"I am. I have it on high authority."


"How?"


"How, what?"


"How did Pagan kill him?"


"For God's sake, Jade," he muttered. "I don't want to talk about this. I've already told you more than

I intended."


"I'm sorry if I've upset you," she replied. She leaned away from him and looked into Ms eyes.


The worry in her expression made him feel guilty for his biting tone. "Colin was killed at sea."


"Yet someone was thoughtful enough to bring him home for burial?"


"No."


"No? Then how can you know if he's really dead? He could have washed up on a deserted island,

or possibly…,"


"Proof was sent."


"What proof? And who sent it?"


He couldn't understand her interest in this topic and determined to end the conversation. "Proof came from the War Department. Now will you quit your questions?"


"Yes, of course," she whispered. "Please accept my apology for intruding upon such a personal matter."


She let out a yawn, then begged his forgiveness for that unladylike action.


"Caine? We can't stay here long. I fear we would be putting your friends in danger."


"I agree," he answered. "We'll only stay one night."


He stared into the fire while he formulated his plans. Jade snuggled up against him and fell asleep. He

told himself he was thankful for the blessed quiet. Yet he resisted the urge to go up to bed, for he liked holding the impossible woman in his arms too much to move.


He kissed her brow just for the hell of it, then kissed her once again.


Only when the fire had burned down to glowing embers and a decided chill settled in the room did he finally get up.


She came awake with a start. Jade jumped to her feet, but was so disoriented, she started walking in the wrong direction. She would have walked right into the hearth if he hadn't stopped her. He tried to lift her into his arms. She pushed his hands away. He let out a sigh, then put his ami around her shoulders and guided her up the stairs. He kept trying not to think about how lovely she looked now. Her hair was almost dry and had regained its enchanting curls. He also tried not to think about the fact that she was wearing only a thin nightgown and wrapper.


He opened the bedroom door for her, then turned to find his own.


"Caine?" she called out, her voice a sleepy whisper. "You won't leave me, will you?"


He turned back to face her. The question was insulting, yet the fearful look in her eyes softened his

initial reaction. "No, I won't leave you."


She nodded, looked like she was about to say something more, and then abruptly shut the door in his face.


* * *

Christina had prepared the adjoining bedroom for Caine. The bed covers on the large bed had been

turned back, and a full fire blazed in the hearth.


As inviting as the bed was, sleep still eluded Caine. He tossed and turned in the giant bed for almost an hour, all the while damning himself for his own lack of discipline. Yet no matter how valiantly he tried,

he couldn't get the red-haired, green-eyed enchantress out of his mind.


He couldn't understand his own reaction to her. Hell, he wanted her with an intensity that made him burn. That didn't make any sense at all to him. He disliked bad-tempered, illogical, cry-at-the-sight-of-a-frown young ladies, didn't he?


He was simply too exhausted to think straight now. He wasn't used to being restrained either. Caine was

a man who took what he wanted when he wanted it. He'd gone soft over the last few years, though. He didn't have to bother with the chase any longer. The women always came to him. They gave themselves freely. Caine took what each offered without feeling a qualm of remorse. He was always honest with his women, and he never, ever spent a full night with any of them. Mornings, he knew, would bring false hopes and foolish demands.


Yet he wanted Jade. Lord, he wasn't making any sense. Jade's sneeze echoed in the distance then. Caine immediately got out of bed. He put on his pants but didn't bother with the buttons. He now had an excuse to go into her room. She probably needed another blanket, he told himself. The night air had a chill to it. There was also the possibility of a fire, for the light coming from beneath the door indicated she'd fallen asleep with the candles burning.


He wasn't at all prepared for the sight he came upon. Jade was sleeping on her stomach. Her glorious hair was spread like a shawl on her back. Her face was turned toward him. Her eyes were closed, and her deep, even breathing indicated she was fast asleep.


His enchantress was stark naked. She'd taken off her nightgown and placed it on the chair beside the bed. She'd also kicked the covers off the bed.


The little lady had a decidedly sensual streak hidden inside her, if she preferred sleeping in the nude, as

he did.


She looked like a golden goddess to him. Her legs were long, beautifully shaped. He suddenly pictured those silky legs wrapped around him and almost groaned in reaction.


He was fully aroused and aching by the time he walked over to the side of the bed. He noticed the long thin scar across her spine then. Caine immediately recognized the mark, as he had a similar one on the back of his thigh. There was only one weapon that could inflict such a jagged line. It was the thick lash from a whip.


Someone had used a whip on her. Caine was stunned, outraged too. The scar was old, by at least five years or so, judging from the faded edges, and that fact made the atrocity all the more repugnant. Jade had been a child when she'd been so mistreated.


He suddenly wanted to wake her up and demand the name of the bastard who'd done this to her.


She started moaning in her sleep. The restlessness in which she moved made him think she was in the throes of an unpleasant dream. She sneezed again, then let out another whimper of distress.


With a sigh of acute frustration, he grabbed the nightgown and turned back to the angel he'd been foolish enough to promise he'd protect. He tried to see the humor in this bleak situation. For the first time in his life, he was actually going to put a nightgown back on a woman.


