Eleven

It seemed for a time that every bachelor in the room sought out Adriana to ask her for a dance. She graciously complied to as many as she could, knowing it would save her toes from further injury. Some moments later, she found Roger pushing through the throng of hopefuls with a glass of wine. He seemed intent on discouraging her admirers as he pressed it into her hand. Adriana promptly realized she either had to accept it from his grasp or have the wine sloshed over her gown. It nettled her that he could be so persistent, but Roger's ploy worked to his advantage, for the hopefuls finally went off to find other partners.

Trying to curb her irritation, Adriana settled upon a nearby bench and sipped from the crystal goblet as she once again worked off her slippers beneath her hem. Roger plied her with a string of inquiries, to which she responded with silence, a noncommittal shrug, a nod or a shake of her head, preferring not to answer any of them for the moment. He seemed mainly curious about the ones who had invited her to dance and if she were interested in any of them. She hardly considered that any of his business since he wasn't really a friend or, for that matter, even someone she enjoyed having around. He had simplyproven unrelenting in his quest to be with her, which hardly seemed a viable reason for her to tolerate him any longer. In fact, she didn't even think she really liked the man. Indeed, it seemed an appropriate time to tell him that he could no longer call upon her.

A dozen or so close acquaintances her own age and gender descended upon her before she could do so, crowding around her with vivacious chatter, leaving Roger feeling out of sorts with the lot of them as questions about this gentleman or that were eagerly presented, making it obvious the young ladies' interest centered mainly on titled aristocrats. Finally, unable to bear being the only male in the midst of so many fluttering females, Roger offered a terse excuse and departed.

Nearly a score of hawkish bachelors swooped down on the gathering to pluck this chick or that one from the brood. Adriana smilingly declined several, not wishing to embarrass herself by revealing the fact that she had lost one of her slippers and, for some moments now, hadn't been able to find it.

Sighing forlornly as everyone deserted her, she was fraught by fear that she'd soon be at the mercy of Roger again. This time, for sure, she would tell him that he'd no longer be welcomed at Wakefield Manor after the evening was over. Yet she hardly wanted to face that prospect without her slippers on. At least, while wearing them, she'd be able to walk away if the apprentice became too ornery.

There seemed no graceful way of finding her shoe without forsaking all pretense and bending down to search for it, but that option threatened to cause her more humiliation than she really cared to invite. When a scant moment later a more subtle approach came to mind, she rose gracefully from the bench and considered her surroundings in the manner of a queen surveying her court. Edging forward slowly, then to the left and then to the right, she searched about with the toes of her bare foot. Upon finding the errant slipper at last, she was just sliding her foot into it when a large hand swept beneath her elbow, sending her teetering sideways in surprise. A gasp of astonishment had barely escaped her lips when a darkly garbed armcame around her waist, saving her from a fall. In an instant, her head was filled with a pleasing manly cologne, a very strange occurrence indeed, considering she had never noticed Roger's use of toiletries before this moment in time.

Adriana knew she should have been grateful the apprentice had saved her from the humiliation of a fall. Even so, she was incensed that he had tried to take her arm in the first place. Had he not done so, she would never have lost her balance.

Gnashing her teeth in vexation, Adriana shoved her foot securely within her shoe and turned on him. Then she almost stumbled back in sharp surprise as she found herself facing a neatly tied white silk cravat set off by a silk waistcoat and an elegant coat of the same costly black cloth. Her gaze rose by several degrees until she found white teeth gleaming back at her from a handsomely bronzed face.

"Colton!" Her voice gave generous hint to her astonishment, sounding more like a hoarse croak than the sweet tones to which she was certain he had recently been so attentive.

A soft chuckle flowed from his lips. "You needn't sound so shocked, Adriana. You must have known I'd make my claim on you sooner or later."

"No … I mean, I really hadn't been expecting you to come over."Not when he had been plying the lovely Miss Felicity with his charming smile.

"The way you turned on me, I came close to ducking," he teased with an unrelenting grin. "I seem to remember that even as a child you could give me a pretty good wallop when you had had enough of my tomfoolery. You didn't seem at all bashful about doing so either."

A blush infused Adriana's cheeks, for she had come close to doing that very thing. "You startled me, that's all."

"My apologies, my dear, but after several attempts to find you free, I finally decided I'd have to come and stake my right to dance with you in spite of all the besotted admirers who seem reluctant to turn loose of your skirts. The miller's son seems especially tenacious tonight. Have you told him yet?"

"No," she admitted testily. "I haven't found a convenient moment."

"I'd be willing to perform the deed if you can't bring yourself to do it, my dear," he offered, his eyes gleaming into hers.

