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 passion, 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 breasts. 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, God, Harriet. Yes." He barely managed to swallow a muffled 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 God'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 damnable 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."