aUseless blue-blooded nun,a Wolfe said through gritted teeth. aTake another breath.a aI didnat mean to do this,a Jessica said, stung by the tone of Wolfeas voice. aBetween the clothes and the kitchen floor, Ia"a The words ended in sputtering sounds as Wolfe lowered Jessicaas head into the water. Moments later, he hauled her into an upright position once more. With swift, efficient movements, he lifted her long hair and squeezed water from it.

aWhere is your towel?a he asked.

There was silence followed by a sigh as she admitted, aI was so eager to get into the water I forgot about getting out again.a aHold your hair out of the water while I geta"d.a.m.n, you canat lift your arms.a Wolfe draped Jessicaas hair over the edge of the tub and down onto the bricks.

aDonat move. If you slipped under the water, youad probably drown. Iall be right back.a Moments later, Wolfe came back into the room carrying linen towels and a soft cotton flannel blanket. He dried Jessicaas hair as best he could, wrapped it in the length of linen, and tucked everything on top of her head in a neat turban.

aHow are your arms doing?a aFine, as long as I donat try to move them.a Wolfe turned aside, picked up the sponge, and began soaping it. He washed her back, shoulders, and arms, rinsed her, and began soaping the sponge once more.

aDonat panic, little nun.a aWhat?a The breath stopped in Jessicaas throat as she felt the sponge gliding over her collar bones, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her ribs, her belly.

aLift one leg,a he said as he soaped the sponge once more.

aWolfe,a she said faintly.

aJust brace your foot against the lip of the tub the way I did. Donat worry. I wonat let you drown.a Slowly, Jessica lifted her right leg. As though it was something he did every day, Wolfe washed the delicate, high-arched foot, slender ankle, and calf. She watched him with a sense of stunned disbelief as the sponge slid beneath the water and on up the length of her leg.

aNow the other.a Dazed, Jessica obeyed, lowering one leg and raising the other. The sponge began moving over her once more. When it went from foot to calf to thigh, she shivered. But the sponge didnat stop there. It swept over the triangle of hair and then down to the soft flesh below. An odd sound squeezed from Jessicaas throat. Instantly, the sponge stopped moving, remaining tucked between her thighs.

aIs something wrong?a Wolfe asked blandly, looking up.

Jessica made another small sound.

aYes?a he asked.

She blushed brightly enough to put dawn to shame. aWolfe, please.a aPlease what?a Putting her hands against his wrist, she tugged, but her arms didnat exert any force. His hand stayed where it was.

aDo you want me to move my hand?a he asked.

aYes,a she said, shivering.

aThen unclamp your legs.a Belatedly, Jessica realized that she had pressed her thighs together in an instinctive effort to shield herself from Wolfeas touch. The sponge, and his fingers, were caught between her legs.

aS-sorry,a she whispered.

Wolfe wasnat. He had loved being pressed into the secret, silky warmth of her.

Hurriedly, she shifted, releasing him. The slow withdrawal of the sponge and the hint of a sleek, intimate caress made her feel faint. She flushed from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to her forehead.

aThereas no need to be embarra.s.sed,a Wolfe said in a matter-of-fact tone. aEven if a husband and wife never share a bed, a certain amount of intimacy is inevitable between them.a Jessica swallowed and watched with huge eyes as Wolfe stood and shook out the soft cotton flannel blanket.

aCan you stand up?a Her eyes became even bigger. aNo.a aThen Iall help.a aBut Iam not wearing anything!a she said frantically.

Wolfe sighed and said in a very patient tone, aI know. Itas the usual practice to be naked when in the bath. Can you stand or do you need help?a aButa"a aJessica,a he interrupted, aquit dithering and get out of the bath before you take a chill.a aClose your eyes.a aThis is foolish,a he muttered, but he closed his eyes.

Despite her largely useless arms, Jessica thrashed around until she managed to get to her knees. She was almost to her feet when she slipped.

aWolfe!a He caught her, lifted her out of the tub, and stood her on the bricks. With as much disinterest as he could manage, he began drying her briskly.

aClose your eyes!a she wailed.

aI canat see what Iam doing with my eyes closed. Why donat you close yours, instead?a Jessica blinked. aWhat good would that do?a aJust a thought.a Wolfe stifled a smile and closed his eyes. Almost immediately his hands slipped, fumbled, and ended up sliding over her hip without the towel between.

aThis isnat working,a she said breathlessly.

He thought it was working quite well, but said only, aDo you have a better idea?a aHold out the blanket tightly and Iall dry myself on it.a Within seconds, Wolfe knew it was a bad ideaaand a good one. The feel of Jessicaas small, utterly female body rubbing against the cotton in his hands inflamed him as much as bathing her had. When the blanket slipped and he felt the unmistakable texture of a nipple dragging against his palm, he had to fight to draw air into his lungs.

aThere, that should do it,a Jessica said finally.

