Regency Vows: A Gentleman 'Til Midnight / The Trouble with Honour / An Improper Arrangement / A Wedding By Dawn / The Devil Takes a Bride / A Promise by Daylight

The smile she gave him felt predatory, and she reveled in it. “No doubt it has occurred to you that you may be in a unique position to help me, given that your brother is the force behind the bill pending against me.”

“It has occurred to me. But if the second reading has been put off—”

“Can you guarantee the Lords won’t approve the second reading and quickly pass the bill?”

His answer was a flash of irritation in his eyes.

“But you could speak with your brother, Lord Taggart. Explain to him of the error of his ways.”

“I assure you, Captain Kinloch, I have no objection to using my influence on your behalf. But nothing so tedious will be necessary. A word with Nick and any of his supporters, and I have no doubt the bill will be long forgotten.”

“You think it will disappear so easily?” She fought back the desperation that threatened to creep into her voice.

“I think it very likely that someone has devised a plan to take advantage of your absence and notoriety. Your return will likely cut the bill off at the knees.”

Hope bloomed, but she didn’t dare snatch it up. “Or breathe new life into it,” she said. She went to her dressing table, shook her hair back and began rewinding her turban. “In which case, you will use your influence to make sure I am invited to all of the best events,” she told him, watching him in the looking glass. “Once we are there, you will dote on me most solicitously. We will tell the story of your rescue to everyone who wishes to hear it—” she smiled again “—and you will praise me endlessly as your savior.”

His laughter was a devilish sound that resonated through the cabin. “Will I.”

She continued winding the cloth, twisting and tightening as she went, ignoring his amusement. “If they are still sitting, there won’t be much time. The letter took nearly four months to find me, and we will have been over a month in sailing to England.”

“I won’t need a month to help you resolve it.”

“You can’t be certain of that. You know nothing more about the bill than I do.”

“But I know a good deal more about the Lords, and about my brother.” He came up behind her, close enough that her stomach dipped the way it had when he’d touched her hair, but not close enough for him to do it again. “If my initial efforts seem unavailing, I will agree to your intriguing plan. And if I fail entirely, which I cannot imagine—” he paused “—I will provide assistance.” The look he gave her was the same one she’d seen last night when he’d spoken of his debt. The same one she’d seen in the hen coop. And she hated it.

“Assistance?” She finished the turban and turned her back to the looking glass.

“If you lose your estate, you will have my protection until other arrangements can be made.”

His protection? The word and all its implications fell carelessly from his lips. She met it with a laugh and raked him with her gaze. “I assure you, Captain Warre, I have no interest in your...protection.”

His mouth curved. “My apologies. It was not my intention to offer you a position as my mistress.” He returned her brazen physical assessment, his eyes lingering where they had no right to linger. “But the idea does have a certain appeal.”

A throb of heat pulsed uninvited through intimate places. “I have a fortune independent from Dunscore,” she said, waving away his offers of assistance and protection. “If I lose the estate—” the possibility struck her momentarily mute “—Anne and I will have no reason to stay in Britain at all. And your debt will remain unpaid.”

He closed the distance between them, all lithe muscle and power, his sea-blown hair giving him a ferocity she would likely never see again once they reached the civilized world of London. “If it doesn’t work—and I’m not saying it won’t—I’ll not live under this debt forever. My efforts will have to suffice, or you’ll have to accept some other form of payment.”

“There is no other form of payment,” she scoffed, laughing. “You have nothing that I need, Captain—except your celebrity.” She started to turn away. “If you’re not interested in my plan—” She cut off when his hand curled around her arm.

“If I am satisfied with my repayment,” he said with a tight smile, “it won’t matter what you need.”

“Let go of me.”

His green eyes bored into her, holding her as tightly as his hand. “This entire bargain is driven by my own sense of obligation.”

“Which I should have guessed was false.” Except she could see in his eyes it ran bone-deep, and even now he couldn’t quite hide it.

“Some debts cannot be repaid.”

“An excellent excuse for default, Captain,” she snapped. It was impossible to wrest out of his grasp, so she pushed him instead.

“Devil take it—” He lost his balance as the ship listed starboard, and for a moment she reeled with him, but almost immediately he regained his footing. In the next moment he pushed her against the wall and his mouth came down on hers with all the fury of an ocean tempest. She fought him, even as she opened her lips to drink him in. His kiss was half-crazed, fierce and possessive as the sea itself, surging through her blood in waves of desire unlike anything she’d ever felt.

She tried to tear away and they knocked over a chair. He crushed her to his body, backing her hard against the wall. He felt magnificent, and she hated him.

“Damn you!” She wanted him on her. Over her. In her.

Away from her.

He pushed up her tunic and found her breasts. She grabbed his shirt and felt the fabric tear, but the pleasure ripping through her body drowned all reason. She cried out with frustration. Outrage. Desire.

Something—maybe his knee—banged against the wall. His mouth seared into hers, out of control. They stumbled against the fallen chair and he kicked it out of the way.

Suddenly her cabin door flew open and crashed against the wall. She barely realized what was happening before William was there, tearing Captain Warre away from her.

“Bloody he—” Captain Warre’s furious oath was cut off when William’s fist landed across his jaw, sending him reeling.

“Bloody cur!” William caught Captain Warre by the shirt before he could fall and landed another hit across his jaw.

“No!” Katherine shouted her reaction an instant before regaining her senses. “William, stop! Enough!”

But William was beyond reason, and now it was Captain Warre whose back was to the wall as William drew his knife and held it to Captain Warre’s throat.

“William!” Katherine commanded sharply. “Let him go.”

Phil and India crowded into the doorway. “Katherine, are you all right?” Phil asked, her voice for once free of insinuation. Good God. They all thought he’d attacked her.

“You filthy bastard,” William spat, nose to nose with Captain Warre, who silently stared at him. “You couldn’t wait a few more days to slake your lust on someone who’s willing?”

“William!” Katherine repeated. “That’s enough. You misunderstand.”

Finally William looked at her. Only the ship and Captain Warre’s breathing made a sound as she met William’s eyes. She raised her chin a notch, but still a wash of heat spread across her face.

Phil’s comprehending voice filled the cabin. “Oh, dear.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#ulink_6c63ed88-aa5e-5043-a83b-466778bb9f04)

“NOT A SINGLE WORD.” Katherine marched to the upper deck with Phil on her heels. “Not one.” It was probably the most futile order she’d ever given. Besides, Phil didn’t need words. Everything she was thinking was written plain as ink on her face.

Which was why Phil’s obedience was worse than anything she could have said. The silence stretched out, brimming with what had just happened below. Deep breaths of sea air didn’t cool the fire pounding through Katherine’s veins, and her body screamed to go downstairs and finish what Captain Warre had begun.

Captain Warre. Captain Warre. The reality of what she’d just done was a battering ram forcing entrance into her mind. She craved him the way Papa had craved fast horses—recklessly and without regard to the consequences. If William had not interrupted—

She would not think of that. Looking at Phil was out of the question, so she held her spyglass to her eye.

Finally she couldn’t stand it anymore. “Say it.”