Thank G.o.d the sheets looked reasonably clean, Gideon thought, greatly relieved. Such was not always the case in inns. He could not endure the notion of taking his sweet Harriet on a lice-infested bed. It was bad enough that he had taken her on the stone floor of a cave the first time. Harriet deserved the best.

Not that Harriet appeared to care, he thought. She was gazing up at him with dreamy eyes, her lips slightly parted. He could just see the cute little overlapping teeth when she smiled. She did not seem to mind that her rosy nipples were visible through the fine lawn of her chemise.

Gideon realized he felt good when he was with Harriet. She had a way of making him feel heroic and n.o.ble and proud. Her faith in him was obvious. For the first time he understood that what he had found in Harriet made up for all that he had lost in the eyes of his father and of Society six long years ago.

Harriet believed in him. It was enough.

"You are so lovely," Gideon whispered. He caught her by the waist and lifted her high against his chest. He kissed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, using his tongue to dampen the delicate fabric of the chemise until it was transparent.

Harriet's fingers clutched at him and her head tipped back. She moaned softly as he took one tight little nipple into his mouth and bit gently.

"Oh, Gideon."

"Do you like that, little one?"

"Oh, yes. Yes, I like it very much." Her fingers splayed across his shoulders. She shivered when he took her other nipple between his teeth.

Gideon lowered her slowly down until she was standing once more in front of him, her arms circling his neck.

He grabbed two fistfuls of the chemise and pulled it off over her head. Then he knelt to untie her garters and slip off her stockings. He could feel her quivering at his intimate touch.

He rose and gazed hungrily down at her sweetly curved body. The contours of her full b.u.t.tocks and graceful spine were bathed in the firelight. Carefully he speared his fingers through the triangle of dark, curling hair at the apex of her thighs. He felt the tremor that went through her.

Gideon slid his thigh between her legs, opening her. He kissed her as his fingers dipped lower, moving through the tight curls until they found the soft flower that shielded her secrets. He stroked slowly, easing apart the petals.

Harriet murmured his name in an urgent little voice and pushed aside his unfastened shirt. She kissed his chest. Her mouth felt like a b.u.t.terfly against his taut skin. Her fingertips glided over his shoulders, edging his shirt out of the way so that she could drop more of the soft little kisses on his fire-warmed flesh.

She handled him as carefully as she did her rare fossils, he thought, half amused and totally enthralled by the experience. He had never had a woman who touched him as if he were a rare and fragile treasure.

"Harriet, I vow you do not know what you do to me."

"I love to touch you." Her eyes were full of wonder as she raised her head to look up at him. "You are incredible. So strong and powerful and graceful."

"Graceful?" He gave a choked laugh. "That is the first time anyone has ever called me graceful."

"You are, you know. You move like a lion. It is quite lovely to watch."

"Ah, Harriet. You do, indeed, suffer from poor eyesight, but who am I to complain?" His mouth closed over hers once more. When he eased his hand away from her, his fingers were damp with her essence and the scent of her arousal filled his head. His swollen manhood throbbed.

Gideon picked Harriet up and put her down on the bed. She lay there watching him as he finished undressing. He turned away for a moment to toss his breeches and shirt over the chair. When he turned back, he saw that she was staring in fascination at his heavily aroused body.

"Touch me." He lowered himself down beside her on the bed. "I want to feel your hands on me, my sweet. You have such soft, gentle hands."

She did as he asked, her fingers moving tentatively on him at first and then with increasing confidence. She explored the contours of his chest and then her palm slid down to his thigh. There she paused.

"Do you want to touch me there?" He was barely able to get the words out in a coherent fashion. Desire was raging through him, choking him, filling him, burning him.

"I would like to touch you the way you touch me." Her eyes were luminous. "You are so beautiful, Gideon."

"Beautiful." He groaned. "Hardly that, my sweet."

"Your male beauty is the beauty of power and strength," Harriet whispered.

"I know nothing of this male beauty you speak of," he muttered. "But I would very much like for you to touch the part of me that will soon be inside you."

He felt her fingers glide softly along the length of his fiercely aroused shaft. They danced lightly, delicately over him, learning the shape and feel of him. It was very nearly too much. Gideon closed his eyes and summoned all he possessed of self-control. "Enough, little one." He caught her hand and regretfully eased it aside. "This night is for you."

