scoot up against his warmth.
'Answer me.'
'How do you know it was a whiplash?'
'I have an identical mark on the back of my thigh.'
'You do? How did you get yours?'
'Are you going to answer my every question with a question of your own?'
'It worked quite nicely for Socrates.'
'Tell me how you got your whiplash,' he asked once again.
'It's a personal matter,' she explained. 'It's almost dawn, Caine. I've had a rather trying day.'
'All right,' he conceded. 'You can tell me all about this personal matter in the morning.'
Before she could fend him off, he threw his arm around her waist and hauled her up against him. His
chin rested on the top of her head. The junction of his hard thighs was nestled against her backside.
'Are you warm enough?' he asked.
'Yes,' she answered. 'Are you?'
'Oh, yes.'
'You will behave, won't you?' she teased.
'Probably,' he replied. 'Jade?' he asked, his tone much more serious now.
'Yes?'
'I would never do anything you didn't want me to do.'
'But what if you thought I wanted you to… and I didn't really want…'
'Unless you gave me your approval, your wholehearted approval, I wouldn't touch you. I promise.'
She thought that was the nicest promise she'd ever been given. He sounded so sincere, and she knew he really meant what he said.
'Caine? Do you know what I've just discovered? You really are a gentleman, and an honorable one at that.'
He'd already fallen asleep hugging her. Jade decided to do the same. She rolled over in his arms, slipped her arms around his waist, and promptly fell asleep.
Caine woke up a bare hour later when Jade cried out in her sleep. She muttered something he couldn't decipher, then let out a terrified scream. He shook her awake. When he brushed her hair away from her face, he felt the wetness on her cheeks. She'd been weeping in her sleep.
'Sweetheart, you're having a bad dream. It's all right now,' he soothed. 'You're safe with me.'
He rubbed her shoulders and her back, too, until the tension eased out of her. 'What were you dreaming about?' he asked, when her breathing had calmed down.
'Sharks.' The word came out in a whisper filled with anguish.
'Sharks?' he asked, uncertain if he'd heard correctly.
She tucked her head under his chin. 'I'm so tired,' she whispered. 'I don't remember the nightmare now. Hold me, Caine. I want to go back to sleep.'
Her voice still trembled. Caine knew she was lying. She remembered every bit of her nightmare. He wasn't going to prod her into telling him about it, however.
He kissed the top of her head, then complied with her order and pulled her close.
Jade knew the minute he fell asleep again. She slowly eased herself away from him and moved to the
side of the bed. Her heart was still slamming inside her chest. He thought she'd only had a nightmare. Was reliving an actual event the same? And would she ever be able to forget the horror?
God help her, would she ever be able to go willingly back in the water again?
She felt like crying. It took all her discipline not to give into her urge and hold on to him now. Caine
was such an easy man to trust. She could get used to depending on him, she knew. Yes, he was the dependable type, but he could also break her heart.