"I'm sure you'd be delighted to give him such news," she rejoined coolly, "but I wonder if your intentions would truly be of the benevolent sort, considering the last time you two were together you sent him flying across the room."

"Certainly tender toward you, my dearest Adriana," he avouched. "I'd be saving you from a task you obviously find loathsome to perform. As for him, well, you could say the swiftest cut is the most humane way to sever a tainted limb." He lifted his broad shoulders in a casual shrug. "At least, that's what the surgeons told me when they were contemplating the removal of mine."

Elevating a brow, she directed a brief, meaningful glance toward his right limb. "Aren't you thankful you didn't follow their sage advice?"

Colton chuckled. "I am indeed grateful, so if you'd rather not have me enlighten Roger, I shall leave the telling to your more kindly care … for a price…."

"For a price?" she repeated, highly skeptical. "And what may that be?"

"I'm here to rescue you from your brief, spinsterish solitude before some other gallant intrudes." He grinned with sudden amusement. "I believe Sir Guy Dalton was searching for you a few moments ago, but Lord Riordan sent him chasing after a phantom. Remind me never to accept directions from your smitten swains. I may end up in Africa again."

"I've been without a partner for at least the last dance or two," she informed him rather coolly and asked outright, knowing full well the answer, "Where have you been?"

"Out taking a breath of fresh air," he answered simply. "I wasn't all that interested in dancing with any of the other ladies and had grown vexed waiting for my turn with you. I now know the outer perimeter of Wakefield Manor better than I do my own home." He glanced down at his well-shod feet. "I even paused to polish the dew off my shoes, anything to get through the interminable wait."

A likely story, with Felicity waiting in the wings,Adriana thought with a fair bit of peevishness. "‘Tis very noble of you to try and save me from my fate, my lord, but really, you needn't trouble yourself on my account."

Once again she had cause to wonder if her cheeks would ever regain their normal coloring under his predatorial perusal. Although still miffed by his gall to flaunt Felicity beneath her very nose, Adriana had to admire the way he looked. Never had she seen a more handsome or debonairly garbed man. Indeed, she doubted if even Riordan, whose attire at all times was the very example of discriminating taste, could come close to equaling Colton's finery this evening.

Feigning a nonchalance that she struggled hard to convey, Adriana swept a hand in the approximate direction she had last seen the blonde. "Please, feel free to continue dancing with your partner."

Smiling down at her as he leaned toward her, Colton laid one wrist atop the other behind his back. Unable to resist the delectable scent of her elusive fragrance, he nearly closed his eyes in pleasure as it twined through his senses. It was a simple fact, the lady smelled as intoxicating as she looked, and he knew, were he ever to return to the battlefield, her beautiful face and sweet essence would sustain him through the fiercest of battles. "At the present moment, my dear, I'm without one."

Adriana chuckled, making light of his predicament. "What? Can it be that Miss Fairchild has forsaken you for another? I find that difficult to believe, considering the wealth of praises she has been liberally attaching to your name recently. You must have been visiting her often to inspire such glowing tributes."

Amusement broadened his roguish grin. "You've been listening to those confounded gossips again, Adriana."

"I… I certainly have not!" she protested, and was forced to endure the scalding heat of another sweeping blush. Petulantlyshe lifted her fine nose into the air, doing her best to snub him. "I merely saw you dancing with Miss Fairchild, that's all."

"Once only. It seemed the thing to do until Stuart came back."

"What does Stuart have to do with it?"

"Why, my dear, he brought her…."

Adriana tried her best not to gape in astonishment. "Stuart brought her?"

His darkly translucent eyes danced as he took note of her surprise. "Well, actually, if you really want me to be specific, my sister and brother-in-law brought them both, having been urged by you to bring whomever they would. Samantha didn't think you'd mind since the both of you invited her on your ride the day of my return, and Stuart seemed interested in her." His gray orbs continued to sparkle with mischievous delight as he peered at her closely, making much of his incredulity. "You didn't think I had escorted her here, did you, my dear? Why, shame on you."

"I'm not your dear," Adriana declared, lifting her winsome nose higher still. "So stop calling me that."

"Oh, but you are my dear… according to my father's wishes," Colton needled. Never had a woman made so many attempts to banish him out of her life, and never had he enjoyed a challenge more.

Adriana wished he'd stop grinning at her. He seemed highly amused, no doubt at her expense. Unable to think of an adequate riposte, she shrugged briefly and then remembered much too late that her décolletage had a tendency to gap away from her bosom with such movements. As if bidden, the gray eyes dropped into her neckline, prompting Adriana to clasp the shiny onyx pendant of her necklace as she sought to shield her bosom from his inspection.

"Too late," he murmured, leaning toward her with a devilish grin. "I've seen everything you have hidden there and have been lusting after you ever since."

