by Sharon Green
"A woman?" he finally demanded. "You think I have a woman? How the devil did you come up with that?"
"It was perfectly obvious," she responded, uncomfortable in the face of his anger. "I overheard you and Jeff Banyon discussing the great lady you'd decided to get together with, and you'd made such a fuss about sharing my bed earlier, but after that you were much too busy. Do you think I'm too ignorant to see the truth when it's right under my nose?"
"God in heaven give me strength," he muttered with eyes closed, and then he was staring down at her again. "It so happens that the great lady we were talking about is the Bank of England, where I hoped to get information on Haynes. If you thought I had another woman, why didn't you say so? Don't you think a wife is entitled to know that for certain about her husband? Or that a husband is entitled to the chance to prove it isn't true?"
"I - didn't see any point in making a fuss," she answered defensively, now even more uncomfortable as well as embarrassed. "We were together for a particular purpose, and that purpose was nearly over. You never said you wouldn't find interest in other women, so how could I - "
"Of course I said I wouldn't be looking at other women," he interrupted with a growl. "I know you weren't paying very close attention to our marriage ceremony, but I was required to give my oath on that. And even if I hadn't, I still wouldn't have gone roving. Why would I have another woman when I'm in love with my wife?"
Rianne stood blinking in confusion for a moment, wondering why he'd said that. He couldn't mean it, of course, not in a world where wishes never come true. And then she remembered he was grateful to her for having saved his life. He was a man of honor, and obviously intended to repay that debt in a proper way. He would spend the life she'd saved at her side, pretending to a love he didn't really feel.
"Thank you for telling me that, but now you'd better go," she said, looking away from him. "You don't want to still be on board when the captain sets sail. He - "
"You don't believe me," Machlin stated, refusing to loosen his grip and let her pull free. "For some reason you think I'm lying, but I refuse to accept that. You'll come home with me, and then we'll talk until - "
"No!" she interrupted in turn, trying harder to get loose. "I'm not going anywhere with you, and certainly not to talk. I'm staying right here on this ship, and you can't do anything about it. I've already paid for my passage, which means I'm under the captain's protection. If you try to force me to go with you, he'll have his men stop you."
"Where do you get these ideas?" Machlin asked with a snort. "Even those books you read can't be filled with such drivel. As your husband I can do anything I please with you, and even a dozen sea captains couldn't stop me. Especially while we're still in port. If you want to stay on board that badly, let's do it. But we're still going to talk."
With that he released her, but only to bend and reach for her legs. An instant later she was over his shoulder, and even squawking in panic and kicking her legs didn't free her. He ignored her pounding fists as he carried her forward and then down a ladder that led to passengers' accommodations. Her shouts for help brought nothing and no one, and then they were through a door and into a cabin. When he turned to close the door Rianne had a glimpse of a place three of four times bigger than her own tiny cabin, and then he turned again and resumed walking.
The kidnapping ended at a large bed, built into the deck but much grander than an ordinary bunk. He dumped her onto the bed like a sack of oats, then stood over her, ignoring her glare.
"I want your word that you won't try to leave here until we have everything straight between us," he said. "I can't tell you what I want to if I have to sit on you while I'm doing it."
"Do you think bringing me to the captain's cabin will make me believe what you said about him?" she demanded, immediately sitting up. "He can't possibly know what you've done, but once he finds out - "
"This isn't the captain's cabin," he interrupted in annoyance. "It's the owner's cabin, and even the captain won't enter here without my permission. Now - "
"Your permission!" Rianne echoed, suddenly seeing what he'd meant about finding her unfairly. "This ship is yours, and you brought it here to lure me out! You couldn't find me, so you set a trap!"
"Exactly," he agreed, folding his arms across his chest. "Your friend Cam told me where you three planned to go, so I gambled that you'd decide to continue on alone. Now give me your word about staying."
"Never!" she growled, hating him for telling her how easily he'd bought Cam's loyalty. "I'd rather be dead than stay in here with you, or anywhere else for that matter! And you have nothing to say that I care to listen to."
With that she jumped off the bed, and made a try for the door. By ducking under his quickly reaching arms she actually got past him, but he caught her before she could open the door. She screamed and kicked as he carried her back, finding it just as useless as ever, and this second time he didn't simply put her down. He unhooked her cloak and tossed it away, then pulled off her boots and clothes as he'd done once before. When she was bare he rolled her things in the discarded cloak, put the bundle behind him, then took off his own coat and vest. Rianne watched him warily, but that was as far as he went.
