She stood back to observe her work. She rubbed her lower back, trying to take the sting away. She knew that blocking the door was only a temporary measure, but she still felt she'd been very clever. It didn't take her long to discard that bit of praise, however, when she realized how childishly she was behaving. Yes, she thought to herself, her conduct was infantile, but then so was Nathan's. If he wasn't going to be reasonable, why should she? Perhaps by nightfall her Viking would come to his senses and realize her request had validity. And if the muleheaded man didn't agree, well, she was determined to stay inside the cabin until he gave in. If she starved to death, so be it.
"I like it better the other way."
Sara jumped a foot, then whirled around. She found Nathan lounging against the edge of the desk, smiling at her.
He didn't wait for her question but simply pointed up to the trapdoor. "I usually come in through the top," he explained in a soft whisper. "It's quicker."
She might have nodded, but she couldn't be sure. She leaned back against the trunk and stared at him. Oh, God, now what was she going to do?
His bride couldn't seem to find her voice. Nathan decided to give her a little more time to calm down before he pressed her. The color was completely gone from her face, and there was the real possibility that she might swoon on him again.
"I assume you were trying to change the room around?"
His voice had been pleasant, soothing. She wanted to scream. "Yes," she blurted out instead. "I like it better this way."
He shook his head. "It won't do."
"It won't?"
"You might not have noticed, but the trunk and the chair are actually blocking the door. Besides, I don't think either one of us will want to sit… up there."
His remarks were ridiculous, of course. They both knew why the door was blocked. Sara pretended to give the matter her full attention, however, in an attempt to save her pride. "Yes, I do believe you're right," she announced. "The furniture is blocking the door. I only just noticed. Thank you so much for pointing out that fact to me." She didn't pause for breath when she added, "Why is the table nailed to the floor?"
"You tried to move that, too?"
She ignored the laughter in his voice. "I thought it would look much nicer in front of the trunk. The desk, too," she added. "But I couldn't move either one."
He stood up and took a step toward her. She immediately backed away. "When the pitch of the sea gets rough, the furniture moves," he explained. He took another step toward her. "That's the reason."
She felt as though she was being stalked. Nathan's long hair swayed about his shoulders when he moved. The muscles in his shoulders seemed to roll with his pantherlike swagger. She wanted to run away from him, and yet in the back of her mind was the honest admission that she wanted him to catch her. She thoroughly liked the way he kissed her… but that was all she was going to like.
From the look on Nathan's face she knew he would like a lot more from her. His intimidating tactics were making her daft. She frowned at him for confusing her.
He smiled back.
She'd made a half circle of the cabin but trapped herself at the head of his bed. Nathan stopped when he saw the fear in her eyes. He let out a long sigh.
She thought he might be having second thoughts, yet before she could grasp the joy in that possibility his big hands were on her shoulders, and he was pulling her toward him.
He tilted her chin up, forcing her to look into his eyes. His voice was actually very gentle when he said, "Sara, I know this is difficult for you. If there was more time, perhaps we could wait until you knew me a little better. I won't lie to you and tell you I could or would court you, though, for in truth I don't have the patience or the experience for such a chore. Still, I don't want you to be afraid of me." He paused to shrug, then smiled at her. "It shouldn't matter to me if you're afraid or not, but it does."
"Then…"
"There isn't time," he interrupted. "If you hadn't run away from me eight months ago, you'd be carrying my son now."
Her eyes widened over that announcement. Nathan thought she was reacting to his mention of a babe. She was such an innocent, and he knew she didn't have any experience in sexual matters. And Lord, that did please him.
"I didn't run away from you," she blurted out. "Whatever are you talking about?"
That denial surprised a frown out of him. "Don't you dare lie to me." He gave her shoulders a little squeeze to emphasize his words. "I will not abide it, Sara. You must always be completely honest with me."
She looked as furious as he'd sounded. "I'm not lying," she returned. "I never ran away from you, Viking. Never."
He believed her. She looked too sincere, and thoroughly outraged.
"Sara, I sent a letter to your parents informing them of my intent to come for you. I sent the messenger on a Friday. You were supposed to be ready the following Monday. I even gave the hour. You left for your aunt's island on Sunday morning, the day before. I simply put two and two together."
"I didn't know," she returned. "Nathan, my parents must not have received your letter. Neither one said a word to me. It was such a chaotic time. My mother was worried sick about my Aunt Nora, her sister. Nora always wrote at least one letter a month, but Mother hadn't received a missive in such a long time. She was making herself ill worrying about Nora. When she suggested I go to her sister and find out what was wrong, well, I immediately agreed, of course."
"Just when did your mother confide this worry in you?" he asked.
His cynicism irritated her. She knew what he was thinking and frowned in reaction. "A few days before I left," she admitted. "But she wouldn't have confided her concerns to me if I hadn't caught her crying. And she was most reluctant to burden me. Very reluctant," she added. "Do you know, now that I reflect upon it, I'm certain I was the one who suggested I go to Nora's island."
A sudden thought turned her attention. "How did you know my true destination? My family told everyone I had gone to the colonies to visit my older sister."
He didn't bother to explain that his men had been following her, and he didn't mention that she'd booked passage on one of his ships. He simply shrugged. "Why couldn't they have told the truth about the matter?"
"Because Nora was in disgrace," Sara said. "She married her groom and fled from England over fourteen years ago. I was certain everyone would have forgotten the scandal, but as it happens, no one did."
Nathan turned the topic back to the letters. "So you didn't know that Nora hadn't written to your mother until two days before you left?"
"Mother didn't want me to worry," Sara said. "I won't allow you to think that my mother had anything to do with trickery. My father or my sister might have tried to intercept your missive, Nathan, just to make you wait a little longer, but my mother would never have gone along with such deceit."
Nathan found her defense of her mother honorable. Illogical, but honorable all the same. For that reason he didn't force her to accept the truth. Her belief that her father was innocent, however, irritated the hell out of him.
And then it dawned on him that she hadn't tried to run away from him. He was so pleased over that revelation, he quit frowning.
Sara stared up at her husband while she tried to think of another way to convince him that her mother was completely innocent of any treachery. And then the truth of what he had just told her settled in her mind.
He hadn't forgotten her.
Her smile was captivating. He didn't know what to make of the sudden change in her. She threw herself against his chest, wrapped her arms around his waist, and hugged him. He grunted in reaction. He was more confused than ever by her bizarre behavior. Yet he found he liked the sudden show of affection she was showing him, liked it very much.