Ignoring the little thrill that shot through her, Adriana spread her lace fan before her and plied it with zealous fervoras she sought to cool her burning cheeks. "You have some nerve reminding me of your forwardness to spy on me like some naughty little boy peeping through a knothole."

His brows quirked skeptically. "Did I make any pretense about what I was looking at?"

"No, and I doubt I've ever met a more brazen rake."

"The appropriate word is ‘candid,' my dear." His lips twitched teasingly. "Besides, I could hardly feign indifference in the state I was in, now could I?"

The fan fluttered vigorously as her face became as hot as smoldering embers. Adriana dared not glance around for fear someone would discern her discomfiture. Instead, she muttered for his ears alone, "Why don't you go back and dance with Felicity. She may enjoy your form of bawdy humor."

"You're jealous, my dear, and without cause," he accused. "I have no interest in the woman."

Adriana peered up at him curiously. "If you have no interest in her, then please explain why you visited her."

"Visited her?" Colton shook his head, totally bemused. "I've never done anything of the sort."

She closed her fan and tapped it against his handsomely garbed chest. "You were seen leaving Mr. Gladstone's house. Now tell me true, who else would you have been calling upon if not Felicity?"

Colton had to think back a moment before he recalled his visit to the old miller. "Well, my dear, if you're so curious, then I shall tell you. Samantha and I went there solely to pay our respects to Mr. Gladstone. We never saw Felicity. In fact, her mother said she wasn't feeling well."

"Oh." Suddenly elated, Adriana shrugged her shoulders, intending to apologize, and remembered too late her revealing bodice.

After catching another glimpse of the lace-encased fullness beneath her gown, Colton cleared his throat rather sharply and glanced around, deciding he'd better refrain from indulging in such titillating sights for the time being. One peek was hardly satisfying; it only whet his appetite to see her beautiful bodyonce again unadorned by anything more than the natural raiment of her loosely flowing black hair.

Searching for something exceedingly less pleasurable to settle his mind upon in his quest to cool his hard-pressing hunger for the lady, he turned this way and that in search of the apprentice. "Where the devil has Roger gone to? Wasn't he supposed to be your guest tonight? Or did you perchance say your companion?"

"Roger is neither my guest in the way you infer nor my companion," Adriana stated, miffed that he should even mention the man. "I merely told him that we'd allow him to come when he asked me if he could."

"I thought you told me—"

"Never mind what I said. That's the way it is. Roger is merely an acquaintance I met while shopping for a gift for a servant. Thereinafter he took it upon himself to visit me."

Colton's face brightened. "Excellent. Then that means you're free to dance with me."

For a moment, Adriana seemed unable to do anything more than stutter. "I d-don't know that I care to d-dance just yet."

Colton's lips curved into a taunting grin. "Nonsense, Adriana, before I came over here, you were looking like some prim little spinster hiding out in shame in her lonely little corner, all but forsaken by every male in the room, including Lord Harcourt who seems for a change unduly attentive to Lady Berenice tonight. Should I assume you've told him?"

Beneath his inquiring stare, she inclined her head stiltedly. "As a matter of fact, I have."

"Well, at least that much is behind you. Obviously the gossips aren't aware of your army of suitors. They were chattering up a veritable storm about your dim future as the youngest offspring in your father's household when I passed several moments ago. If I'm going to save my reputation as a man of taste, you must establish yourself as one who has more hope of marrying young."

The last thing Adriana wanted was this man's sympathy. "You needn't feel constrained to save my reputation from gossipmongers, my lord," she said snidely. "Roger will eventually return. If not, I suppose I can tell him about our impending courtship some other time."

Colton snorted derisively. "The lad should do wonders for your notoriety. Left to his care, every poverty stricken yokel in the area will be bleating at your door."

"You don't have to be so disparaging about a man simply because he lacks wealth and a title," she chided, wondering how it was that she could feel all warm toward the handsome nobleman one moment and, in the next, desire to hang a large pot over his head. "There are many honorable gentlemen in that same predicament."

"Aye, I got to know quite a number of them in my years away from home. I called many of them my friends, but I care not for the likes of Roger Elston."

"Can you tell me why exactly?" she prodded irritably. "Mayhap I could better understand your aversion if you were to explain it to me."

His broad shoulders moved upward indolently. " ‘Tis a feeling I have, nothing more."

"And do you often base your contempt for a person merely on a feeling, my lord? Perhaps you've mistaken intuition for an upset stomach."

His eyes danced as they delved into her own. "Was that what Father was suffering when he got the heady notion we should be wed?"

Silenced by his jibe, Adriana turned her gaze away from him in a lofty manner. Only when she felt his hand settle rather possessively upon the small of her back did she face him again with a fair amount of surprise.