He pushed her down onto her back and wedged his leg between her soft, sleek thighs. Then he reached down to stroke her carefully, searching out the small, sensitive bud of feminine desire.

When he found it she gasped. Her body arched against him.

"Gideon, please. Oh, yes. Please."

He raised his head to watch her face as he continued to stroke her with his finger. She was so beautiful in her pa.s.sion, he thought. The sight of her writhing in his arms filled him with awe.

He took his time, holding himself in check, while he slowly and surely stoked the fires within her. She was so responsive. He could not believe his good fortune. She wanted him.

She thought him beautiful.

Gideon kissed her throat and then her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Harriet clung to him, trying to bring him closer. She did not understand when he trailed a string of hot kisses over her stomach. She twisted her fingers in his hair and tried to pull him up along the length of her.

But Gideon was intent on his goal. He resisted the sweet temptation to plunge himself into her then and there. Instead he pushed her legs more widely apart and replaced his wet finger with his mouth.

Harriet screamed softly. Her whole body tightened and arched violently.

"Gideon. What have you done to me?" she wailed.

And then she started to shiver. Gideon knew her climax was upon her. He waited no longer. He thrust slowly and deeply into her just as the tiny convulsions shook her. Her soft, damp sheath resisted the invasion of his body for an instant and then closed tightly around him, enveloping him.

Entering her at that moment was one of the most glorious things Gideon had ever experienced. She was just as tight, just as hot, just as soft tonight as she had been that first time in the cavern, but he had the satisfaction of knowing she had already been swept up into her own release. If he was causing her any discomfort this time, she did not appear to be aware of it.

"Harriet. Oh, G.o.d, Harriet. Yes." He barely managed to swallow a m.u.f.fled shout of triumph. Her fingers clenched fiercely in his hair and her knees lifted so that she could open herself even farther for him.

Gideon was lost in her fire once more and the feeling was beyond anything he could have described. She was his. He was a part of her. Nothing else on earth mattered. Not even his lost honor.

The fire on the hearth had burned down to orange embers when Gideon finally roused himself from a light, drifting sleep. He felt Harriet's foot slide down along his leg and he realized what had awakened him.

"I thought you would be asleep by now," he grumbled, gathering her close against him.

"I have been thinking about what happened this evening," Harriet murmured.

He grinned, feeling lighthearted for the first time in years. "Ah, Miss Pomeroy. Who would have guessed you have such a lascivious mind? What wicked thoughts were you having? Describe them to me in detail."

She poked him in the ribs. "I am talking about what happened when you stopped Lady Youngstreet's coach."

Gideon's smile faded. "What about it?"

"Gideon, I want you to promise me that you will not challenge Applegate to a duel."

"Do not concern yourself with the matter, Harriet." He kissed a warm, soft breast.

She pushed herself up on her elbow and leaned over him. Her expression was very intent. "I am very serious about this, my lord. I will have your word on it."

"It is none of your affair." He smiled as he put his hand on her sweetly curved belly. He imagined his seed planted in her, growing even now, perhaps. The image was making him hard again.

"It is my affair," Harriet insisted. "I will not allow you to challenge poor Applegate simply because he and the others made off with me today."

"For G.o.d's sake, Harriet. They kidnapped you."

"Rubbish. There was no ransom demand."

Gideon scowled. "That is beside the point. Applegate tried to carry you off and I will deal with him. That is all there is to it."

"No. That is not all there is to it. You are not to shoot him, Gideon, do you hear me?"

Gideon was getting impatient. His shaft was already taut with renewed desire. "I will not kill him, if that is what you are worrying about I have no wish to be obliged to leave the country."

"Leave the country," she echoed, looking horrified. "Is that what will happen if you kill someone in a duel?"

"Unfortunately the authorities, while prepared to turn a blind eye to some aspects of dueling, will not overlook a little matter of killing one's opponent." Gideon grimaced. "No matter how much he deserves it."

Harriet sat straight up in bed. "That is the outside of enough. I will not tolerate you taking any such risks."

He put his hand on her leg. "You do not want me to be obliged to leave the country?"

"Of course not," she muttered.

