"It seems to matter to your brother," she reminded him.

"To hell with my brother."

"You don't mean that," she said. "You're angry with him because he has questioned your actions, but...he is part of your family. You don't really wish to be estranged from him."

"Of course not.But I also don't intend to let him tell me how to live my life."

"Somehow I think he'd have a difficult time of that," she said.

However Sebastian's family saw him, she had always known him as a man capable of making his own decisions, even if he was forced to make them quickly and under dangerous conditions.

He laughed again, the sound pleasant in the darkness. He drew once more on the cigarillo he held before he dropped it to grind it under his boot.

"That won't stop Dare from trying."

"Probably not," she agreed, smiling at him.

Somehow, in this very different setting, the same kind of ease she had felt aboard ship that night had stolen over her. Despite what Sebastian had suggested about the possibility of maintaining their marriage, she didn't feel under any pressure to make that decision.At least not under the same kind of pressure as when she had had to make it inFrance.

This had been an invitation. Or, and the thought was disconcerting, a proposal, perhaps. The word conjured up the kinds of romantic images that had not been part of their hurried marriage on the docks.

"You don't have to leave," she said, admitting to herself how reluctant she would be for that to happen.

"Not on my account."

"Nor do you. Not on mine. But if we are going to continue to reside together under one roof, then perhaps it might be wise if we bow to the dictates of society."

"Are you suggesting we should live as man and wife?"

"I'm suggesting that as far as I'm concerned, we are man and wife."

Her throat was impossibly tight. She swallowed against the force of the emotion that suggestion had evoked because there was one other question that had to be answered.

"I know you felt you had no other alternative--"

"You said that before," he said."At dinner. I meant to tell you then, but something Dare said distracted me."

"You meant to tell me what?"

"I can't remember looking very hard for another alternative. The one that presented itself seemed so perfect."

The one that presented itself...

"Are you saying that...you wanted to marry me?"

"I must have," he said, smiling at her. "I leapt at the chance, didn'tI. You're the one who had to be convinced."

"If you had told me how you felt, perhaps I might not have had to be convinced," she said, pushing the words past the knot in her throat.

Of all the things she might have expected him to say, this was the last. She had been living with the idea that he had been coerced to marry her both by her circumstances and his notions of honor. It was very difficult to accept that instead it was what he had really wanted.

"I'm not sure I knew how I felt. Not at the time. The situation had to be dealt with immediately. There wasn't time to consider anything other than staying one step ahead of your guardian. But...I know now that if I had had the luxury of considering what I felt, I wouldn't have done anything any differently."

Nor would she, she realized. She had trusted him from the beginning. Considering her experience with the results of her father's misplaced trust inJulian , that initself had been remarkable.

"I'm not asking you to decide tonight," he said.

"It may be that the thought of being at the beck and call of some old lady is a more enticing prospect than really being my wife. Only you can make that decision. And if the other is what you want, I won't stand in your way. Despite Dare's antics, he'll help you to find a position if you are determined to do so.

Be warned, however, I will never allow you to go back toSpain ."

She could see no reason not to reassure him about that, at least. Her thinking was unlikely to change, no matter what happened between the two of them.

"I didn't realize until I was away from it what a terrible prison of guiltJulian had created for me."

His facechanged, the angles and planes hardening before her eyes. Of course, she knew how he felt about her guardian.

"Don't think about it," he advised."Or about him. That's over. The only thing you must think about now is with what you wish to replace that prison."

"Marriage or...singing for my supper," she said, smiling.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Something your brother suggested."

"Dare?That arrogant bastard."

"A family failing?"

His laughter was relaxed and unstrained."Perhaps. Ian, however, really is the best of brothers.Steady and kind and incredibly generous of heart."

As was his wife. And once again that sense of longing for the embrace of family was so strong as to be a compelling argument by itself for accepting what he had just offered.

Sebastian, however, deserved more than that.

More than someone who had agreed to be his wife in order to be safe or to acquire a family.

"I feel I must warn you about something else."

Her eyes, questioning, came up to meet his. "Warn me about what?"

"If I'm lucky enough that you decide you prefer this marriage to a nursery full of children not your own or to the incessant demands of some old woman, then..."

For the first time, he seemed to be having difficulty saying what he was thinking. She didn't prod him, letting the silence expand. The tension built as it did.

"I should probably clarify that I'm not offering you a marriage of convenience," he said. "I don't care about settlements or titles or whatever you may believe you lack. I care very much about the rest."

"The rest?" she repeated, knowing full well what he meant.

Still, after thinking he had married her only because he had no choice, she had very much needed to hear him say those words.

"You," he said softly.

You.She had nothing else to offer him, but this she could give with a free and open heart. A heart which had, she acknowledged, belonged to him for a very long time. Long before she had known it did.

Perhaps even from that first day when she had stolen his sword and pressed it against his throat.

Her eyes fell to the strong brown column of his neck. She wondered if that tiny scar, along with those Julian had so cruelly cut into his face and his chest, would still be visible.