Giving no heed to her look of astonishment, Colton urged her toward the dance floor. "I hope you don't mind dancing with a man hindered by a limp."

Although Adriana had seen no slightest evidence of a flaw in his step earlier, she hoped they could forego such exercise for the sake of her own poorly trampled feet. "We could just as well sit. As you know, it wouldn't be the first time for me tonight, and if your abilities are anything like Roger's, I strongly suggest we do."

"Absolutely not!" Colton stated emphatically. "At least not while that malapert-untutored-in-social-graces is still on the premises." With a gentle, yet unrelenting pressure, he pushed her forward.

She peered at him over her shoulder, feeling like an errant child being prodded by a parent. "You're rather persistent, aren't you?"

"I suppose," he allowed, accompanying his reply with a facial shrug. "At least the men in my company thought so."

"I'm not one of your men," she retorted and had cause to wonder what would follow as she heard his soft chuckles.

"Believe me, my dear, I've never mistaken you for one of them, not even for an instant."

"Thank you for small considerations," she responded, exaggerating her gratitude.

His eyes gleamed tauntingly into hers as she chanced another glance. In spite of her snide retort, his smile remained undiminished, his hand on her back unrelenting. "You're welcome, my dear, but it took no mean mental feat on my part to recognize the difference. None of my men ever looked even remotely appealing to me, especially while soaking in a bathtub."

"Shush!" Adriana scolded, flushing scarlet again as she looked about to see who was near. "Someone will hear you!"

"Not while the music and chatter of the busybodies are causing such a din. If you're not aware of it yet, the gossips have now noticed that you're with me instead of Roger."

Adriana cast a surreptitious glance about and realized what he said was true. Another rippling wave of excitement was making its way through the elderly matrons.

When they reached the dance floor, Colton faced her as he swept his gaze over the heads of the majority of guests, searching for the one he had earlier defamed. "Frankly, considering the lad's eagerness to assault me and challenge my right even to come near you, I shall enjoy staking my claim on you."

Adriana had cause to wonder if Colton was genuinely interested

in her or merely eager to thwart Roger's aspirations. The idea was enough to cause the back of her neck to prickle. "Just to spite the lad, as you call him?"

Folding his hands behind his back again as if he were standing in a library with a roomful of men rather than on a ballroom floor with her, Colton grinned down at her, undeterred by the fact that dancing couples were forced to halter their steps in order to go around them. "Why, if needs be, my dear, I'd even be tempted to marry you just to frustrate that young whelp's ambitions."

The dark eyes flared, evidencing Adriana's heightening irritation. "You needn't worry that I will accept your proposal, my lord. My father did allow me some choice in the matter."

The corners of his mouth twitched with amusement. "Singed your pretty feathers a mite, did I?"

Her icy glare pierced him. "Your pardon, my lord, but the last time I looked, I wasn't wearing any."

"Crystals, then," he corrected as his sparkling eyes swept her from head to toe in a way that made her blood race. Stepping near, he slid an arm behind her waist and captured her slender hand within his. "Even without such ornamentations, my pet, you'd still be a rare beauty," he murmured softly and waltzed her around the dance floor before offering another conjecture. "I'm sure your friend, Lord Harcourt, thinks so; he seems to be having trouble keeping his eyes off you this evening. But then, he was having difficulty with that very same thing when I first met him, even more so at Melora's wedding. I believe he fancies himself in love with you."

"Have you grown annoyed with Lord Harcourt because he asked me to dance? Is that also why you're upset with the lad?"

"I'm not annoyed with Lord Harcourt. He's a very sensible man, and a gentleman of honor. ‘Tis also apparent he has incredibly good taste, especially in women. As for the lad, you already know my feelings toward Roger." He shrugged. "As for myself, I'd be satisfied if you were to smile merely for my pleasure."

"What can you expect from me?" Adriana retorted. "Notknowing what these next three months will bring, I find myself in a bit of a quandary. I can only wonder why you're even considering courting me. I know how much you value your freedom."

For a lengthy moment, his translucent gray eyes probed the dark depths of hers. Did he indeed want his freedom more than he wanted her? That had been the question haunting him in recent weeks, yet even now he was wont to dismiss his growing enthrallment with the lady. "I came back to do my duty to my father and my family by assuming the marquessate, Adriana, and if I find that that also entails marrying you, I shall do so."

"You needn't go to such extremes," she stated, wounded by his callous commitment to the existing contract. "I'm quite willing to accept another if you're truly averse to the idea of marrying me."

Colton couldn't explain away the nettling sense of irritation that came swiftly upon him. "By that, I suppose you mean Lord Harcourt."

Adriana raised her dainty chin a notch. "As you said, my lord, he is a gentleman. I could do far worse for myself."

