The Copeland Bride

other men, that a woman's emotions were her strength, not her weakness, and it never occurred to him to try to reason away her feelings. It no longer surprised him, however, when he saw other men make this mistake, for he had long ago accepted the fact that most men did not understand women as he did.

As the beautiful Mrs. Copeland held out her wineglass to him to be filled for a third time, he knew that Copeland certainly did not understand his wife; nor, it occurred to him, did she understand her husband. He steadied her trembling hand with his own as he poured her wine, not missing the dark scowl that came over her husband's face. The situation intrigued him. There was a magnetism between them that was so palpable, the air was heavy with it, yet they were letting his sister's scheme drive them apart.

Quinn Copeland was foolish, Brandt decided. All he needed to do was take his beautiful wife in his arms and tell her that Anna no longer meant anything to him. But this he would not do. He was a proud man who would see his own life crumble around him before he would bend that pride. And the exciting, tawny-haired woman who had been flirting so outrageously with him ever since dinner had started was much the same. It was a volatile combination of personalities running out of control, and if one of them did not bend, the collision could be tragic.

Brandt twisted the stem of his glass in his fingers, considering his own place in all of this. If Copeland decided to treasure this delicious creature as he should, he vowed he would leave them alone despite the fact that she intrigued him more than any woman had in years. But if the shipbuilder were foolish enough to continue making her unhappy-well, then he, Brandt, would be waiting close by.

As Anna whispered a laughing comment to Quinn, Noelle leaned forward and offered a tantalizing glimpse of her breasts to her handsome dinner companion. She was rewarded by the sight of her husband's face tightening in anger.

'This wine is excellent, Wolf.' She smiled provocatively over the silver rim of her glass. 'Did you bring it with you?'

'But of course. I always travel with my own stock. This particular vintage is from my vineyard near Rheims.'

'I had no idea your business interests were so diversified.'

'The vineyard is my pleasure, not my business. A man should never confuse the two.'

Speaking easily and requiring nothing from her in the way of response, he described the beauty of the land and the small chateau that graced the property. She gazed at him intently, nodding her head in the proper places but concentrating only on the hushed conversation and intimate laughter coming from the other side of the table.

Wolf was saddened by the triumph that flushed his sister's lovely face as Quinn slipped his arm across the back of her chair. His darling, magnificent Anna with her raven hair and alabaster skin. Wise about everything except this one man. Victory was not going to be as easy as she thought. The shipbuilder loved his wife even if he would not admit it to himself. Still, that was undoubtedly a point in Anna's favor. This complex man would not succumb to love easily.

'Ladies, perhaps you will excuse Quinn and myself. We have a small bit of business to discuss, then we will join you in the drawing room.'

There was only the briefest hesitation before the beautiful Mrs. Copeland rose gracefully from the table and glided from the room, leaving his sister in her wake. Wolf smiled to himself, wishing he could be an observer of what was to come. It would be most interesting to see how they would deal with each other.

In the drawing room, Anna wandered over to the corner table, where she picked up a piece of jagged white coral and idly turned it over in her hands. 'You're really quite charming, you know,' she said.

'I beg your pardon.'

'I have been studying you. You're lovely. But, of course, Quinn has always been surrounded by beautiful women.' Anna's scarlet lips curved in a sly smile. 'Now he is quite angry with me for having shown myself openly to you despite his orders. But he knows I'm not a woman to be kept locked in the attic.' With a touch as light as the thread of a spider's web, she placed her fingertips on Noelle's arm. 'In the end, it will be easier for both of us because we will not have to pretend.'

Noelle could feel her heart breaking, but she clung to her dignity. 'You will do well to stay out of my way, Baroness. I do not have the advantage of generations of impeccable breeding, and my inferior blood sometimes makes me behave rashly. Now, if you will excuse me, I feel the need for some fresh air.' With her head held high, she swept from the room.

Anna drew a deep breath. For an instant, she looked older than her thirty-two years, but at the sound of footsteps approaching the door, she sank down on the sofa and languidly draped one hand over the arm.

'Where is my wife?'

She smiled lazily. 'Where is Wolfgang?'

'Don't assume everyone has your talent for intrigue, Anna.'

'What an ugly scowl, liebchen. You must stop it at once, or you will frighten me.'

The grim line of Quinn's mouth relaxed. He was fond of Anna, and despite her teasing manner, he knew she was suffering. 'This time Wolf is innocent. I just left him alone in the dining room, looking over some papers he has to sign.'

'Too bad.' Anna pouted. 'It would have made things so much easier.' She stood and walked toward him, arching an amused ebony brow. 'Who knows? It may still all work out.'

The line of his mouth was firm, but not unkind. 'Don't do this to yourself, Anna. Everything is over between us. We agreed to that in London.'

She pressed herself to him, the hardness of his body against hers making her voice husky with desire. 'I never agreed to anything, liebchen. I have not yet tired of you.'

Gently he skimmed the raven softness of her hair with his hand. 'I have enough complications in my life without adding another. Accept the fact that we can never be together again.'

'Never?' she murmured, tracing her fingers upward along the lapels of his jacket and then sliding them along his neck into the black hair that curled over the back of his collar. 'Perhaps you are being too hasty.' She pulled his head toward her parted lips and brought his mouth hard against hers.

The kiss was pleasant, and Quinn responded to it, but too soon he realized that Anna's ripe body was not stirring him as it once had. With something akin to anger, he caught her in a closer embrace and drove his tongue into the moist cavern of her mouth.

Noelle watched from the open doorway, wanting to tear herself away but unable to move. She grabbed the door frame for support.

'My beautiful swan, you do not need to see this.' Coming up from behind her. Wolf Brandt slid an arm around her and drew her toward him.

Quinn brought up his head just in time to see his wife disappear in Brandt's arms. Furiously he disengaged himself from Anna and stalked toward the door.

'Bitte, Quinn. Please wait.' The languid air was gone as Anna ran after him and clutched at his arm. 'Where are you going?'

'Where do you think?'

'You are not a man to grovel before a woman,' she exclaimed. 'What will you do? Tell her you did not enjoy kissing me? She will know that's a lie!'

'Damn it, Anna, shut up!' He began to pull away from her, but she threw her body in front of him.

'Leave her to my brother, Quinn. You saw at dinner how he fascinated her. It is like that sometimes. A thunderbolt! A woman cannot always help it when her heart strays. Don't make a fool of yourself!'

Refusing to listen to any more, he pushed her aside and darted from the room only to find the hallway empty. By the time he thought to look outside, it was too late; a carriage was already pulling away from the house.

Brandt quietly stepped from the deep shadows of the porch. 'I had my driver take her home.'

'You had no right.'

'And you, my old friend, had no right to humiliate her as you did. Do you not even care how she feels?'

'This is none of your business, Brandt,' Quinn snarled.

'There you are wrong. We have known each other for a long time, and, while we have never been intimates, we have always respected each other. Is that not true?'

'You have one minute. Get to the point.'

'Proud and impatient.' Brandt smiled. 'Excellent qualities in a businessman, but not so good in a husband,