Wolfe didnat know whether to be glad or sad that the lovely torment was ending. He turned his back and went to the bed. A sweeping motion of his arm opened the fur cover so that it lay flat over the bed.

aCome here and lie down,a he said, carefully not looking at the naked, intensely female nun who stood trembling next to the tub. aIall see if I can rub the knots out of your arms and back.a Uncertainly, Jessica looked at the tall man who stood by the bed. Naked but for the strip of white linen he wore wrapped carelessly around his loins, caressed by light and brushed by shadows, Wolfeas body was both beautiful and rather frightening in its obvious strength.

aYour ladyship, if I had intended to attack you like Lord Gore, it would have happened ten times over by now.a The cold anger in Wolfeas voice made Jessica flinch.

aYes,a she said faintly. aI know. Itas justanew to me.a aItas new to me, too.a Jessica gave him a startled look. aIt is?a aIave never bathed a woman before. But then, you arenat a woman. Youare a nun.a Without a word, Jessica went to the bed and lay face down. The silkiness of the fur against her nude body made her gasp.

aNow what?a Wolfe asked impatiently as he threw the cotton blanket over her.

Jessica shivered. aIt feels strange to have nothing against my skin but fur.a aYouall warm to it.a She let out her breath and shifted experimentally. The fur warmed and stroked her in return. A shivering little sigh went through her.

aYouare right. The fur feels quiteaextraordinary.a Without realizing it, she moved again, stroking her body against the luxurious coverlet. The sensuality implicit in the movement went into Wolfe like a knife. It occurred to him that Lady Victoria had a point worth considering: Teach the little nun not to fear a manas touch.

Wolfe had been trying to ignore the pa.s.sion in Jessica. At that moment, he decided it would be more intelligent of him to awaken that pa.s.sion. Then the thought of a manas bed and body wouldnat be so horrifying to her. Then she would agree to end this sham marriage and find a union more suitable to her station.

Then Wolfe could find a marriage and a woman more suitable to his own desiresa"a strong, resilient mate who could match his pa.s.sion, work by his side in the wild land, and give him children. Next to those vital things, an amusing elf was simply that.

An amus.e.m.e.nt.

And if the thought of another man taking Jessicaas untouched body made Wolfe angry at some primitive level of his being, that was too bad. Life had taught him that the hunger he felt for a female was temporary; a true marriage was not.

Until death do us part.

aFirst, I think some brandy is in order for you,a Wolfe said thoughtfully.

aBrandy?a aUmm.a His rumbling sound of agreement made Jessica smile. aThank you, but I donat really enjoy spirits.a aThink of it as medicine.a aMedicine?a aYes. Iall bring a bit extra for the parrot, too.a aParrot? Oh, that parrot. Indeed, it must be on the loose in here.a She laughed softly and rubbed her cheek against the fur, forgetting for a moment the aches and alarming weakness of her arms. aThis fur has the most heavenly texture.a Wolfe stood for an instant, transfixed by the sight of Jessica smoothing her skin against the fur as though it were a loveras body. Abruptly, he turned and walked out of the room. When he came back, he carried a small snifter of brandy in his hand.

aSit up, Jessie.a She rolled onto her side, but when it came time for her arms to push her body upright, they werenat equal to the task.

aI donat think I can,a she admitted.

Wolfe set the snifter aside and helped Jessica sit up. The cotton blanket started to slide to her waist. She made a startled sound and grabbed. Her reflexes were very slow, for her arms simply didnat want to move. The blanket fell below her b.r.e.a.s.t.s before she caught it.

Closing his eyes, Wolfe told himself that he was a fool to react as though he had never seen a woman naked to the waist before. Yet the image of Jessicaas creamy curves and rosy nipples burned behind his eyelids, making his heartbeat deepen and increase as though he had been running uphill.

With a stifled curse, he opened his eyes, jerked the blanket up over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and pressed the snifteras rim against her soft lower lip.

aDrink.a Wolfeas voice was thick with desire, but there was no mistaking the command in it. Grimacing, Jessica opened her mouth, drank, and swallowed. An instant later, she was gasping for air and coughing. Calmly, Wolfe poured water from a carafe on the bedside table and offered the gla.s.s to her. She drank quickly. Even so, the brandy left a fiery trail from her tongue to her stomach.

aBetter?a Jessica nodded, because she couldnat speak.

aLie down on your stomach again.a Casually Wolfe took the blanket off Jessica, shook it out, and let it flutter down over the tempting curves of her bottom and the shadow cleft between.

aWhere is your rose oil?a Wolfe asked.

aIn the crystal bottle on your dresser.a aThere are nine such bottles.a aThe one with the stopper thatas the color of my cheeks,a she muttered into the fur.

aAh, that one.a Wolfe looked at the fiery color of Jessicaas face. aBlushing again, elf?a She turned her head and slanted him a narrow look. Against the intense color of her face, her eyes looked like gems.

aYouare enjoying this,a she accused.