"Would you prefer him over me?" Colton asked, sharply elevating a brow. His growing annoyance gave him cause to wonder if he would be as dedicated to rejecting their betrothal if it meant losing her to another man. Previously he had only considered his determination to get through the courtship without making concessions to commitments that would likely lead people to think he was merely kowtowing to his father's decree, yet he hadn't really considered she wouldn't be there for him to court on his own after the three-month tenure.

"If you have no regard for me, then ‘twould be in my best interest to marry a man who wants me…."

"Are you saying that Kendrick asked you to marry him?"

"Yes, I believe he said something to that effect." Adriana tilted her elegantly coiffed head as if trying to recall Riordan's precise words. "In fact, he urged me to abscond with him this very night."

Something strangely vexing roiled within Colton. It was anexperience he had only had some inkling of once before, but this time he recognized it for what it was. Bluntly he asked, "Have I reason to be jealous?"

Adriana laughed rather skeptically. "Why should you be? I was under the impression that for a man to experience jealousy he must consider himself in danger of losing a cherished love to a rival. ‘Tis apparent you don't care a whit about me, so why would you be envious?"

"You could be mistaken." A meager smile was the best he could manage.

Adriana tossed her head with a scoffing laugh. "What is that very old adage, my lord? Seeing is believing?"

The darkly translucent eyes gleamed back at her. "Father said you had backbone. In fact, he said a lot of things about you that I couldn't believe at the time. When I left home, you seemed like such a wee little mouse, afraid of your shadow, except when you got angry with me for pestering you and Samantha. I think during our courtship I shall enjoy searching for all those assets Father claimed you had."

Adriana wondered if he was deliberately discounting what she had said or if he was merely dense. The latter seemed highly unlikely. "Don't you understand that I'm giving you leave to dispense with this whole thing, not only the betrothal, but the courtship as well."

Colton lifted his chin thoughtfully. Losing her was the last thing he wanted, of that he was confident. "Lord Harcourt seems to be a man of excellent taste and character. He fought valiantly during the wars and was also in line to make general if he had stayed in, but he chose not to. I would be willing to wager you're the main reason he came home. Admiring the man as I do, I think ‘twould behoove me to probe the matter of our betrothal in much greater depth. My father thought you were special; obviously Riordan is of the same conviction. Before I can make a fair and prudent judgment for myself, I must come to know everything about you. The only way I'll be able to accomplish that is by courting you as the contract demands."

"You're intentionally dismissing the importance of what I'm trying to tell you," Adriana accused, thoroughly frustrated.

Capturing her gaze, Colton plumbed the dark depths as he stated with conviction, "I mean to accomplish my part of the agreement, Adriana. If you have no intention of honoring your father's word, then please tell me now, and I won't trouble you further."

Adriana bristled. "That has always been my purpose, my lord. I merely offered to withdraw whatever claims I have on you because I thought you wished to be free of the agreement."

"Now you know better."

"I have difficulty discerning your thoughts, my lord. Your actions seemed to suggest the converse."

"Your actions, my dear Adriana, suggest to me that you are the most contrary young lady I've ever met," he countered. "I should hope in all truth that is not the case."

Adriana felt properly put in her place, knowing she had been brusque with him almost without exception since his return.

Colton swept his gaze over the top of her head as he considered the sea of dancers moving in time with the music. Perhaps she didn't realize her deepening effect on him and was actually trying to do the honorable thing by releasing him from his commitment, but as much as his pride might have rallied at his freedom to choose his future bride, the idea of losing his firm grasp upon Adriana Sutton went sorely against his grain. He supposed in that respect he was no different from Roger, except that he had an advantage his father had arranged for him. "I can't blame Lord Harcourt for wanting to marry you. You could brighten any man's life."

Not sure how she should take that particular statement, Adriana peered up at him suspiciously. "Do you have a fever, my lord?"

A soft chuckle escaped Colton's lips as he glanced down at her. "How many compliments must a man bestow upon you, Adriana, before you recognize them for what they are?"

"Compliment, you say?" she asked in a doubtful tone as sheprobed the dark gray orbs for what they would reveal. If she had expected him to offer confirmation under closer scrutiny, then in that she was to be disappointed.

"Find anything?" he teased, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"No, I didn't," she admitted. "Probably because you're very adept at hiding the true import of your words behind that wayward grin of yours."

Laughing softly, he whirled her around the ballroom in ever-widening circles, moving with an easy strength that readily compensated for the slight limp that still lingered. "And you, my dear Adriana, have a very suspicious nature. Have you really no idea how beautiful you have become?"

Even more wary now, she reminded him, "You once called me a scrawny little gamine, remember?"

