silverfish. She came to the surface gasping at the cold, laughed, and dived under again.
Eventually she settled onto her back and let her hair unfold like a fan around her head. As she floated, she closed her eyes against the flaming copper ball of sun balanced on the treetops. She felt suspended in time, part of the water, the air, the land. The sun touched the hills of her body. The water lapped at the valleys. She felt almost content.
A bullfrog croaked. She rolled onto her stomach and swam in lazy circles. When she began to feel chilled, she headed into the shallower water at the edge and lowered her feet to the sandy bottom.
Just as she was about to step out, she heard Temptation nicker. From the border of the woods came the answering whistle of another horse. With a curse, she scrambled up the bank and dashed toward her clothes. There was no time for undergarments. She grabbed her khaki breeches and tugged them on over her dripping legs.
She heard the horse coming closer. Her fingers were too stiff from the chilly water to allow her to manage the buttons. She snatched up her shirt and shoved her wet arms into the sleeves. She was fumbling with the button between her breasts when the chestnut gelding broke through the line of trees, and Baron Cain invaded her private world.
He reined in near the spot where her undergarments still lay. Loosely crossing his hands on the pommel of the saddle, he looked down at her from the great height of Vandal's back. His eyes were shaded by the brim of his tan hat, leaving their expression unfathomable. His mouth was unsmiling.
She stood frozen. Her wetly translucent shirt revealed every inch of the skin it clung to. She might as well have been naked.
Cain slowly swung his leg over the saddle and dropped to the ground. While she struggled with the buttons on her breeches, she thought how wrong it was for such a large man to move so quietly.
His boots were dusty, and he wore his fawn trousers low on his narrow hips. His pale butternut shirt was open at the throat. His eyes remained shadowed under his hat brim, and not being able to see their expression made her even more uneasy.
As if he were reading her mind, he dropped the hat to the ground, where it landed next to her undergarments. She wished he'd left it on. The scorching heat in those gray eyes was threatening and dangerous.
'I-I thought you were going into town with Magnus.'
'I was. Until I saw you heading out on Temptation.'
'You knew i was here?'
'I would have shown up earlier, but I wanted to make sure we wouldn't be interrupted.'
'Interrupted?' The button on her breeches refused to behave beneath her fingers. 'What difference would that make?'
'Don't bother fastening it,' he said quietly. 'It's just going to come back off again.' Mesmerized, she watched him lift his hands and slowly unbutton his own shirt.
'Don't do that.' Her voice sounded breathless, even to her own ears.
He tugged his shirt free of the waistband of his trousers, then stripped it off and let it fall to the ground.
Oh, she knew what he was doing… She knew, but she didn't know… 'Sophronia's going to be expecting me,' she said in a rush. 'If I'm not back soon, she'll send somebody to look for me.'
'Nobody's coming after you, Kit. I told them you wouldn't be back until late. We have all the time in the world.'
'We have no time. I have… I have to go.' But she didn't move. She couldn't.
He came closer, exploring her with his eyes. She felt him take in all the curves that her wet clothing outlined with such scrupulous attention to detail.
'Do you still want me to turn you over to Parsell?' he asked.
'Then I will.' His voice grew husky and seductive. 'But first we have something to settle between us.'
She shook her head, but she didn't try to back away. Instead, she heard herself say inanely, 'This isn't proper.'
'Most improper.' His smile held a gentle note of mockery. 'And neither of us cares.'
'
'Then why don't you climb up on Temptation right now and ride away?'
'I will.' But she didn't move. She simply stood there and gazed at the muscles of his bare chest burnished by the late-afternoon light.
Their eyes locked, and he drew nearer. Even before he touched her, she felt the heat of his skin.
'We both know this has been between us ever since the day you came here. It's time we put an end to it so we can get on with the rest of our lives.'
Temptation whickered.
He brushed her cheek with his finger and spoke softly. 'I'm going to have you now, Kit Weston.'
His head dipped so slowly that he might have been moving in a dream. His lips touched her eyelids and closed each one with a soft, quieting kiss. She felt his breath on her cheek, and then his open mouth, like a warm cave, settled over hers.
The tip of his tongue gently played with her lips. It slid along them and tried to coax away the uncertainty that held them shut. Her breasts had been so cold. Now they crushed against the hard warmth of his bare chest. With a moan, she opened her mouth and let him in.
He explored every part of the velvet interior that she made so freely accessible. His tongue touched hers. Gradually, he coaxed her into his mouth until she finally took what he offered her.
Now she become the aggressor. She entwined her arms around his neck. Tasted. Invaded.
He made a muffled sound deep in his throat. She felt his hand slide between their bodies. He pushed aside the open V of her britches and flattened his palm on her stomach.
The intimacy inflamed her. She dug her fingers into his thick, tawny hair. He pushed his hand beneath her shirt and found her breast. As his thumb circled the small, tight bud at the center, she pulled her mouth away with a smothered cry. Would she go to hell for this? What she was letting him do… This man wasn't her husband but her dearest enemy.
She felt herself falling and realized he was taking her to the ground with him. He cushioned their landing, then rolled her onto her back.
The earth was soft and mossy beneath her. He tugged at the button between her breasts, pushed aside the wet fabric, and exposed her breasts.
'You're so beautiful,' he said huskily. He lifted his gaze to her face. 'So perfect. Wild and free.' Locking his eyes with hers, he covered her nipples with his thumbs and began making a series of small circles.
She bit her lip to keep from crying out. The frenzied sensations spiraled inside her, growing hotter and wilder.
'Go ahead,' he whispered. 'Let yourself feel.'
The sound she made came from a place deep inside her.
His smile was smoky and full of satisfaction. He kissed the hollow of her throat, then the nipples he was torturing so expertly with his fingers.
Fiery pinwheels whirled behind her eyes as he suckled her. Just when she knew she could bear it no longer, his mouth trailed to the patch of flat, smooth stomach exposed by the open V of her britches. He kissed her there, then drew them down over her hips.
Finally she lay beneath him, naked except for her open white shirt.
Every nerve in her body quivered. She was frightened. Ecstatic. Noises played inside her head.
'Open for me, sweet.'
His hands guided her… pushing… separating… Oh, yes…
Feathers of air touched her intimately. Her thighs were spread. She was open to his gaze, and the first trickle of apprehension hit her.
But this wasn't pain. He brushed the curls between her thighs, and it felt more wonderful than anything she'd ever imagined.
His breathing grew heavy in her ear, and the muscles in his shoulders quivered beneath her palms. Her
