She was barefoot, bare-breasted, and her hips were draped in the sarong she had worn the night he had met her. His gaze slowly moved over her, from flowing hair to pink-tipped breasts, and then lifted to her face. Her cheeks were burning with color, but her eyes met his with defiance.
"I've been waiting a long time," she said.
The sheer lust that tore through him was so violent, it shocked him. It was immediately followed by fierce triumph. By God, she was his.
He stepped into the cabin and closed the door. "But it's said all good things come to one who waits. I'll try to see if I can't reward you for your patience."
She had not felt naked until he walked into the cabin. Her breasts swelled as his glance touched them, and her knees felt weak as she stood before him. But she was not weak; she must show him only strength, or she would be lost. She took a deep breath to ease the tightness in her chest. "I'm not patient. I hated waiting for you."
"Well, I'm here now." He paused, his gaze wandering down to the sarong. "Kanoa, I presume? I know I said I detested that gown, but I'm surprised you went to such lengths to please me."
"I didn't wear this to please you, I did it to please me. I feel more comfortable in it." She lifted her chin. "What you want means nothing to me."
"Then why are you here?"
She moistened her lips. "Why do you think? I'm not the first island woman to come to your cabin."
"You're certainly the most interesting." He leaned back against the door and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I'd prefer you put it into words."
She couldn't say them. She had not thought it would be this difficult. She started across the cabin toward him. "To devil with words. You know why I'm here."
"You've decided to let me have you?" he asked softly.
"No." She stopped before him and stared directly into his eyes. "I've decided to use you."
His smile faded, and she thought she saw a flicker of anger in his expression. "I see. I suppose I should have expected that response. May I ask in exactly what manner?"
Her gaze went to the bunk. "It seems very clear."
"Nothing has ever been clear between us."
She drew a deep breath, then said in a rush, "I've reached the time when my body needs a man. You will do as well as anyone."
"Thank you," he said caustically. "How flattering."
She couldn't help it if he was displeased. It was his own fault; he had asked for an explanation. "I've thought about what you said. For some reason I find you…" She hesitated, searching for words. "You draw me. I cannot understand it."
"Oh, I can. I'm a very charming fellow."
"You're my father's enemy," she said flatly. "And my body should be more selective. But since it is not, then I must find a way to please both my body and my father's needs."
"Then, by all means, let me-" He smiled sardonically. "The temptation to lie to you is almost irresistible. I believe I must be more virtuous than Bradford thinks, or I wouldn't bother. If you think by playing Delilah I'll soften toward your father, you'll be disappointed. I'll be more than happy to please your body, but it won't change my intentions."
"Don't be ridiculous. First, you call me Lucrezia and then Delilah. I didn't poison you, and I wouldn't know how to go about playing Delilah. But Lani thinks-" She stopped.
"What does Lani think?"
She shrugged. "She thinks you're not as hard as you'd like to be. She says you might have second thoughts about killing Papa if-"
"If you couple with me?" he prompted.
"I told her it wouldn't do any good, but she thinks that you're-" She broke off again and gestured impatiently. "It doesn't matter what she thinks. I know you have no softness, but if I'm close to you, I'll still find a way to use you."
"A challenge," he said softly.
"I don't mean to challenge you. You wanted an explanation. I gave it."
"With your usual honesty and bluntness. I do believe I must teach you a bit of diplomacy for the sake of my self-love."
"I don't care about your self-love. I don't care anything about you."
He lifted a brow. "Yet you wish to give yourself to me."
"You keep saying that. I'll never give myself. That's not why I'm here."
"Isn't it the same thing?"
"Not to me," she said. "And I don't think it's the same to you, either. You'd like to think I'd meekly surrender to you."
He slowly shook his head. "You're wrong. I'd be very disappointed if you surrendered, and I can't imagine your doing anything meekly." His gaze moved down to her breasts and his smile was purely sensual. "It's my earnest hope you'll display no meekness whatever."
A tide of heat enveloped her, and she had to take a moment to steady her voice. "Then you'll not be disappointed. I'm coming to you because it suits me to do it. After we couple, I'll get up and walk away. It will mean nothing to me."
Rage momentarily crossed his face before he said lightly, "What a peculiar attitude for a woman."
"Only peculiar to a man. You all wish us to be meek and faithful and let you be the ones to get up and walk away. Your world is very unfair, and I won't live by your rules."
"All of this is more of your Lani's teachings, no doubt. Do you know, I believe I value your virginity more than you do. I actually felt quite guilt ridden before I overcame it."
She shrugged. "Because you're a foreigner and have strange ideas." This pose of boldness was growing more difficult by the moment. Why wouldn't he stop talking and begin their coupling? Anything would be better than this tension. "Why are you just standing there? I don't want to talk anymore."
"But I do. I find it fascinating to explore your reasoning in this matter."
"Why? You told me to use you as you intended to use me, and you said I'd come to your way of thinking."
"But not this quickly." His gaze went to the sarong. "And not in this charmingly barbaric fashion. Now, I wonder why you chose to present yourself in this guise."
"It's no guise. As I've said, I feel most comfortable dressed this way."
"It's the way Kanoa would feel the most comfortable," he corrected. "Not Cassandra Deville. Kanoa would dress like this. Kanoa would not hesitate to come to my bed. I'd wager you came to me like this because at the moment it's easier pretending to be Lani's little sister."
"I'm not pretending." She had acted purely on instinct when she had donned the sarong. She had not even thought about it. "I don't need excuses to do what I choose."
"Kanoa doesn't need excuses, but what of Clara Kidman's charge?"
She was beginning to think he might be right and was becoming uneasy that he knew her so well. "What does any of this matter? Don't you want me?"
His mockery vanished. "God, yes, I want you," he said thickly.
She inhaled sharply. "Then stop arguing. What difference does it make? I told you why I came here."
"To use me." He repeated the words with a grimace. "For some odd reason the term bothers me."
"You don't make sense. It's the term you used to me."
"I know." He unfolded his arms but still did not touch her. "But it's difficult to think coolly at a time like this." Suddenly he laughed harshly. "Christ, I can't believe I'm still standing here instead of inside you on that bed."
He reached out and touched her upper lip with his index finger.
She stiffened at the gentle touch as if he had struck her with a torch. Her lips felt as if they were swelling, softening, ripening at the caress. She involuntarily jerked her head back.
"No." He took a step closer and his finger outlined her upper lip. "No, Kanoa, let me… This is why you came here."
She stared up at him in helpless fascination as wave after wave of heat washed over her. "I don't think that this is all I came for."