"Harriet, you are overreacting to this. I have given you my word that I will not kill Applegate. But you must understand that I cannot allow his actions today to stand unchallenged. If gossip gets around that I let one man get away with such d.a.m.nable games, it is highly probable that someone else may try something similar. Or worse."

"Nonsense. I am hardly likely to get into another coach with some strange man." Harriet slid out of bed and reached for her chemise.

"It may not be a strange man who encourages you into the next waiting coach," Gideon said quietly. He watched her. "It may be someone you know. Someone you trust."

"Impossible. I shall be on my guard." Harriet started to pace up and down in front of the dying fire. The glow from the embers shone through the thin fabric of the chemise, revealing the curves of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and thighs. "Gideon, please promise me you will not fight Applegate."

"You go too far when you ask me to refrain. Say no more about the matter."

She glowered at him, still pacing furiously. "You cannot expect me to simply stop talking about it."

"Why not?" he asked mildly, his gaze on the enticing curve of her b.u.t.tocks. He did not think he would ever get his fill of this woman.

"I am very serious about this, my lord," she declared. "I will not tolerate any dueling on my account. I mean every word In any event, it is totally unnecessary. Nothing happened and Lord Applegate meant no real harm. In his own way he and the others were trying to protect me."

"d.a.m.n it, Harrieta""

"Furthermore, he has devoted himself to the study of geology and fossils. I will wager he knows absolutely nothing about dueling."

"That is not my problem," Gideon said.

"It will serve no purpose to shoot him."

"I have already explained that it will serve a purpose."

She rounded on him like a small tigress. "Gideon, you must promise me now, tonight, that you will not go through with this challenge."

"I will give you no such promise, my sweet. Now come back to bed and stop fretting over something that does not concern you."

She went to the foot of the bed and folded her arms beneath her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She stood there, very straight and very determined.

"If you do not give me your word of honor on the matter, sir," Harriet said, "I will not consent to marry you on the morrow."

Gideon responded almost as if he had been thrown from a horse or kicked in the stomach. He could not breathe for an instant. "Applegate means that much to you, then?" he demanded harshly.

"Applegate means nothing to me," she raged "It is you who are important to me. Do you not understand, you stubborn, obstinate, arrogant man? I will not have you risking more gossip and possibly even your life because of an incident which amounted to little more than a jaunt into the country."

Gideon tossed aside the quilt and surged up out of bed. Hands planted on his hips, he stalked toward her. Harriet did not back up a single inch. She was quite probably the only woman on earth who was not afraid of him.

"You dare threaten me?" Gideon asked very quietly.

"Yes, I do, sir. If you are going to be so ridiculously stubborn about this, then I must resort to threats." Her expression softened. "Gideon, do stop carrying on so and be sensible."

"I am being sensible," he roared. "Eminently sensible. I am attempting to prevent further incidents such as the one that occurred today."

"There is no need to challenge Applegate. He is but a young man trying to play the gallant knight. Is that so very hard to understand and forgive?"

"d.a.m.nation, Harriet." Gideon raked his fingers through his hair, frustrated by her logic. Of course he understood that young Applegate was no great threat. It was the principle of the thing.

"Can you say that you never sought the role of the gallant knight when you were that age?"

Gideon swore again, more violently because he knew now that he was going to lose this encounter. She had the right of it. Of course he had sought such a role when he was Applegate's age. Most young men did.

It was clear Harriet was not in love with the boy, so there was no real problem in that direction.

Perhaps he could allow this incident to pa.s.s. Gideon realized he really did not want to argue the matter further. All he seemed to be able to concentrate on right now was the sight of Harriet's lovely body backlit by the fire. He ached for her. His shaft was rigid. His blood was singing. And she was so generous in her pa.s.sion.

Perhaps there were more important matters than teaching Applegate a lesson.

"Very well," Gideon finally muttered.

"Gideon." Her eyes glowed.

"You shall have your way this time. Mind you, I do not like the notion of letting Applegate get off so lightly. But mayhap there will be no great harm done."

Harriet's smile was brighter than the coals on the hearth. "Thank you, Gideon."

"You may consider it a wedding present," Gideon announced.

"Very well, my lord. It is your wedding gift to me. I shall consider it such."