Wolfe turned away before Jessica could see him smile. He retrieved the proper bottle from the dresser.

aBe careful,a she said. aItas fragile.a aDonat worry. Iam not clumsy with small things.a She laughed softly and confessed into the fur, aI know. Youare the only man Iave ever seen who can take a handful of roses from a bush and never know the bite of thorns.a Smiling, Wolfe coaxed the fragile stopper free and poured a small amount of oil in his palm. When he sat next to Jessica on the bed, she made a startled sound. She made another sound when he began rubbing his hands up and down her body.

As he had suspected, Jessicaas back was as knotted as her arms. Warmed by his hands and the friction of skin against skin, the rose oil gave its fragrance to the silent room. When his hands kneaded up her back from waist to nape, Jessica made a low sound.

aToo hard?a Wolfe asked.

aTooawonderful.a Jessica sighed. aAh, that feels like heaven.a He smiled and continued working the stiffness out of her back. Each time he worked down her spine, he took in more of her sides, coming closer and closer to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Each time he approached her waist, he eased a bit lower. The soft flannel retreated to the small of her back, then to the beginning of the velvet cleft of her bottom. The temptation to run his finger over the intriguing shadow was great, but Wolfe resisted it. He knew Jessica would panic.

aTell me where itas sore.a Wolfe moved his hands to Jessicaas shoulders. aHere?a She nodded her head without opening her eyes. When she felt the pressure of his strong fingers kneading out the clenched tension of the muscles, she groaned.

aPleasure or pain?a Wolfe asked in a low voice. Jessica nodded her head.

aWhich one?a aYes,a she sighed, uncurling her hands along her sides.

He laughed softly, poured more oil onto his palm, and resumed rubbing.

aWhat about here?a he asked.

The gentle glide of his hands across Jessicaas upper arms felt wonderful. She groaned and relaxed even more beneath his touch. As he worked on the knotted muscles of her left arm from shoulder to fingertips, his hands kept brushing between her arm and her body. The first few times it happened, she tightened and tried to move away. Then she forgot to be self-conscious about his touch, for it simply felt too good to object when the back of his fingers brushed the sides of her breast, her ribs, the inward curve of her waist, and the smooth swell of her hip.

The third time Wolfeas hand traced Jessicaas body without her withdrawing, he smiled and switched his attention to her other arm. In order to reach it, he straddled her thighs. As he worked down her right arm, he slowly dragged the blanket lower and lower until the full curves of her b.u.t.tocks were revealed. The breath in his throat caught as he looked at the creamy, fine-grained skin and feminine promise that lay so close at hand.

aWhat about here?a he asked, tracing the long muscles that ran along either side of Jessicaas spine. aStiff?a aYes,a she sighed.

Wolfe tested, agreed, and bit back a comment about his own stiffness. The loin cloth he had wrapped around himself could not contain the change that pa.s.sion had wrought on his body. The sight of Jessicaas graceful hips rising from the rumpled blanket was a sweet torment. The thought of opening her legs and easing into her soft body with the fur all silky around her made him groan.

aWolfe?a For a moment he didnat answer. Then the talons of need eased and he could breathe once more.

aWhat?a he asked.

Jessica shivered with pleasure as Wolfeas hands kneaded down her back to her waist, lingered, then eased upward again with a combination of gentleness and strength that was magic on her aching body.

aThat feels so good.a She sighed and unconsciously arched against his touch. aIt makes me dizzy.a aMust be the brandy.a aI donat think so, my lord. I think itas your hands. I didnat know anything could feel so wonderful.a aAre you sure? A moment ago you couldnat tell the difference between pleasure and pain.a aIam sure.a The sound Jessica made was more like a soft moan than a sigh. aItas like fire without pain, a pleasure that goes to the center of my bones.a Wolfeas breath caught before it came out in a soundless rush of air, for what she was describing was the essence of true pa.s.sion.

aYes,a he whispered. aItas like that, fire without pain.a For long minutes, there was no sound in the room but the subtle whisper of flame and the glide of Wolfeas palms over Jessicaas rose-scented skin. When his hands continued past her waist to her hips, she didnat notice for a few moments. Then her body stiffened.

aWolfe?a aYou have sore muscles here, too,a he said matter-of-factly.

aYes, buta"a aHush, Jessi,a Wolfe interrupted firmly. aPretend Iam still working on your shoulders.a aBut you arenat!a aThatas where the pretending comes in.a For a time there was a silence that was like the flesh Wolfe was kneadinga"silky, taut, quivering with possibilities.

aYouare not pretending.a aHow do you know?a Jessica retorted.

aThe parrot told me.a She giggled, then giggled some more, imagining a parrot darting brightly about the room telling secrets.

aIam muzzled,a she said after a moment.

aOn that little bit of brandy? I doubt it.a aIam a little bit myself, remember? Youave said so often enough.a Not everywhere, Wolfe thought silently, sinking his fingers into Jessicaas resilient flesh. There are parts of my self that are quite lush.

