Free Silver Sea by Cynthia Wright

without going off on a headstrong tangent!"
    Her mouth dropped open, and her eyes flashed in the shadows. "Nathan Essex! How could you do something so cruel?" She struggled in his grasp, but he only held her more tightly. "Let me go this instant! Horrid bully!"
    "Do you think you can have your own way, no matter what, even when your life is at risk? Do you imagine that your will is so strong that it can overpower anyone who opposes you? Hold still and listen to me, because this is a lesson you cannot afford to dismiss." His voice was low and hot with more than anger. "I was not pretending to be Walter Frakes-Hogg in order to torture you and amuse myself at your expense. I did it to show you that you could have been killed tonight as a result of your determination to rebel against me. I spent hours watching for that man to try to sneak into the castle and reach you, and he may well have shown up and been warned off by the noise you and I have made!"
    "You're obsessed with threats of danger," she said defiantly. "You create them out of thin air."
    Nathan wanted badly to shake her. "Why can't you allow me to do what I've been hired for by your father? If we trap this villain, who is, I assure you, lurking no farther away than the next town, then you can run wild if you choose and I may be able to escape altogether!"
    In spite of herself, Adrienne was stirred by this masculine creature. He loomed above her, wide-shouldered, raven-haired, exuding a wild strength that was magnified by the moonlight playing over his carved features. How dare he proclaim that he wanted to escape from her forever?
    "You are a—a scoundrel! Just like nearly every other man I've met since coming to England. None of you have hearts, or souls —you just live according to your male pride and your need for conquest! Men thrive on truly base passions, so is it any wonder that women are revolted by them? If most women didn't need men in order to have children, and to provide financial support, they'd do just as I am, seeking independence and—"
    "Will you never stop?" His eyes drilled into hers.
    "I hate you," she muttered.
    "A stinging retort, Miss Beau." Nathan knew he should release her and walk away, but it seemed that her infuriating speech had put a demon in him, and he was now possessed. "So, you have no use for men or our passions? You find men physically revolting?"
    Adrienne stiffened, pressed her lips together, and felt her heart begin to hammer. His grip relaxed on her arms, but she couldn't move. When Nathan slowly drew her closer, until her bodice touched his hard chest, she started trembling, awash with a terrifying yearning. All at once, the place between her legs was hot, then wet.
    Nathan's breath was warm on her cheek. "I don't think you're revolted now."
    Feebly she tried to defend herself. "Men—men like Walter—are so base—"
    "But we aren't all like Walter."
    "You frightened me."
    "I was afraid for your safety."
    When his strong arms enfolded her in the cool night air, Adrienne knew a sense of bliss that surpassed anything she had ever felt. A sob rose in her throat. Helplessly she turned her face up for his kiss, and when his mouth found hers it was a wonder: firm and sure, working her lips, then parting them to make magic with his warm tongue. Adrienne's knees went weak as long-buried needs burst forth in waves.
    "You see?" he whispered gently. "Men can be useful."
    She stared at his face, entranced. He wasn't wearing his spectacles. Her hands crept upward, feeling the planes of his chest, then the unyielding strength of his shoulders, until her fingers clasped around his neck. Their bodies were pressed together full length in a way she found thrilling.
    Kissing her again, Nathan dimly realized that he didn't need to keep teaching her this lesson. She understood, and now he was also beginning to understand more than he cared to. Dangerous! he warned himself, but Adrienne's incautious streak seemed to be contagious. Besides, whom