"You treat me like an imbecile," Jade said. "Doesn't he, Christina?"

"Since you are my friend, I will of course agree with you," Christina answered.

"Thank you," Jade replied before turning her attention back to Caine. "I'm not a child."

"I've noticed."

His slow grin infuriated her. She could feel herself losing ground in her bid to keep him off balance.

"Do you know what the very worst of it was? They actually torched my brother's beautiful carriage.

Yes, they did," she added with a vehement nod.

"And that was the worst?" Caine asked.

"Sir, I happened to be inside at the time!" she cried out.

He shook his head. "You actually want me to believe you were inside the carriage when it caught fire?"

"Caught fire?" She bounded out of her seat and stood there with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "Not bloody likely. It was torched."

She remembered her audience and whirled around to face them. Clutching the top of her wrapper against her neck, she lowered her head and said, "Pray forgive me for losing my temper, please. I don't usually sound like a shrew."

She resumed her seat then and closed her eyes. "I don't care what he believes. I can't talk about this tonight. I'm too distraught. Caine, you're going to have to wait until morning to question me."

He gave up. The woman was certainly given to drama. She put the back of her hand up against her forehead and let out a forlorn sigh. He knew he wasn't going to be able to reason with her now.

Caine sat down on the settee beside her. He was still frowning when he put his arm around her

shoulders and hauled her up against his side.

"I specifically remember telling you that I cannot abide being touched," she muttered as she snuggled

up against him.

Christina turned to her husband and let him see her smile. "Destiny," she whispered. "I think we should leave them alone," she added. "Jade, your bedroom is the first on the left at the top of the steps. Caine, you're next door."

Christina tugged her reluctant husband to his feet. "Sweetheart," Lyon said, "I want to know what happened to Jade. I'll just stay down here a few more minutes."

"Tomorrow will be soon enough for you to satisfy your curiosity," Christina promised. "Dakota will be waking us in just a few more hours. You need your rest."

"Who is Dakota?" Jade asked, smiling over the affectionate way the happy couple looked at each other. There was such love in their expressions. A surge of raw envy rushed through her, but she quickly

pushed the feeling away. It was pointless to wish for things she could never have.

"Dakota is our son," Lyon answered. "He's almost six months old now. You'll meet our little warrior in the morning."

The door closed softly on that promise and she and Caine were once again all alone. Jade immediately tried to move away from him. He tightened his hold.

"Jade? I never meant to sound like I was ridiculing you," he whispered. "I'm just trying to be logical

about this situation of yours. You have to admit that tonight has been… difficult. I feel like I'm

spinning around in circles. I'm not used to ladies asking me so sweetly if I could kill them."

She turned to smile up at him. "Was I sweet?" she asked.

He slowly nodded. Her mouth was so close, so appealing. Before he could stop himself, he leaned down. His mouth rubbed against hers in a gentle, undemanding kiss.

It was over and done with before she could gather her wits and offer a protest.

"Why did you do that?" she asked in a strained whisper.

"I felt like it," he answered. His grin made her smile. He pushed her back down on his shoulder so he wouldn't give in to the urge to kiss her again, then said, "You've been through hell, haven't you? We'll wait until tomorrow to talk. When you've had a proper rest, we'll work on this problem together."

"That is most considerate of you," she replied. She sounded acutely relieved. "Now will you please tell

me why you were pretending to be Pagan? You said earlier that you wanted to draw him out, but I don't understand how…"

"I was trying to prick his pride," he explained. "And make him angry enough to come after me. I know that if someone was pretending to be me, I'd… oh, hell," he muttered. "It sounds foolish now." His fingers were slowly threading through her soft curls in an absentminded fashion. "I tried everything else. Bounty didn't work."

"But why? Did you want to meet him?"

"I want to kill him."

Her indrawn breath told him he'd stunned her with his bluntness. "And if he sent someone else in his place to challenge you, would you kill that man too?"

"I would."

"Is your work killing people then? Is that how you make your way in this world?"

She was staring into the fire but he could see the tears in her eyes. "No, I don't kill for a living."

"But you've killed before?"

She'd turned to look at him when she asked that question, letting him see her fear. "Only when it was necessary," he answered.

"I've never killed anyone."

His smile was gentle. "I never thought you had."

"Yet you really believe it's necessary to kill this pirate?"

"I do." His voice had turned hard, a deliberate choice that, for he hoped to get her to quit her questions. "I'll kill every one of his damned followers, too, if it's the only way I can get to him."

"Oh, Caine, I really wish you wouldn't kill anyone."

She was on the verge of tears again. Caine leaned back against the cushions, closed his eyes, and said, "You're a gentle lady, Jade. You can't possibly understand."

"Help me understand," she implored. "Pagan's done so many wonderful things. It seems a sin that you…"

"He has?" Caine interrupted.

"Surely you know that the pirate gives most of his booty to the less fortunate," she explained. "Why,

our church has a new steeple, thanks to his generous donation."

"Donation?" Caine shook his head over her ludicrous choice of words. "The man is nothing but a common thief. He robs from the rich…"

"Well, of course he robs from the rich."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He takes from the rich because they have so much, they won't miss the paltry amount he steals. And