Caine was just leaning over her when he saw the flash of steel out of the corner of his eye. His reaction was instinctive. He moved to block her attack with a forceful sweep of his left arm. She was already stopping herself when his arm slammed into her wrist. The dagger went flying across the room and

landed with a loud clatter on the base of the hearth.


She'd turned into a hellion. Jade was on her knees now, facing him. Her breathing was harsh, her anger apparent in her dark expression. "Don't you ever sneak up on me like that again," she shouted up at him. "Good God, man, I could have killed you."


Caine was just as furious with her. "Don't you ever try to use your knife on me," he roared. "Or good God, woman, I will kill you!"


She didn't appear to be the least intimidated by that threat. Caine decided she just didn't understand her own peril, or she certainly would have tried to act a little contrite. She'd also forgotten she wasn't wearing any clothes, either.


He hadn't forgotten. Her full, round breasts were only partially concealed by her long dark curls. Her nipples were pink, hard. Her anger made her pant, forcing her slender ribcage to rise and fall in a rhythm he found hypnotic.


He felt like a cad for noticing until she started prodding his temper again.


"You're not going to kill me," she announced. "We've already had this discussion, remember?"


He was staring down at her with the most astonished look on Ms face. "You aren't at all afraid of me,

are you?"


She shook her head. Her long hair swayed gracefully over her shoulders.


"Why would I be afraid of you?" she asked. "You're my protector, sir."


Her irritated tone of voice was the last provocation he was going to take. Caine grabbed hold of her hands and roughly shoved her back against the mattress. He followed her down, spreading her thighs with one of his knees wedged between so she couldn't lash out at him with her legs and do real damage. He wouldn't put it past her to try to make a eunuch out of him if she had the opportunity. "I think it's high time you understood a few basic rules," he grated out.


She let out a loud gasp when his bare chest touched her breasts. Caine guessed she'd finally realized she wasn't wearing a nightgown. "Exactly," he said on a low groan.


Damn, but she was soft, wonderfully so. He wanted to bury his face in the crook of her neck and make slow, sweet love to her. He would have her, he vowed, but she'd be hot and begging for him, not muttering unladylike obscenities against his ear as she was now doing.


"Where in God's name did you learn those blasphemies?" he asked when she threatened to do him in, in the most amazing way.


"From you," she lied. "Will you get off me, you… wart from hell."


She was full of bravado. Yet there was a tremor of fear in her voice, too. Caine immediately reacted to

it. It took extreme discipline, but he slowly moved away from her. His jaw was clenched tight and a fine sweat covered his brow. Her nipples rubbed against his chest when he moved. Caine groaned low in his throat. Her breasts were ready for him, even if the rest of her wasn't. Ready for him to take into his mouth, to kiss, to suck, to…


"Caine?"


He propped himself up on his elbows so he could see her expression. He immediately wished he hadn't bothered. Her intense frown was already making him angry again.


She was filled with the most conflicting emotions. She knew she should feel outraged, but the opposite was really the full truth. The dark hair on his chest, so crisp, so warm, tickled her breasts into responding. He was so warm all over, so exciting. And hard, she added to herself. The sleek bulge of muscle in his upper arms made her breath catch in her throat. She knew better than to let him know how much he was affecting her. Outrage, she remembered. I must be outraged, and frightened, too,


"Is this how you plan to protect me?" she asked, affecting just the right amount of fear in her voice.


"No, this isn't how I plan to protect you," he answered in a husky voice.


"Caine?"


"Yes?"


"You look like you want to kiss me. Do you?"


"Yes," he admitted. "I do."


She started shaking her head, but he stopped that action by cupping the sides of her face and holding her still.


"But you don't even like me much." Her voice was a breathless whisper. "You said so, remember? Have you changed your mind, then?"


He found himself smiling over the bewildered look on her face. "No," he answered, just to goad her temper.


"Then why would you want to kiss me?"


"I can't explain it," he said. "Perhaps it's because you're stark naked, and I can feel your soft skin beneath me. Perhaps…"


"Only once then."


He didn't understand what she meant, but the blush that covered her cheeks indicated her embarrassment. "Only once what, Jade?" he asked.


"You may kiss me, Caine," she explained. "But only once. Then you must get off me and leave my room."


"Jade? Do you want me to kiss you?"


His voice had turned so tender, she felt as though he'd just caressed her. She stared at his mouth, wondering what it would feel like to be properly kissed by him. Would his mouth be as hard as the rest

of him?


Curiosity overruled caution. "Yes," she whispered. "I do want you to kiss me, Caine."


The kiss was one of absolute possession. His mouth was hard, demanding. His tongue thrust inside and rubbed against hers. She had no idea that men kissed women in such a manner, yet found she liked the stroke of his tongue very much. It was thoroughly arousing. Only when her tongue timidly imitated his bold action did he gentle the kiss. It was shameful the way he used his tongue in the erotic mating ritual, but she didn't care. She could feel his hard arousal against the junction of her thighs. He pushed against her each time his tongue slid deep into her mouth. A slow heat began to burn inside her belly.