"Now I don't need your word about staying," he said, sitting down in a chair and loosening his cravat. "If you still want to leave, go right ahead."
"You - !" Rianne couldn't think of anything bad enough to call him, not even with a wealth of stable words. She wished desperately that she could just get up and walk out, but if anyone saw her she really would die. She sat up on the bed again with fists clenched tight, and simply glared her fury.
"That, by the way, leads me to an apology I owe you," he said, just as though they were in the middle of a normal conversation. "When I saw you in that silver costume I'd been stupid enough not to have properly fitted, I thought you were deliberately showing yourself off. To let me know what I'd soon be losing, you understand, and to attract every other man there. Jealousy does a great job of turning a man into a fool, and it took Jeff's telling me how you'd hated all that attention to bring me back down to earth. You wore that gown in spite of being terribly embarrassed, because you knew you had to be there that night. I apologize for thinking there was any other reason."
As angry as she was, Rianne still had to pause. What he'd just said wasn't entirely true, but how was she supposed to admit that she had wanted him to regret losing her? She couldn't, not without sounding like an idiot, so she didn't say anything at all.
"Now that I've apologized, let's get back to what I won't be apologizing for," he continued after a brief pause. "We can start from the beginning on that, all the way back to my plan against Harding. I happily let myself be talked into marrying his stepdaughter, because I had no intention of staying married to her. I would bring her to my house, install her in her rooms, then get the marriage annulled once I had the information I wanted. Annulments are possible, you see, if the bride remains in a chastely untouched condition."
"But then why did you - I mean, our wedding night - " Rianne couldn't quite get the specifics out, but it wasn't necessary.
"Do you mean why did I take you in my arms and make love to you?" he asked with a grin. "Because I couldn't help myself. The moment I saw you I knew I had to have you, and not just because you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. There is more to you than beauty, so much more that I lost the fight in the first exchange. I love you, Rianne, and I know now that you also love me."
"That isn't true," she whispered, quickly looking away. It couldn't be real, it couldn't, she must be in the middle of a dream. No one would ever love her enough to come after her, not unless there was something else involved. That had to be it, he wanted something else, but what else did she have to give?
"What isn't true?" he asked, suddenly sitting beside her. "That I love you, or that you love me? I happen to know you love me, and I can prove it. You said yourself you thought I had another woman, but instead of flying into a rage and
accusing me of compromising you, you tried to quietly step aside. You do that when you love someone, when you consider their happiness before your own. I should know. I thought you desperately wanted to be free of me, so I forced myself to step out of your way."
Rianne still couldn't took at him, but even more she couldn't make her mind think. There was too much confusion in the way, and the very beginning of an unexpected doubt.
"Which should prove what a fool I am," he went on, much too close for any sort of comfort. "What I should have done was tell you how I felt, but I was afraid the truth would drive you away sooner. I even mostly kept myself from buying every beautiful thing I saw and bringing it home to you. You'd said you didn't want anything from me and never mentioned what I did give you, so I gritted my teeth and just let it pass. Seeing that brace of pistols you bought for me showed me again what a fool I was. It wasn't gifts you'd refused, just meaningless gifts. If I'd brought something that showed my love for you … the way your gift did with me…"
His big hand was warm on her arm, making things even worse. Rianne closed her eyes as she shivered, part of her fighting desperately to keep from believing him. That part was horribly afraid to believe in anyone or anything, afraid of being terribly hurt yet again. Another part of her wanted a man who loved her, this man in particular, the man she loved. The two battled inside her, confusion keeping her from knowing which one she wanted to win.
"You must be cold like that," he said, reaching around her shoulders to draw her to him. "I'll keep you warm while we talk, and there won't be much more. Do you know the strongest proof I have that you love me?"
Rianne shook her head against his shirt, her cheek pressed to it while her eyes stayed closed. His arms were wrapped tightly around her, but he made no attempt to touch her naked body in an intimate way. Nevertheless she lay miserably stiff against him, not trusting herself to move or speak.
"My strongest proof is the way you tried to give your life to save mine," he said, and briefly touched his lips to her hair. "You believed I'd found a woman to displace you, but you were still willing to give up your life to save me. At first I was furious when I learned you'd done that deliberately, that you thought I'd want to live if you didn't. Now - now I know it was your love speaking, using the same words I would have used. My life sooner than yours, beloved, now and forever."
