Free Desire and Deception by Nicole Jordan

his word and decided not to interfere. As she accompanied him to the door, however, she pleaded with him in an audible whisper to remember the girl's recent harrowing experience and to be gentle with her. Lauren was left to stare at Jason's wineglass which was sitting on the table beside her.
    Her heart began thudding against her rib cage as she remembered the vial of sleeping drops Lila had given her. Without giving herself time to change her mind, Lauren retrieved the tiny bottle from her sleeve and hurriedly removed the stopper. After pouring a small amount of the colorless liquid into Jason's wine, she hid the bottle beneath her chair, then clasped her trembling hands in her lap as she stole a glance at him. She hadn't been seen, she realized with elation. If only he would drink the drugged wine, she could escape—
    Jason shut the door and slowly crossed the room to her side, trying to recall where his thoughts had been leading him before he had been interrupted. Lauren was watching him rather anxiously now, he realized as he picked up his wineglass and raised it to his lips. He could see a flickering light in the golden- green depths before she bowed her head again. What was it? Guilt? Fear? Uncertainty?
    "How did you know who I was?" she asked quietly. "Did my guardian send you to find me?"
    "I've never had the privilege of meeting your guardian," Jason answered dryly. "My ship only arrived in port today. But my father gave me a description of you when he told me of the marriage he'd arranged. And that ring you're wearing is engraved with a soaring hawk. The Carlin emblem is well known to anyone in shipping. Furthermore, you were upset to learn who I was."
    When Lauren lifted her gaze, her eyes were pleading. "Please, don't return me to my guardian."
    "Tell me why, sweetheart," Jason replied. "And no more lies, if you please. Burroughs, is that his name? Is it Burroughs who has you so frightened?"
    "Yes . . . He would have forced me to wed you."
    "I doubt that he could have done so, however—if only because I have no wish to drag a reluctant bride to the alter ."
    Lauren searched Jason's face, unsure whether he was telling the truth. She found herself wanting to believe him, yet the same instinctive caution that had kept her from being discovered by Burroughs's men warned her not to trust this tall, blue-eyed captain as thoroughly as she wished to.
    "But let us put that aside for a moment," Jason continued. "The thought of marriage was so distasteful to you that you ran away. With . . . Matthew, was it? And then Matthew was nearly killed?"
    "Yes," she replied hoarsely, thinking it wiser to answer him since he had already guessed so much of her story. "Matthew was my friend, as I said. He was helping me. When my guardian's men found us, one of them . . . tried to stab Matthew with a sword."
    "And then?" Jason prompted.
    Shutting her eyes, Lauren tried to ignore the tight ache in her throat. "That's all. Matthew was determined to lead them away from me, so we separated. I spent the last of my money on coach fare to London, but those men followed me . . . and then you rescued me."
    Jason pursed his lips as he contemplated her. "Well, it appears that your guardian was still within the law. You are a minor, subject to his authority. If he felt he was protecting you—"
    "Protecting me!" Lauren clenched her fists in dismay. "You don't know him. He only wants to keep—" She broke off, suddenly, realizing what she had almost revealed. "I won't go back," she vowed. "I will never go back!"
    Jason met her defiant gaze calmly. "Very well, you won't go back. But I will have to make some other arrangements for you. I can hardly allow you to walk the streets. And with England at war with both France and the United States, I cannot in good conscience put you on board a ship, passage money or no."
    "You are not responsible for me, Captain Stuart."
    Jason sighed. Getting her to listen was proving to be more difficult than rescuing a