Always

which.'

He looked startled. 'That sounds bawdy, coming from you.'

'That's because I am bawdy on occasion.' She grinned at him. 'Just because I'm a trifle thin and delicate- looking, don't make the mistake of thinking I'm a milk-and-water miss.'

He looked at her, his eyes narrowing. 'You seem… different.'

Her smile was a sudden brilliant flash of warmth. 'I've come alive. If you don't like it, that's just too bad, Clancy. You're responsible for it.'

'I like it,' he said softly. 'I'm just having a little trouble adjusting to it. I wonder what other surprises I have in store for me.' His gaze returned compulsively to her breasts. 'Could I persuade you to put on your blouse? Looking at all that lovely bounty is putting me in a very painful state.'

She reached down and picked up her blouse,then slipped it on and began to fasten the pearl buttons.

'Haven't you forgotten something?' He nodded to the lacy scrap of a bra on the seat.

She shook her head and calmly picked up the bra, stuffing it into her tote bag beside the seat. 'Nope.' She picked up her linen blazer and slipped it on. 'I'm taking out insurance.'

'Insurance?'

'The way you're behaving is entirely too gallant and noble to suit me. I'm not at all sure how long it's going to take you to set up this 'special' situation in which to make love with me. So I thought I'd add a little incentive. This jacket maintains a facade of respectability, but I want you to know it's only a facade. That I'm naked and available for you.' Her smile was both mischievous and wickedly alluring. 'That all you have to do is reach out and undo a button or two and you'll have whatever you want. Anytime you want it,' she whispered. 'Is that enough of a goad to your initiative, Clancy?'

He gave a low whistle. 'Why, you little devil. Hell, yes, that's enough of a goad.'

'I thought it would be.' She leaned forward and began to fasten the buttons on his shirt. Her hands were still trembling, but she didn't try to hide it. She wanted him to see how much she wanted him. She couldn't tell him she loved him as yet, but she could give him that. 'Of course, I don't promise to keep my hands off you.' Demurely, she lowered her lashes to veil her eyes. 'But I'll make an effort. It depends on how long you make me wait.'

'Well, I promise it won't be long. You're a tough lady to go up against.'

She sat back in her seat and picked up a magazine from the table beside her. 'But I guarantee you'll enjoy it when you do go up against me,' she said softly. 'You certainly didn't seem to have any complaints before you got that sudden attack of conscience.'

'Lisa, dammit…'

She smothered a smile. 'Sorry. It's not too late to change your mind about me. You didn't really know what you were getting when you made me that offer. The lady you knew on Paradise Cay was only the tip of the iceberg. Now the part of the iceberg that Was submerged is breaking up and bobbing to the surface.'

'How does it feel?' he asked, smiling gently.

She thought about it. 'Mostly good, I think. Sometimes a bit scary. It's a little difficult to flow with the southern current and feel the ice melting. I can't help wondering what will be left by the time I hit the Equator.'

'I know what will be left.' His hand reached out and covered hers. 'A lady with dignity and character who will have become all she could be. There's nothing to be afraid of in that. I'm looking forward to being around to see it.'

Lisa felt a sudden tightness in her throat. Clancy was a rock to cling to in that current. How many other people had used his strength and support in the past? He gave so selflessly that it was easy to forget he had needs as well. She felt a rush of fierce maternal tenderness. Well, she wouldn't forget, and she wouldn't let anyone else forget, either.

She looked blindly down at the magazine on her lap. The moment was so fraught with emotion that she had to lighten it. 'I hear that you live in the sheikh's palace. Does that mean I'm going to be established as a harem favorite?'

'You certainly display the erotic temperament for it. I do have quarters at the palace, but that's not where I'm taking you tonight.'

Her eyes twinkled. 'You're not installing me in a nunnery, by any chance?'

