"I won't-" Her voice was agonized. "I can't."
"Come to terms with it. Before this voyage is over, you're going to be in my bed. And you're going to want to be there. I don't care how you justify it to yourself. It's going to happen." He stopped and drew a long breath. "Think about it." He strode toward the steps. "God knows I will!"
The door slammed behind him.
She crossed her arms over her chest to help still their trembling. He was wrong. She had not been near surrendering to that powerful sensual force. True, she had been dazzled, held captive for a moment, but only because she was weary and strained and-
If you won't admit it to me, at least be honest with yourself.
You've been robbed of time. You must think clearly.
Use me. I intend to use you.
It's going to happen.
Lani's words. Jared's words. Both were whirling, mingling in her mind like the winds of the storm.
She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes. What had happened tonight had torn aside the protective veil she had drawn around her, and she felt naked… and hurting.
Think about it.
Good God, how could she do anything else?
Lani was walking on deck when Cassie left the cargo hold the next morning. She made a face as she caught sight of Cassie. "You look terrible. Didn't you sleep at all?"
"A little. It was a terrible storm."
Lani nodded. "I slept little myself. I've no faith in that drunken sot as a captain." She added grudgingly, "Though he appeared to display a surprising control of the vessel last night." She dismissed the subject of Bradford as her gaze raked Cassie. "Well, that gown is certainly a disaster." She suddenly chuckled. "Which is one good occurrence in a bad night." When Cassie didn't agree at once, her smile faded. "What's wrong? Was Kapu hurt?"
Cassie smiled with an effort. "He's fine."
"I was about to go to you when the thunder started, but I saw our kindly host on his way to the hold, and I knew he'd be more help than I."
"He was a great help."
Lani frowned. "Then why do you look as if you're-" She stopped as Cassie looked away from her. "Talk to me, Cassie."
"There's nothing to say." She quickened her pace. "I only need to bathe and then go to my bed."
And come to terms with the frightening decision she had made after those long hours of searching her mind and emotions. She didn't want to be with anyone right now, not even Lani. She felt as finely balanced as a tightrope walker who would topple at a whisper. "I'll see you after I wake, Lani."
She was aware of Lani's puzzled gaze on her back as she hurried away.
"You look superb tonight." Jared bowed over Lani's hand before glancing around the dining hall with assumed casualness. "And will your friend be joining us for supper?"
"I think not." Lani gave him a dazzling smile. "As you know, she had a bad night with Kapu and is very weary. She prefers to eat in her cabin."
"I've not seen her all day," Bradford commented as he seated Lani. "Is she well?"
"Oh, Cassie is never sick."
"Except when she falls down mountains or tries to drown herself riding half-mad stallions," Jared said dryly.
"She never did any of those things before you came to our island," Lani said with great gentleness. She turned to Bradford. "I do hope you've chosen the wine tonight. You have such a depth of experience to draw on."
It seemed Lani was not all sweetness tonight, Jared thought as he watched her during supper. She was still glowing, still entertaining, but there had been a subtle shift of mood as demonstrated by those first velvet sheathed barbs.
Yet the smile she gave him at the end of the meal was as warm as sunlight. "Will you walk with me to my cabin? I would have words with you."
"We'll both go with you," Bradford said, pushing back his chair.
"No." She didn't look at him as she rose to her feet. "Stay and enjoy your brandy. It clearly means so much to you."
Bradford flinched. "Dismissed." He reached for the bottle. "Well, why not?"
Jared followed her from the cabin.
She looked up at the sky and drew a deep breath. "It's lovely, isn't it? It reminds me of the nights when I was a young girl, racing down the beach with my friends."
"Yes, lovely," he said absently. The night sky was clear, with no hint of last night's storm, and the motion of the sea as calm as the rocking of a baby's cradle. The stallion should be no problem tonight. Was Cassie down in the hold with Kapu now? Probably. She hadn't been there when he had gone to check on the horse earlier in the evening, but she couldn't stay away from the damned stallion.
Lani suddenly turned to him and asked bluntly, "What did you do to her last night?"
He went still. "I beg your pardon?"
"When Cassie came back to her cabin this morning, she was"-Lani hesitated-"different. Quiet. I don't know." She shook her head in frustration. "She wouldn't talk to me. She was not herself." She met his gaze. "I didn't like it. Cassie is my little sister. She thinks she's a woman, but she's still half child. I won't have her hurt."
He looked at her in astonishment. "Am I to assume you're asking my intentions?"
"No, I know your intentions. They are the same as all men. I'm merely telling you that on no account will I permit you to force her."
He stiffened. "I'm not in the habit of forcing women."
"I didn't think you were, but Cassie was very…" She trailed off and then said, "This is too perplexing. I had intentions of- I don't like being uncertain about things."
"You're not alone. I've not the slightest idea what you're talking about."
"You would have had a very clear idea by now if Cassie were not-" She broke off again, and her pace quickened the last few yards to her cabin. "Perhaps tomorrow…" The door of the cabin slammed behind her.
Jared stared at the door for an instant before he whirled on his heel and strode back toward his cabin. What in Hades was that all about? Lani was not a woman to be unsure about anything, but her conduct tonight had been hesitant in the extreme. Well, he had no patience with delving into another woman's vagaries when he had Cassie's tormenting him.
His pace slowed before he reached his cabin, his gaze on the door leading to the cargo hold. Should he go down and see her? Last night, he knew, she had been closer than she dreamed to surrender.
She was not herself.
I will not have her hurt.
Dammit, he had no intention of hurting her. He just wanted to- He would make sure she enjoyed it as much as he did. She wanted it. He was experienced enough to know when a woman was ready for him. It would not have been force.
Christ, why was he arguing with himself? He had spent a hellish night, tossing and turning, heavy and aching, after he had left her. Why not just go down and take what he wanted?
He took a half step forward and then stopped. It could be she wasn't even with Kapu. Lani had said she was weary. Perhaps it had not been the excuse he had thought it. The trials she had undergone during the past few days would have been wearing on anyone.
Softness again, he realized impatiently. The chit had him hesitating and caviling like a boy with his first mistress.
He turned back to his cabin. It would do no harm to let another day pass before he resumed the hunt. That wasn't quite true, he corrected himself ruefully as he threw open the door. He would no doubt spend another tormented night and would soon be cursing his decision and the foolish impulse that-
"Good evening." Cassie rose from the chair and faced him, a touch of bravado in her stance. "I thought you'd never come."
His eyes widened as he stood frozen in the doorway. "Good God."