If she agreed to what he was offering, the lean, muscled body she had glimpsed that day would lie beside her every night for the rest of her life. There would be no unanswered questions between them.

Nothing about either of them would remain secret or hidden.

"Does that frighten you?" he asked. Again it was almost as if he had read her mind.

"No," she whispered.

It didn't. She had been horrified at the thought ofJulian touching her. Thank God, he never had. This, however...

Only when his thumb brushed along her cheekbone did she look up. He smiled at her, the fingers of that same hand drifting lightly down the side of her throat.

He waited, as if giving her an opportunity to deny his right to touch her. When she didn't, he moved his hand to the back of her neck to draw her to him. As his head began to lower, his lips parting, hers opened to him as naturally as if she had kissed him a thousand times.

And when his mouth closed over hers, the sensation was exactly that. As if this were right.Long desired.And too long delayed.

It wasn't until his lips made contact--the feel of them against hers warm and sensual--that she knew this was what she had longed for since the last time he had kissed her.That night in the king's garden.

Then, remembering the sensation of his body pressed along the entire length of hers, she took the half step that would bring them back into that same physical contact. His arms closed around her, pulling her into an embrace that was hungry enough to rout any doubts that might have remained in her heart.

She had known the first time he'd held her that he was far more experienced than she. Now his mouth ravaged with an expertise that left her breathless, aching for something more. He kissed her a long time, his hands moving against her back and hips, urging her body closer and closer to his.

Her father had raised the magnificent Spanish Barbs like the oneJulian had ridden that day down the slope to the river. Because she was her father's heir, he had made sure that the process involved in breeding those beautiful animals had been familiar to her since childhood.

She had known that night in the garden what was happening to Sebastian's body. And she had been made uneasy by the sheer power of his arousal. Tonight the effect that being close to her had on him was anything but frightening.

From the moment she had seen him beside the river, his body naked except for the clinging knit drawers, she had been aware of him as blatantly, undeniably male. That awareness had only increased in the days they had spent together.

Tonight the barricades between them had been breached. He was her husband. And she was his wife.

Despite the unconventional ceremony that had joined them, they had both acknowledged the reality of that relationship.

His lips eventually found her throat, tracing downward until they encountered the low neckline of her gown. The feel of his mouth, moist and hot and worshipping, as it moved over her skin set off a shivering reaction.

A wave of heat built until it invaded the very core of her body, centering low and deep within it.Sweetly aching.

When his callused fingers pushed aside the fabric, allowing his lips access to the rounded curve of her breast, she gasped. Her fingers dug into his back, gripping the material of his jacket as if she were afraid to let go.

She almost was. She no longer felt connected to the earth. She was grounded only by the feel of his hands and his mouth moving possessively against her body.

As soon as he heard that reaction, however, Sebastian lifted his head. She felt the slow breath he released, sighing out over the moisture his lips had left on her skin. She shivered again, uncontrollably, and his hand soothed across her back, holding her gently against his chest.

"There's nothing to be afraid of," he whispered, his mouth moving now against the thin, fragile skin of her temple. The words were as soft as the breath he had taken.

"I'm not afraid," she said. "Not of you. Not of this."

He held her a moment more. And then, putting his hands on her shoulders, he set her away from him so that he could look down into her face. In his eyes were promise and hunger. And she wanted them both.

"I didn't intend for that to happen," he said.

"What did you intend?"

"Only to kiss you.And to convince you to think about what I suggested."

"That's what you did."

He smiled at her before he nodded.

"I had no idea you'd respond that way. I should have, I suppose. You have always managed to surprise me."

"What if I have already thought about your suggestion?"

He hesitated, drawing another deep breath. Somehow, without seeming to move away from her, he had increased the distance between their bodies minutely.

"Tomorrow," he said.

"Tomorrow?"

"I want you to be very sure. You know the problems we'll have to face. It may be that this marriage will never be sanctioned by the church. Only you can decide how much that will matter in the years to come."

"Sebastian--"

"That isn't a decision that should be made in the moonlight.Or after a kiss.Certainly not after that one.

Nor should it be made as the result of a justifiable anger over the interference of my family. This is something that must be carefully thought through, because I warn you, my darling, once you're mine, I'll never give you up. Not for any reason. You must make no mistake about that."

There was nothing he could have said that would have made her more certain of her decision. Or more convinced it was the right one.

However, morning would be time enough to tell him that. They would both be more in control of their emotions. And, she decided, better prepared to deal with his brother's machinations.

"Sebastian?"

Speak of the devil, she thought.

At the sound of the earl's call, they both turned, almost guiltily, peering through the darkness toward the town house. A dark figure stood on the balcony, silhouetted against its lights. Too reminiscent ofJulian's appearance at the palace that night, she decided, shivering again for a very different reason.

"Dare," Sebastian whispered, taking her arm and pulling her into the deeper shadows. "I can imagine what he'll have to say if he finds us together."

"He'll know you're here," she warned. "I could smell the smoke. Go to him before he comes to look for you."