She fell asleep hugging the promise Caine had given her. She would never have to go near the ocean again.

Caine didn't come to bed until after seven in the morning. Jade opened her eyes just long enough to watch him pull back the covers and stretch out beside her. He hauled her up against his side, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist, and was snoring like a drunk before she got settled again.

She went downstairs around noon, introduced herself to Caine's London staff, and then went into the dining room to have breakfast.

Caine suddenly appeared at the doorway, dressed only in a pair of light-colored britches. He looked exhausted, angry, too, and when he crooked his finger at her she decided not to argue.

"Come here, Jade."

"Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed, Caine?" she asked as she walked over to face him.

"Or are you always this surly when you first wake up?"

"I thought you'd left."

Her eyes widened over that confession, but she wasn't given time to think about it too much. Caine

lifted her into his arms and carried her back upstairs. She realized just how furious he was when she noticed the muscle in the side of his jaw was flexing. "Caine, I didn't leave you," she whispered, stating the obvious. She reached up to caress his cheek, smiling over the stubble there. "You need a shave, husband."

"That's right, I am your husband," he grated out. He tossed her onto the bed, took his pants off, and stretched out beside her, facedown, with his arm anchored around her waist. She was fully clothed; he was stark naked.

She would have laughed over the absurdity of her circumstances if the fullness of what he'd just implied hadn't settled in her mind. How dare he not trust her? She was furious. She would have given him a good piece of her mind, too, if he hadn't looked so damned peaceful. She didn't have the heart to wake him up.

The lecture would have to wait until later. She closed her eyes, selected a book from her memory, and reread it in her mind while she patiently waited for Caine to get the rest he needed.

He didn't move until almost two that afternoon. He was in a much better frame of mind, too. He smiled

at her. She glared at him.

"Why don't you trust me?" she demanded.

Caine rolled onto his back, stacked his hands behind his head, and let out a loud yawn. "Take your clothes off, sweetheart," he whispered. "Then we'll discuss this."

Her gaze moved down his body to his obvious arousal. She blushed in reaction. "I think we should discuss it now, Caine," she stammered out.

He pulled her on top of him, kissed her passionately, and then ordered her to take her clothes off again. Odd, but she didn't mind obeying his command now. He was such a persuasive man. Demanding, too. She climaxed twice before he finally filled her with his seed.

She could barely move when he finally moved away from her. "Now what was it you wanted to discuss?"

She couldn't remember. It took them another hour to get dressed, for they kept stopping to kiss each other. It wasn't until they were on their way downstairs that Jade remembered what it was she wanted

to lecture him about.

"Haven't I proven myself to you?" she asked. "You should trust me with all your heart."

"You don't trust me," he countered. "It works both ways, Jade, or not at all. You've made it clear you'll leave me at the first opportunity. Isn't that right, love?"

He paused on the bottom step and turned around to look at her. They were eye to eye now. Hers, he noticed, were cloudy with tears.

"I don't wish to talk about this now," she announced, struggling to maintain her composure. "I'm hungry and I…"

"It gives you the edge, doesn't it, wife?"

"I don't understand what you mean," she returned. Her voice shook. "What edge?"

"In the back of that illogical mind of yours lurks the possibility that I'll eventually leave you," he explained. "Just like Nathan and Harry did. You're still afraid."

"I'm afraid?" she stammered out.

He nodded. "You're afraid of me."

He thought she'd argue over that statement of fact. She surprised him by nodding. "Yes, you make me very afraid," she admitted. And I can tell you, sir, I don't like that feeling one little bit. It makes me…"

"Vulnerable?"

She nodded again. He let out a patient sigh. "All right, then. How long do you suppose it's going to take you to become unafraid?" His voice was so gentle, his expression so serious.

"How long before you get tired of me?" she asked, her fear apparent.

"Are you deliberately misunderstanding?"

"No."

"Then in answer to your absurd question, I will never get tired of you. Now tell me how long it will take you before you trust me?" he ordered again. His voice wasn't at all gentle now. It was as hard, as determined as his expression.

"I told you I loved you," she whispered.

"Yes, you did."

"I repeated the vows before you and God." Her voice had risen an octave. He could also see her panic, her insecurity.

"Well? What more do you want from me?"

She was shouting now, wringing her hands together. Caine decided she still wasn't ready to surrender wholeheartedly.

He felt like an ogre for upsetting her. "Jade…"

"Caine, I don't want to leave you," she blurted out. "I do trust you. Yes, I do. I know you'll keep me safe. I know you love me, but there's a part of me that still…" She stopped her explanation and lowered her gaze. Her shoulders slumped in dejection. "Sometimes the feelings locked inside me since I was a little girl do get in the way of being logical," she admitted a long minute later. "I suppose you're right. I'm not at all logical about this, am I?"

He pulled her into his arms and held her close. The hug was more for his benefit than hers. In truth, he couldn't stand to see the torment in her eyes.

"I want to tell you something, sweetheart. The first time you tried to leave me… when Harry told me you'd left, it threw me into a panic. I've never had such a god-awful feeling before, and I sure as hell hated it. Now I'm beginning to realize that you've lived with that feeling a long time, haven't you?"

She mopped her tears away with his shirt before she answered. "Perhaps."

"And so you learned how to make it completely on your own," he continued. "You've been teaching yourself not to depend on anyone else. I'm right, aren't I?"