“But I thought you said that trust is important in marriage,” she pointed out as he pulled her to her feet.

Ashton responded with a doubtful stare. “That word is coming up much too often for my comfort, madam. I shall dispense with your idea of trust by taking you back to New Orleans. It that fails, there’s no doubt I’ll perish from wanting you.”

She was unable to read his expression. “Are you serious? I mean, about taking me to New Orleans.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am,” he stated as the idea took deeper root.

“But you just came back from New Orleans.”

“This trip will be solely for our pleasure, madam,” he assured her warmly.

Lierin regarded him with an air of skepticism. “And of course you intend to complete this seduction of yours.”

“Aye, madam, and the sooner, the better.”

He bent and lifted her in his arms, dropping a kiss against her throat as she settled contentedly against him. He was fascinated with the way the gown gapped from her bosom while her arms were about his neck. It was a most tempting sight and one he repeatedly reviewed as he carried her to his bedroom door. He turned the knob and, with a shoulder, nudged it open to bear her across the threshold. They passed through the suite of rooms and paused in the bathing room where he stood her to her feet.

“You’ll probably want to undress in here. The bedroom may be a bit cool yet.” Ashton inclined his head toward a small chest where a neatly folded stack of clothing lay. “I had Willabelle bring in a few things while we dined.”

Lierin recognized the garments as her own green robe and batiste nightgown and realized that the invitation to move her into a bedchamber near his own had not been a spontaneous offer at all. Not only had he given prior thought to the matter, but he had made arrangements, assuming she would agree. She regarded him with some amazement. “I think I underestimated you.”

Ashton returned a lopsided grin to her dubious gaze. “I didn’t think you’d object.”

“Are you always so sure of yourself?” she queried, conscious of how deftly she had been maneuvered.

“It’s a matter of logic, madam. The accommodations are more comfortable here….”

“And handier to you.”

“Yes, that, too,” he admitted with rakish aplomb. Doffing his coat, vest, and cravat, he hung them on a wooden clothes tree near the door, then took her hands and brought them to his lips while his eyes played with hers. “I’ll stir up the fire while you get undressed.”

The door closed behind him, allowing Lierin a few private moments to settle back to earth. She was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that whenever she was with him, she gave little thought to resistance. He was like a strong magnet that drew her progressively nearer. He was totally a man, and having all the cravings of a woman, she found herself very susceptible. Despite her attempts at logic and restraint, she was beginning to relish the idea of being married to him. Whether it was reasonable or not, she desired the intimacy and the familiarity of a husband-and-wife relationship.

His robe hung with his other garments on the clothes tree, and beneath the stroke of her hand a clean, masculine scent drifted from the velvet garment, filling her whole being with soft yearnings. She drew in her breath, surprised at her wayward will, and deliberately set her mind to the matter of getting undressed. The nightgown slid with silken softness over her naked body, and distantly she wondered what it would be like to have Ashton make love to her, if she would find the moment pleasurable, or if the anticipation was far more entertaining than the actuality.

She stared dreamily across the small space of the room, doubting the possibility of such a thing happening. The man exuded an unceasing current of virility, which could not be denied. Though she could imagine the hazel eyes growing cold with rage, there was a fire that burned in the man which could be effective in thawing the resistance of almost any woman.

Lierin shook her head angrily. Once again her thoughts took her into reckless meanderings. Rather than rein in her wayward musings, she was letting her mind run far afield. It was illogical to think of coupling with the man when he was still very much a stranger to her. Why did she persist in these frivolous ponderings when she knew the wisest choice would be to keep her distance?

Belting the green velvet robe about her slender waist, she entered the adjoining bedroom and moved on bare feet across the luxurious carpet while she admired the fine furnishings and soft colors. The boudoir dwarfed the memory of the guest room in her mind, for it was everything a woman could wish for. Indeed, if she had viewed the accommodations first, she would have been reluctant to question Ashton’s sincerity.

He had turned from the fireplace to watch her approach, and she stepped near, slipping her arm through his and giving him her answer with a soft smile. “It’s beautiful, Ashton, and you were right. I could not have rejected it.”

Lierin raised on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek, but he turned his face to meet her lips with his. She had no desire to withdraw and leisurely savored the rising warmth of his response. His mouth opened and snatched hungrily at hers, drawing and compelling her to answer. The hesitant intrusion of her tongue encouraged him, and he faced her, bringing her full against him. His embrace tightened, and the kiss intensified for a long, blissful moment. Torn between yielding and denial, she trembled in his arms, aware that he was becoming increasingly aroused. It came to her that if she did not immediately halt this whirligig world, she would not find the strength to deny him.

“I must have time, Ashton,” she whispered pleadingly as she broke away from the kiss. “Please let me find myself.”

Ashton’s brows gathered in a pained frown as he set her from him, and she saw the agony of her denial in his face. Not knowing how to ease his plight, she followed him to the bed and waited as he folded down the covers. When he faced her again, he let out his breath haltingly and raised his hands as if to lay them on her shoulders. She waited expectantly, wanting him to, but he turned away with a heavy sigh.

“I’ll go.”

“Please, Ashton…” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. “Won’t you stay and talk for a while?”

Ashton responded with an abortive laugh. “Madam, you have either underestimated your charms or overestimated my ability to resist you. The temptation is beyond me. If I stay a moment longer, a simple no will no longer suffice.” He jammed his hands into the pockets of his trousers, and his jaw tightened as he glanced away. “I am sorely beset with my passions, so please, madam…have a care. Just get in bed while I still have my wits about me.”