His darkly shining eyes dipped briefly into her bodice for another glimpse of the womanly fullness scantily adorned by creamy lace. "I can easily attest that that statement is no longer true, Adriana. If you must know, I can barely refrain from ogling you."

His probing inspection proved puissant in its knee-weakening ability to dismantle her composure. It left her nigh breathless, reminding Adriana of his leisured perusal from the vicinity of the tree weeks earlier. If anything, that singular memory was far more heady in retrospect than any of the other encounters she had had with him, and that rather mystified her, considering how he had perused her in the bathing chamber. Yet in that cubicle she had not been cognizant of the almost tangible yearning that she had seen in his eyes outside the church. Nor had he, then, seemed as cocksure of himself or his appeal. If anything, his desire for her had seemed vulnerable, as if he were indeed afraid of losing her. "Is that what you were doing outside the chapel after Melora's wedding?"

Colton accepted her inquiry in stride. "I was simply admiring your assets, my dear. A man would have to be blind not to appreciate everything about you. I might have done so at closer range, but your army of suitors had you well barricaded. When you stormed out of your parents' drawing room, I came to the conclusion that you didn't want me anywhere near you until our courtship began. As much as I yearned to whisk you away from all your admirers that day outside the church, I was certain you'd resent it."

Adriana lowered her gaze to the dark sheen of his silk waistcoat, wondering why she should be even remotely susceptible to his antics. "You were unusually bold about it. The way you looked at me made me feel…"

After a lengthy silence during which she failed to finish her statement, Colton peered down at her curiously. "Yes?"

"Never mind, it isn't important," she mumbled, looking elsewhere in an effort to hide her burning cheeks.

"You're blushing again, which means you're embarrassed by what you almost said," he murmured warmly. "When you were a child, you'd turn the brightest red imaginable when I'd catch you and Samantha sneaking animals up to her room. Obviously you're hiding something positively wicked … in relationship to your virginal innocence, that is."

Adriana's head snapped up, and though she made several attempts to protest, she managed nothing more than, "I never…!"

Smiling down at her, he raised a querying brow. "Made you feel naked? Is that what you were about to say?"

Fully aware of the flaming heat in her cheeks, she groaned aloud. "Nooo! I would never say such a thing!"

"No, but you were thinking it," he accused, his eyes dancing with delight. Unable to resist her evocative fragrance, he leaned his face near her temple once again, letting the scent waft through his senses.

"What if I were?" she snapped, brushing a hand upward over the mass of soft ringlets cascading from her crown and in so doing forcing him to straighten. "It seemed your intent to make me feel that way!"

"I was just remembering how beautiful you looked in the bathtub," Colton acknowledged, wrenching a shocked gasp from her.

"A gentleman would never remind a lady of such an encounter!" she scolded, blushing furiously. "Nor would he have remained there one second after realizing the tub was occupied by someone of the opposite gender, especially when he was in such a shockingly shameless state himself!"

"You must forgive my vulnerability as a man, Adriana," he replied smoothly, seeming totally indifferent to her attempt to make him feel ashamed. "Such sights as I saw before me then are far too rarely glimpsed by those restricted to military encampments for weeks or months on end, which accurately described my state just prior to that point in time. To be sure, I was overtaken by a hope that your presence in my bath was actually an invitation." Another shocked gasp brought his onesided grin into play again. "But then I realized you were quite distressed to find me there and, in all likelihood, had never in your life seen a naked man before, especially one who had been caught up in his lust for you."

Adriana would have bolted right then and made good her escape, but Colton chuckled softly and swirled her about in widely turning circles until she was nigh giddy. Lowering his head, he indulged himself once again in the tantalizing bouquet of roses as he breathed above her ear, "Would you tear yourself away from me merely because I'm being honest?"

"Stop turning, please," she begged, her head reeling. "I'm feeling faint."

"I will… if you promise not to fly away," he bargained, easing the intensity of his circling rotations.

She gripped his sleeve in an effort to keep herself upright, wondering what discomfited her more, his uncompromising honesty or the fact that he said he desired her. "You leave me little choice."

Ceasing his lazy whirling, Colton led her in a fairly simple dance, allowing her to settle herself. After a moment, he peered down at her. "Feeling better?"

Had she run a long and difficult race, Adriana would have felt no less winded, but that breathlessness had nothing to do with her actual physical state, but rather the emotions that hadbegun racing through her womanly being. This man, who had once been so adamant in his refusal to consider their future together, had just said he desired her. Had he swept the floor out from under her, he could not have astonished her more. "I would if you'd allow me to sit down."

His soft chuckle seemed to entangle her mind. "Roger is waiting for you, and I don't want to lose you, least of all to him of all people. Besides, we must talk seriously about our courtship."

