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He had a point there "I suppose we’re squared away then"

"I suppose we are"

"There’s nothing else I owe you?"

His eyes were ice "Not a thing"

But there is, she wanted to shout I still owe you the truth, if only you’dcare enough to ask for it If only you cared enough for me, to want toknow

But he didn’t He reached for the door

"Wait," he said "There is one last thing"

Sophia’s heart pounded as he reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a scrap of white fabric

"There," he said, uncere it atop the pile of coins and notes and paper "I’one, leaving Sophia to wrap her arms over her half-naked chest and stare numbly at what he’d discarded A lace-trimmed handkerchief, embroidered with a neat SH

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Gray left the cabin and went to work He worked for days He worked until he couldn’t think, couldn’t feel His life becas of the bell--increrets about the past It was simply, always now He concentrated on the task of each one slack Getting the Kestrel from the crest of one wave to the next

All the while, a deep, insidious current pulled on his heart Resentment, confusion, fear Uncertainty, in all its most sinister forms By sheer force of will, he kept it at bay A mere hint of uncertainty was all it required to taint authority in irrevocable fashion

But for all his intensity of purpose, a mere moment in her presence was all it required to scatter his wits co of a bell, Gray was undone

"What are you doing?"

The words fired from his mouth, like a salvo of rifle shots She flinched with each one But great God, he felt under attack

What the devil was she doing in the galley? The galley was not where she ought to be She ought to be in the captain’s cabin, where she’d remained squirreled away for the past three days Where he didn’t have to look at this exquisite face, breathe this intoxicating fragrance, suffer these s in his boots whenever she drew near

"I’ dinner" She held out a deep wooden plate ladled with stea chowder "Are you always this late to mess?"

Gray stared at the plate Then he stared at her Which was a , and she looked … delicious

The galley was steah flush painted her cheeks and throat Loose wisps of hair frizzled to tight curls at her hairline Tiny beads of perspiration glittered on her décolletage, where her breasts pressed up like twin lowed, and her eyes … God, her eyes positively sparkled Plump lips curved in a self-satisfied, feline smile

She had the look, the air--even the scent--of a recently-bedded, thoroughly-pleasured woe All the desire that he’d been forcing down for the past three days tore free It raced hot through his veins, swelled in his groin

He resented it, resented this power she had over him This hy she needed to stay where he’d put her, out of sight

"What are you doing?" he growled again "You shouldn’t be here"

"I’ht line Her eyes dulled in the space of a blink, and she slung the plate onto the table Gray slouched against the door and ed his temples with one hand Damn it, he was always the one to erase that smile from her face, douse that sparkle in her eyes But he needed her to stay in that cabin He could not look on her, be near her, think of her, and keep the Kestrel afloat at the same time No red-blooded man could

"Go back to your cabin"

"No" She crossed her aro mad if I spend another day in that cabin, with no one to talk to and nothing to do"

"Well, I’ you sufficiently, but this isn’t a pleasure cruise Find so to occupy your h the steaot one book I’ve already read it"

"Don’t tell me it’s the Bible"

The corner of her aze to the ceiling, blowing out an impatient breath "Only one book," hewith only one book?"

"Not a governess" Her voice held a challenge

Gray refused the bait, electing for silence Silence was all he could h him It hurt He kept his eyes trained on a cracked board above her head, working to keep his expression blank What a fool he’d been, to believe her To believe that soed, that he could findpleasure with a woman That this perfect, delicate blossom of a lady, who knew all his deeds and misdeeds, would offer herself to him without hesitation Deep inside, in some uncharted territory of his soul, he’d built a world on thatnot just her body, but her heart

Ha She hadn’t even given hi to talk to me?" she asked "Don’t you have questions you want to ask?"