Jessicaas breath broke on a ragged sigh.

aSorry. I didnat mean to be rough,a Wolfe said, smoothing his palm over the tender curve of her bottom. aPerhaps more oilaa aYou werenat rough,a Jessica said lazily.

aThen why did you make that small sound?a aI didnat.a She smiled. aThe parrot did. Itas muzzled, too.a aA drunken parrot. The mind reels.a aMore like the stomach.a aOn a sip of brandy? Impossible.a aThen it must be the b.u.t.terflies.a aWhat b.u.t.terflies?a aThe ones in my stomach. Every time you touch me a certain way, they whirl around like leaves on the wind.a Jessica giggled again, then gasped softly when Wolfeas thumbs drew deeply beneath the curves of her b.u.t.tocks, skimming the place where her thighswere pressed together.

aLike that?a he asked, his voice husky.

aY-yes.a aThen Iall do this, instead.a Jessicaas breath unraveled in broken sounds as Wolfeas lean, strong fingers kneaded down the back of her thighs to her knees. A curious, boneless feeling stole over her, a combination of brandy and the shimmering warmth of Wolfeas hands smoothing oil and pleasure into her skin. Without realizing it, she groaned softly and relaxed the tension that had kept her legs pressed together.

Wolfe took one look at the dark mahogany shadow her relaxation had revealed and locked his jaw against a sound of pa.s.sionate need. Very quickly he looked away, concentrating on the slender legs that lay beneath his hands. But here, too, Jessicaas femininity was obvious in each satin curve of thigh and calf, in the unblemished silk of skin never before seen by any man, and in the shivering response that rippled through her when he caressed the sensitive crease behind each knee.

aRoll over, little one.a Bemused by unexpected la.s.situde, Jessica responded to the gentle command. She didnat stop to think of her nudity until she felt the caress of fur from her nape to her ankles. Her eyes opened slowly, then closed once more when Wolfe dropped the soft flannel blanket over her, covering her from b.r.e.a.s.t.s to mid-thigh. She sighed and snuggled more deeply into the fur with slow movements of her hips.

Wolfe looked away with a soundless curse at his own foolishness in offering himself such a temptation. But his dark glance came back again, drawn inevitably by the small movements of Jessicaas hips, the swell of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and the telltale rigidity of her nipples.

aWarm enough?a he asked in a husky voice.

Jessica nodded slowly.

aHow do you feel?a aLike a mittenabeing unraveled.a Wolfeas smile was as hot as the blood surging through his veins, but Jessica didnat notice. She was adrift on a soft fur raft while strong hands kneaded her neck and shoulders, her arms and fingertips. As Wolfe soothed every knot from her aching arms, she made tiny, low sounds. Each sound was a knife sliding over the leash of his self-control, fraying it, until finally his hands slid down to her wrist and his fingers interlocked deeply with her own.

aSore?a he asked, squeezing her hand gently.

The ragged sound Jessica made was pleasure, not pain. Her lashes stirred lazily, revealing a flash of aquamarine eyes. When he flexed his hand again, her fingers spread and laced tightly with his until their hands could not be more deeply joined.

aThat feels good,a she said in a husky voice.

aThis?a Wolfeas hand flexed again, caressing the sensitive skin between Jessicaas fingers and sliding down until he could go no farther. He pressed palm against palm and squeezed deeply.

Sighing, Jessica nodded. aYes, that.a She smiled. aThe b.u.t.terflies like it, too.a Wolfe continued the seduction of Jessicaas hand until she moved with him, spreading her fingers wide in silent invitation, sighing as he caressed from tip to base until her fingers closed, trapping his hand against her.

With a final squeeze, Wolfe dragged his fingers free of hers, ignoring Jessicaas small murmur of protest.

aWolfe? Youare not stopping, are you?a aNo,a he said as he poured more oil into his palm. aIam just going to work on your legs some more. Let your arms relax or theyall knot up again. Youare weak as a day-old kitten.a aI know.a Jessicaas sigh was so deep it was almost a moan. aBut it was worth it.a aWhat was?a aAll the scrubbing. Without it, Iad never have discovered what pleasure your hands could give me.a Wolfeas eyes narrowed against a violent surge of desire. He began rubbing the length of Jessicaas legs, beginning at the ankles and working slowly upward. When he reached mid-thigh, she stretched without moving her arms from her sides, arching her back and her feet, curling her toes. Her response was a knife in his loins, demanding that he take what she was so innocently offering.

aJessi,a Wolfe whispered.