"But why didn't you tell me?" Caroline demanded. She had finally found her temper. Just thinking about the agony he had put her through made her furious.
Bradford saw the change overtake Caroline and braced himself for her wrath.
"You don't have to answer that," Caroline stated in an angry whisper. "I know the reason. It was because you didn't trust me." She removed herself from his lap and stood in front of him. "Admit it, Bradford."
"Caroline, I only wanted to protect you. If I had confided in you, then you might have told someone and put yourself right in the middle." Bradford thought he sounded very logical. His argument made perfect sense to him.
Caroline obviously didn't agree. She glanced about the room, and Bradford thought she might be looking for a weapon.
"Did it ever occur to you that I might have kept the information to myself?" Caroline argued.
"No," Bradford admitted. "And even if I had trusted you in the matter, it wouldn't have worked. You wear your feelings on your face, love, and everyone would have known that you weren't a woman rejected." Bradford reached out and tried to pull Caroline back into his lap. She eluded his grasp. "Caroline, I only had your best interests at heart."
"You mistake my anger, Bradford." Caroline's voice had a chill to it. "When will you learn that I'm not like other women? And when will you decide that you can trust me? You can't possibly form a lasting attachment without trust."
She stood before him, a look of disgust on her face. "You are forever grouping me with the ladies of your past. And I am good and sick of it."
"Sweetheart, you're yelling." Bradford's mild comment infuriated Caroline. "And if you wake your father and he finds me in here, he'll demand that I marry you immediately."
Caroline let out a gasp and Bradford nodded. "Good," Bradford remarked. "I have no desire to be wed tomorrow. Saturday is soon enough, what with all the arrangements to be made."
Caroline couldn't hide her astonishment. "Haven't you heard a single word I've said?"
"I have," Bradford answered. "And I imagine that the entire household is also hearing every word. Now be a good girl and give me the letter. The bed is too close and you are too much of a temptation."
"Lord, I trusted Milford," Caroline muttered in a furious whisper. "I should have known better. If he calls himself your friend, then he's no better than you are."
"The letter, Caroline," Bradford insisted. He stood up and stretched and then started toward her. "Give me the letter and let me decide what is to be done about it."
"You aren't going to decide anything," Caroline announced. "And I'm not going to marry you this Saturday or a year from Saturday. You don't know the meaning of the word love," she declared. "If you did, you would consider my feelings. And you would trust me."
"Caroline, if you say the word trust one more time, I believe I'll strangle you."
The look in Bradford's eyes told Caroline he was more than capable of doing just that. She backed away from him. "Please leave now. We've said enough to each other."
"I agree," Bradford returned. He was frowning now and Caroline thought he really was going to leave. Until he sat down on the edge of the bed and calmly, methodically removed his jacket and then his boots. Then Caroline had to revise her conclusions.
"What are you doing?" Caroline rushed over to the bed and tried to stop him from removing his socks. "You must leave."
"I'm through talking," Bradford told her. He dropped the second boot and grabbed Caroline. She was suddenly on her back, with Bradford looming over her. "I've missed kissing you, Caroline." And then his lips were clinging to hers, forcing her mouth open. Caroline tried to get him to stop, and her struggle became more insistent when his hips settled against hers and she felt the hardness of him against her.
Bradford continued to plunder her mouth, draining her of her resistance. She felt so soft against him, so incredibly good. His hand caressed her breast beneath the thin material and he let out a groan of sheer pleasure.
Caroline wasn't sure just how it happened, but she was divested of her robe and the buttons of her nightgown were opened before she could summon up enough strength to try and stop Bradford.
She pushed against him with her hips, heard his moan, and realized that she was probably giving him pleasure instead of pain. Bradford trapped her legs by using his heavy thigh to restrain her and then lazily kissed a path down the column of her throat.
She fought him with her hands but Bradford wasn't deterred. His mouth continued the gentle torment with burning insistence. He reached her breast and didn't hesitate, taking the erect nipple completely into his mouth.
Caroline again moved her hips against him but the reaction was a sensual, primitive motion she was hardly aware of. She sighed in surrender and arched her back for more.
His mouth continued to worship one breast as his hand caressed the other. "Bradford!" Caroline whispered, so lost in the erotic feelings he was causing that she could barely speak at all.
Her nightgown was around her knees and Bradford pushed it farther up as he stroked the sensitive skin. When his hand slid between her legs, Caroline instinctively tried to block his advance. Bradford used his knee to force her legs apart and silenced her protests with another passionate kiss.
His fingers found her then and Caroline thought she would die from the pleasure he forced on her. His breathing was harsh with desire. "I'll never get you out of my blood, Caroline. I can feel you tremble, love." He kissed her again while his fingers stroked the moist softness that beckoned him.
He sought only to give her pleasure, to show her a portion of the excitement and passion they would share together, and knew he had to stop. He was losing his control.
Bradford groaned and rolled over onto his back. He clasped his hands behind his head and took several deep breaths and tried to think of something other than the warm body next to him. "We will be married this Saturday." His voice was harsh but he couldn't control it. He was angry, but only with himself.
Caroline felt like she had just been thrown into a snowbank. She only wanted to wrap her arms around Bradford and beg him to continue his lovemaking.
She knew she had to remove herself from the temptation and quickly scooted off the bed. Her legs were trembling and she had to hold on to the poster. "I don't understand how you are able to do this to me," she admitted. Her voice sounded weak. Bradford watched her, saw the confusion in her gaze, and smiled.
"Your passion matches mine," he told her. His voice was soft and gruff. "And you aren't sophisticated enough to control it or use it against me."
"Like your other women?" Caroline's voice was deceptively calm. Bradford wasn't fooled by it, saw the fire in her eyes. She was thinking about killing him again, he surmised with a sigh. He sat up just in time to catch the boots Caroline threw at him, and tried once more to placate her, thinking to himself that the damnedest things upset her.
"I haven't had any other women," Bradford stated. He meant to continue, to tell her he hadn't touched any other female since their fateful encounter on the isolated country road. But Caroline turned her back on him while she put on her robe.
"The letter, please," he asked again.
She walked over to her wardrobe and took the letter from its hiding place. Then she slowly walked back over to Bradford and handed it to him.
There was a knock on the door. Caroline's eyes widened. "Get off my bed," she whispered a little frantically. She brushed her hair back from her face and hurried over to the door, her trembling fingers giving her trouble with the lock. She finally managed to open the door to find the Earl of Braxton, dressed in his nightshirt, robe, and slippers, standing there with a bewildered look on his face.