'Not by any possible chance. I have a setting in mind that doesn't lean to either extreme.' 'You're not going to tell me where we're going?' He shook his head. 'I want it to be a surprise. I've never planned a romantic tryst before.' There was a touch of boyish eagerness in his smile that was very appealing. 'I find I'm looking forward to it. I hope to hell I don't mess it up.' He stood up and turned toward the cockpit. 'It's almost time to land. I'm going to tell John he's to take you sightseeing this afternoon while I complete the arrangements.'

She frowned. 'But I don't want to go sightseeing. I'd rather stay with you.'

He glanced back over his shoulder, his gaze lingering on the unconfined swell of her breasts beneath the silk blouse. Then, with an effort, he averted his eyes. 'You should have thought of that before you initiated your little goad, acushla. I wouldn't last five minutes with you in the back of the limousine, and then all my arrangements would go down the drain.' He paused. 'As it is, I might just last until tonight if I get to the cockpitin the next two seconds.' He walked quickly down the aisle.

It wasn't a Middle Eastern palace, but a medieval castle complete with drawbridge, turrets, and a wall to keep out potential invaders. The magnificent anomaly sat squarely in the middle of the Sedikhan desert when it should have occupied a cliff in the British countryside.

'What's the drawbridge for?' Lisa asked blankly. 'There's no moat.'

The blue-and-white helicopter Clancy was piloting hovered, dipped, and then settled on the flagstones of the courtyard. 'The castle was built by one of Lance Rubinoffs more flamboyant ancestors, who decided he was homesick for Tamrovia.' His lips curved in a half smile. 'He must have been a great deal like Lance, because it apparently didn't make the slightest difference to him that the idea wasn't exactly practical.'

'Tamrovia? That's a small monarchy in the Balkans, isn't it?' Clancy had made passing mention of Prince Lance Rubinoff, who was Alex's cousin, but he hadn't gone into any detail. 'It's ruled by a King Stefan. I read something about it in National Geographic.'

Clancy nodded. 'Stefan is Lance's older brother. There have been close diplomatic ties between the two countries for decades, but no familial ones until Alex's father married Sheikh Karim's daughter.' He turned off the ignition and opened the door of the helicopter. 'Lance found the atmosphere at Sedikhan much more to his liking thanTamrovia and settled here with his wife, Honey. Brother Stefan is a bit of a stuffed shirt, evidently.'

And Lance Rubinoff definitely was not. What Lisa had read about him had been in the gossip columns, not the National Geographic. He had been the darling of the tabloids with his scandalous love affairs and wild pranks before he was married. Lately his name had appeared more often in the art section as his reputation as an artist had skyrocketed. 'This is Lance's castle?'

'No; he uses it occasionally, but it actually belongs to Sedikhan. It was lost to Alex's greatgrandfather in a poker game.' He lifted her down to the flagstones of the courtyard. 'No one is really fond of the old place except Kira, and she's in Tamrovia right now.'

'Kira?'

'Princess Kira Rubinoff, Lance's younger sister.' He frowned. 'Can't we drop the family history bit? I didn't bring you here to regale you with stories of the Rubinoff dynasty.'

'Why did you bring me here?' she asked with a teasing grin. 'I haven't seen you at all since we arrived in Marasef this afternoon, until John delivered me back at the airport. Then you flew me off in the helicopter to this Ivanhoe's castle. I definitely feel swept off my feet.'

'That's how I wanted you to feel,' he said quietly, and made a gesture toward the castle. 'I thought we'd spend a few months by ourselves before I dropped you into the social whirl in Marasef. Its towers aren't ivory, but I thought it made a fitting background for a princess all the same. I wanted to give you that.'

What a touching gesture. Lisa felt tears sting her eyes. 'But I don't have the princess mentality anymore. I just want to be a woman.' She repeated his own words softly, 'A woman with character and dignity.'

'I knew I'd blow it. What can you expect when an old war horse like me tries to play Galahad?'

'You didn't blow it. It was a beautiful, wonderful thing to do,' she said. 'I love it. What woman wouldn't want a castle put at her disposal? But I'm afraid I don't deserve it. I'm not sure I can live up to such an extravagant gesture.'