Tears formed in Rianne's closed eyes, but she did nothing to try to blink them away. That was exactly the way she'd felt. Maybe … maybe he did feel a little something of the same…
"And so, with all of that in mind, I can now tell you about my decision," he murmured, his lips touching her brow as well as her hair. "Rather than step out of your way, I'm going to hold you captive for the rest of your life."
It took a moment for his words to sink in, but really hearing them didn't also mean understanding them. Rianne raised her head from his chest, stared at him with all the confusion she felt, then said, "What are you talking about? You can't do that."
"Of course I can," he answered with a grin for whatever her expression was like. "And not only can, but absolutely must. It's come to me that you can't believe I love you, that you may never let yourself believe it. That means you might try to run away from me again, and I won't allow that. These last two weeks without seeing or speaking to you… I felt like the living dead, or maybe the merely existing dead. Whatever, it certainly didn't feel like living, and I refuse to go through that ever again. That's why you're going to be my captive."
"But I can't let you do that to me," she protested, still horribly confused. Again her desires were divided, and part of her actually thrilled to the idea. The other part stood with feet spread wide and fists on hips, furiously outraged that he would dare say such a thing. "I'm a free, independent woman, and you can't - "
"You're a married woman, married to me, which means I can," he interrupted with full assurance. Like magic, he produced her wedding ring from somewhere, and slipped it back on her finger. Rianne couldn't quite force herself to resist his doing that, not with the wordless ecstasy flooding through her. "Of course, there's a way you might make me change my mind," he drawled then, "but I doubt if you would be interested. Being such an independent woman and all…"
He let the words trail off, and suddenly Rianne understood what was happening. For the most part he was teasing her, but he was also perfectly serious about not letting her leave him. She suddenly loved him even more than she had, more deeply than she'd known was possible, and couldn't resist joining him in the teasing.
"You expect me to use my body to persuade you to free me?" she demanded, looking at him with fire and challenge. "Well, you're right, I am too independent, and I flatly refuse. You'll never find me touching your lips with mine, like this… Or stroking your face with my hands, like this… Or pressing up against you with my naked body, like this…"
And then his arms were bands of steel around her, holding her motionless while he took the kiss his eyes demanded. One fist was buried in her disarranged hair, and the other hand caressed her as if they'd been apart for years. At one time the furious strength of his desire would have frightened her, but now she gloried in it. She wanted him so desperately she would have killed to reach him, but killing wasn't necessary. He was right here, under her lips and hands, stretching them both out to lie together on the bed.
"Sir! Whatever do you intend doing to me?" she managed breathlessly when he abruptly ended the kiss. "You may think you have me at your mercy, but I assure you that that isn't so."
"I know it isn't," he agreed with a laugh, tearing his shirt off over his head. "Right now I have no mercy, so how could I possibly have you at it? But I do have something else to have you at which you might find of interest. Would you like to see it?"
"Is it a gift of love?" she asked in a whisper, looking up at him. She wanted to continue the banter she'd started, but that was impossible in the midst of a dream come true. His gray eyes, filled with all the desire in the world, softened, and he leaned down to kiss her most tenderly.
"It's not only a gift of love, but one that will never again be given to any woman but you," he vowed. "Once we've gone to visit my parents so I can introduce you to them, we'll leave on our wedding trip. Cam told me how much you want to see America, so that's where we're going. You are my love and my life, Rianne, and by the next century I hope to have proved that to you. Will you give me at least until then? If I haven't done it, then you can leave."
"Until the next century - Bryan," she agreed, tears of happiness trickling down her cheeks. He came to her then, bringing the ecstasy of his hard, thick presence, and her body greeted him as eagerly as his thrust was into her. Once again they shared total abandon, two halves of the same coin merged into one…
Bryan, lost in the love he had finally been able to free, couldn't think; all but pure feeling was beyond him. She loved him, as much as he loved her, and nothing in his future life would ever match the moment when he was finally certain of that. His wife, his woman, moaned and writhed beneath him, urging him on to greater and greater effort…
He crushed her to him and kissed her savagely, and her hands closed tight in his hair, refusing to let him stop. Her hips rose to meet him as his thrust down, the matching movements of two people who had become one. His perfect mate, Rianne, his lifelong dream in the flesh … and then, inconceivably, she made it even better.
"Bryan," she moaned, caressing his name as her hands caressed his body. "Bryan … Bryan … my Bryan…"
"Yes, yours," he panted in answer, reality slipping away to oblivion. "Forever yours…"
He was hers, and the flame of fury burned high only for him.
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