"I don't intend to demand more than what you're willing to give, my lord, if that's what you're afraid of," she answered, hoping to lay hold of her sanity once more. The fact that she was still in his arms after what he had said to her seemed viable proof of her lunacy.

Colton sighed heavily, as if thoroughly frustrated. "Adriana, if we're going to be together as a couple for at least three solid months, I insist you call me Colton."

"Colton it is, then," she complied, with a single nod affirming her concurrence.

A sigh of exaggerated relief wafted from his lips. "I'm delighted we have finally vaulted over that hurdle. Now we can get on to more important details."

Adriana readily offered her opinion. " ‘Tis now my understanding that we're both committed to seeing this agreement through to the end, whatever that may be … if only for the sake of our parents. Do you concur?"

Again he responded with a lazy shrug. "It could be the end … or possibly even the beginning. Who knows what will come of it?"

"You needn't try to assuage my feelings. As long as the contract has been signed, I've realized the limited possibility of a wedding actually taking place even if a betrothal follows our courtship. So, please spare me your pretenses. There is no need for them."

He pondered her answer for a moment before offering an undeniable truth. "Our parents hope otherwise."

"Yes, I know they do," Adriana conceded in a small voice.

Disappointing her mother and father would be the last thing she wanted to do.

"We should at least make some sort of pretense for them."

"I guess we should, at least a nominal one. If they see more than that, they'll likely be encouraged."

"We can't have that, now can we?"

Did she really see his lips twitch? "They don't expect much now; to give them hope would only cause them greater hurt when we part."

Colton's brows gathered thoughtfully. "I've never courted a woman halfheartedly before. I'm not sure I'm capable of restraining myself in that area. In fact, my dear Adriana, this chicanery you propose will probably prove more difficult than you can imagine."

She lifted her own slender shoulders nonchalantly, only to remember too late that his consuming eyes were ever watchful for invitations of that sort. "Marriage with me or your freedom, sir. That is the choice you'll be facing. ‘Tis as simple as that."

"Not quite as simple as that," he countered after peering into her bodice again. Perusing her creamy breasts was a temptation he couldn't seem to resist. He was fascinated by the way the fullness seemed to flow with almost fluid grace into the shallow lace undergarment. From a distance he had casually noted how tightly other women's breasts had been pressed above their fashionably low décolletages, and he had been led to wonder if there had been any small degree of roundness left underneath those mounds. "Nevertheless, we shall see the way of it as our courtship progresses. I do think, however, that we should proceed with all possible haste."

Adriana's suspicions were evoked anew. "Of course, I understand. You wish to have it behind you so you can get on with your life?"

His palm moved upward between her shoulder blades, pressing her closer against him, and in gently swirling her about again, he had cause to catch his breath in sharp reaction as their thighs brushed. The contact left him battling a familiarache, the intensity of which could've been likened to being hit in the gut, very much like what he had experienced weeks ago when he had watched her laughing and flirting with her courtiers outside the church. The fact that he desired her perhaps more than any woman he had ever known had dawned on him with startling clarity during those moments he had stood underneath the tree. No one could've even come close to guessing the difficulty he had had remaining there merely as an observer and not staking his claim on her. Her escape to her parents' landau had frustrated him to the extent that he had been motivated to move to a place where he could continue to view the proceedings unobstructed, where his eyes could feed on her every gesture, smile, shake or nod of her bonneted head.

Though only just awakening to sensual emotions, Adriana was not to escape unscathed. There was a slow, strength-shattering roll in the lower pit of her stomach that all but took her breath away; it definitely weakened her knees, leaving in its wake a gnawing, hungry craving that seemed to pulse at her very core. Awed by the feelings sweeping through her, she lifted her gaze to find Colton watching her closely, as if searching for something beyond her ken.

Even as she stared up at him, fraught by confusion, he seemed unable to keep his eyes elevated. They swept downward into her bodice again as the cloth loosened over the delicious fullness. From there, his gaze roamed upward slowly over the ivory column of her throat until it reached her mouth. For a wild, mad moment he wondered what it would be like to taste her quickening breath in his mouth and kiss the tempting softness of those lips that parted in … Was it surprise? Or … passion?

He managed a smile, but it was somewhat strained as he redirected his attention elsewhere, a much needed requirement to regain control over his mind and body. With fierce dedication he lent his thoughts to an area he was loath to recall, the battlefield whereupon he had last fought. While cannonballs hurtled down all around them, stripping life and limb frommany of them, he had led a charge into that thick fray with the burgeoning knowledge that if he and his men eased their assault one whit, the day would be lost. They had fought with desperation during the whole bloody conflict, and at long last a sense of victory had finally rallied their lagging strength. In the next moment, a shell exploded nearby, sending shards of debris searing into his leg as the blast hurled him aside. Dazed, he had struggled to his feet and fought valiantly on until they had gained the day. By the next afternoon, his wound had begun to putrefy, and when he had thought of his approaching death, an image of his sire had come to mind.