Lierin dared not ignore his warning and hurried to comply, not even pausing to doff her robe before slipping under the covers. He went back to the fireplace, threw another log on the blazing kindling, then stood frowning down into the shifting orange and gold flames. She studied him against the brightening firelight, crushingly aware of how quickly she had come to desire him. Somewhere in the inner core of her being was the sure and unmistakable knowledge that she had experienced moments of intimacy with a man. If she closed her eyes, she could almost envision a man rising naked from a bed and moving away from her. Though vague and indistinct, the form left an impression of towering height, wide shoulders tapering to narrow hips, and short hair curling in feathery wisps against a bronze-hued neck. Willabelle had assured her that Ashton was a man among many, and she was swiftly coming to that same conclusion. Indeed, if she could accurately judge a man’s merits in so short a time, he was just what she needed for a whole lifetime of loving and caring regard.

“Ashton?” Her voice was a soft murmur in the room.

He glanced around. “Yes?” Her answering silence drew him back until he stood beside the bed. “What is it, Lierin?”

She searched the handsome visage in the meager light of the room. She knew she risked much at this moment, for she was very vulnerable to his manly persuasion. She could be hurt in the outcome of it all, and yet she wanted him to make love to her. She yearned to feel that strong, firmly muscled body against her own and to give herself unreservedly to him. Her eyes were limpid pools of deep emerald green as her hand reached to the edge of the bed to pull down the covers invitingly. “I don’t think you have to take me to New Orleans, Ashton. You can have everything you want right now.”

The leap of Ashton’s heart started the blood surging through his veins, and his long-starved passions seized control of his body. His eyes flared their answer in heated lust as his fingers moved to the buttons of his shirt. In a moment his brown shoulders gleamed naked in the candlelight, and he sat on the bed to remove his boots. Lierin rose to her knees, and her robe slipped from the end of the bed where she tossed it as she pressed close against him. She laid her arms over his shoulders, and Ashton’s mind reeled with the ecstasy of her soft breasts rubbing against his back, tantalizing him and stirring his passions until they became a hot, sweet ache in the pit of his belly. This was Lierin, tempting, warm, responsive, capable of setting his very being on fire. The last boot thudded to the floor as her hands slipped down his hard chest, pausing momentarily as her right hand found a scar, then stroking firmly over the swell of muscles while her fingers threaded through its thick matting of hair.

“Hurry,” she whispered in his ear and traced it teasingly with her tongue before she sat back on her heels. Reluctant to be parted, he sprawled back upon the bed, twisting slightly as he reached for her, pulling her down upon him. As his mouth reached to entrap hers, his hand wandered up, moving from her buttock to her breast, then further still, catching his thin fingers in the top of the gown before being joined by his other hand. She gasped in surprise as he ripped the garment apart, spilling free the ripe fullness of her bosom before his hungering eyes. His mouth touched her breast with a moist, burning heat that took her breath away and set her heart racing wildly within the cavity of her chest. She shivered, feeling consumed by the slow, licking flame of his tongue, and her whole being throbbed with each wet, languid caress.

With another tug he finished parting the nightgown and, pulling it from her, tossed it to the end of the bed. The hazel eyes struck sparks against her flesh, and with a hint of a mysterious smile she raised upright, taking his hand and drawing him to his knees until they faced each other on the bed with her limbs tucked within the spread of his. His hands slid about her waist and glided down over her buttocks, while her lips pressed light, eager kisses against his throat and the line of his jaw. The soft, pale peaks of her breasts brushed his furred chest, tormenting him with the sweet ecstasy of it.

“I think I’ve fallen in love with you,” she breathed. Her fingers curled in the hair at his nape. “I want you…. Oh, Ashton, I really do….”

His arms caught her close, and his mouth seized hers with a fervor that took her breath away. Their lips blended with a crushing urgency that readily conveyed the craving impatience of each. When they came apart, their eyes smoldered with a common heat. Her hands slid admiringly over his muscular ribs to the waistband of his trousers, and then stroked down lean thighs, while his own plucked the buttons free. His breath sucked in through clenched teeth as her fingers slipped inside the top of the loosened garment and teased him with a feathery light caress against his hard belly. The hot blood shot through his loins and thudded through him, cauterizing his mind with his ravaging needs.

He rose briefly to his feet, then came back in full, naked glory, taking her against him and pressing hard and hot between her thighs. His mouth came down on hers with a rapacious hunger, twisting, devouring, awakening passions she hardly knew existed. He laid her down, and his hands and lips glided over her silken flesh with the bold confidence of a man who had no doubt in himself. With purposeful intent he plucked at the strings of her senses, and she responded with soft, melodic sighs. Swept by building passion and brought ever nearer to that dam of restraint, she began to tremble and writhe. Their eyes melded in warm union as he braced himself above her, then came ecstasy, plunging in with the bold thrust of a knight’s lance and forging them together in the knot of love. A flooding tide of emotions washed through Lierin, and her whole being came alive with pulsing joy. The strokes of his body were smooth and languid against her own until the lusting heat made them both greedy for more, and it became a wild, frenzied search for fulfillment. She arched against him, answering his hard, thrusting hips with a fervor that equaled his. She gasped as she was snatched to a lofty firmament, where the vapors were sweet and heady and where the stars blazed in a blinding, brilliant display. A myriad sensations fell like sparkling dust against her skin and burst in tiny shards of rapturous bliss. She clung to him and he to her as they were lifted ever higher on the crest of their passion. They soared together in this iridescent world until finally the heavenly spheres released them from their celestial orbit, and they descended on light, airy cushions of thistledown. Contentment gave fragrance to their sighs as their lips blended in the warm afterglow of their passion. The raindrops trickled down the panes of glass, but the pair gave them no heed as they sipped the sweet nectar of sated desires.