"You know as well as I that my father was said to have been a man of keen intuitive intellect," Colton mused aloud, breaking the lengthy silence between them. "He was adamant in his belief that we would be good for each other. Call it an experiment, if you would, this courtship of ours, but I'd like to find out for myself all the reasons my father had for thinking that." He laughed rather ruefully. "As you know, my dear, I'm a rather skeptical individual; I didn't like having my life laid out for me in the usual customary rote …"—his brows shrugged upward as he made his point—"by my father. Yet I will do all I can to honor his memory as I earnestly probe the whys and wherefores of his reasoning. I can only ask that you bear with me as we go through this pretense together. The task will hardly be offensive to me. You're an incredibly beautiful woman, Adriana, and yet, in spite of having known each other early on in our lives, we have become, as you said, little more than strangers during my absence. Before I can ask more of you, I must come to know you personally." Tilting his head contemplatively, he asked, "Has my honesty offended you?"

"No, Colton," she replied, offering him a hesitant smile. "If truth be told, I prefer your frankness, for you see, in the time that it will take for you to discern my true nature, I hope to discover yours. As with any couple, getting to know each other is part of establishing a firm foundation upon which a marriage can be built. Determining the character of the otheris vital in making a prudent choice before the vows are spoken. Although I cannot expect much to come from our courtship because of your past resistance, I shall be willing to give you every chance to judge whatever merits I may have as a wife."

"Thank you, Adriana," he murmured softly.

It took a moment before she could answer him, but when she did, Adriana was amazed to find her voice weak and trembling. "I know we have much to learn about each other, Colton, but I tell you truly, I'm not much changed from that little girl you once rejected. Three months from now, we may decide to take different paths other than the one your father intended for us. Should that occur, I hope we shall each be tolerant of the other's feelings and somehow manage to remain friends for the sake of our families."

The corners of his lips twitched in amusement. "Strange, but I thought you had changed a great deal since I left home. As much as I've searched, I cannot find that light smattering of freckles that once bridged your nose." His eyes followed the straight, delicate lines of the mentioned feature before moving to her softly curving lips. "Truth be told, my lady, I don't recall ever being tempted to kiss that little girl I left behind."

Adriana gave him a challenging look. "I think, Colton, ‘twould greatly behoove you to proceed with caution."

"A little kiss here and there is harmless…."

"A little kiss here and there is dangerous," she countered, thoroughly convinced of that premise where he was concerned.

A dark brow arched wonderingly. "Are you so fearful of losing your virtue, Adriana?"

"With you? Aye!" she answered with a finality that brooked no discussion, knowing her mother would be horror-struck if she could hear their conversation. "I've not wandered the world hither and yon as you have done, Colton. I've never been subjected to constant dangers or the uncertainty of war. I've always known where I would sleep, and, thus far, that hasalways been entirely alone. I don't know about you, what your experiences have been, but even as a young man you seemed to have a way about you that drew young maidens to you like a swarm of bees to honey, and that, frankly, worries me. There are certain things I want from a husband, among them love, honor, fidelity, and a wealth of children we have made together. If, after this courtship, you still want me as your wife, I'll gladly yield you all that I have to give as a wife with as much joy, passion, and devotion as I'm capable of feeling. But until that day wherein we become one, I must guard my heart, because I'm very susceptible. When I was a little girl, I simply adored you, but you broke my heart. If that were to happen again, it would be far more shattering to me the second time around."

"You've made your case, Adriana," Colton murmured, delving into those large, ebon pools that watched him so closely in return.

"Then may I assume that you'll limit the persuasiveness of your manly ardor where I am concerned?"

"I'm not sure I can make that pledge and keep it."

"Why not?" she asked in all innocence.

Colton mentally sighed, wondering if the woman knew how beautiful she really was. Glancing around as he sought to find an appropriate answer, he realized suddenly that the music had stopped. In some amazement he swept a more thorough inspection around the perimeter of the dance floor. From what he was able to discern, they had been the only ones dancing for the last few moments. Everyone else had moved to the sidelines to watch them. Most of the guests simply smiled in amusement, while others were more enthusiastic and emphasized their appreciation with hearty applause and shouts of "Bravo!" and "Encore!"

Percy teasingly heckled from a safe distance off. "You've been involved too long in the wars, my friend. Any pretty face, and you lose your wits over her."

Colton chuckled good-naturedly and waved off the comment with a hand. Then he grinned down at Adriana who laughed and shrugged in spite of the fact that her cheeks were again glowing with a vivid blush. "I do believe, my dear, that we've stolen center stage of the Autumn Ball."