A delicious shivering went over her as she lowered herself into the water’s hot embrace. The tremor of sheer pleasure was very much what she had felt at the long, slow stroking of Wolfe’s fingertip down her spine. The realization was almost as unnerving as his touch had been. Quickly, she ducked beneath the water to wet her hair before she began rubbing soap into it.

By the time Jessica had rinsed and begun to work a second round of soap into her hair, the quivering reluctance of her arm muscles abruptly changed into something more alarming. Her arms locked in a half-raised position. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t raise them any farther. In fact, she couldn’t even hold them upright.

Soap began trickling down her face and into her eyes as her arms fell uselessly to her sides.

«Wolfe,» Jessica cried out. «Something is wrong with my arms!»

Afraid to open her eyes because of the soap, Jessica didn’t know Wolfe had come into the room until she felt a warm cloth moving over her face. She flinched in surprise.

«Be still, Jessi,» Wolfe said. «I won’t hurt you.»

«I know. You just startled me. My arms, Wolfe. I can’t —»

«Yes, I can see,» he interrupted.

He ran his hands gently over her arms. The slender muscles were knotted and hard beneath her smooth skin.

«Do you hurt?» he asked.

Jessica shook her head. «Not really. I think the muscles have just declared a holiday. The same thing happened to my legs that day I tried to jump the creek the way you had. Remember?»

Wolfe smiled slightly. «How many times did you try?»

«I don’t know. I spent most of the morning running and jumping.»

«And landing in the water.»

«And landing in the water,» she agreed, sighing. «It made me angry that you could fly so easily over the creek time and again and I couldn’t do it even once. That night I couldn’t walk.»

«You never told me.»

«I was too proud.»

«Just as you were too proud to tell me today that you couldn’t work any more.»

Jessica said nothing.

«I’ll take care of the soap on your face, first,» Wolfe said. «Your arms can wait. Tilt your head back and keep your eyes closed.»

The gentleness of Wolfe’s voice was matched by his fingers sliding into Jessica’s soapy hair and easing her head back while he blotted up the last of the lather.

«No, don’t open your eyes yet. I haven’t gotten all the soap out.»

Jessica heard the sound of cloth being rinsed, felt the swirling of water over her breasts, and blushed at the reminder of her own nakedness. Water ran warmly over her closed eyes, down her cheeks, down her neck.

Wolfe watched each golden trail of moisture with something approaching envy. He wanted to be that close to her, that warm on her skin, licking over her without hindrance.

And he was a fool to want any part of her at all.

«Do your eyes sting?»

«No,» Jessica said hesitantly, wondering at the leashed anger in Wolfe’s voice.

«Keep them dosed until I rinse your hair.»

«You don’t have to. I can —»

«You can’t do a bloody thing,» he interrupted impatiently. «The muscles in your arms have cramped. Take a breath.»

Jessica barely had drawn a breath before her body was shifted and her head was pushed under the warm water. Unlike Wolfe, she was almost able to stretch out in the narrow tub.

Working quickly, Wolfe stripped out lather and swirled clean water through the long mahogany strands until all the soap was gone. Only then did he prop her head above the water against the tub.

«That should do it.»

Jessica tried to push a stray lock of hair from her eyes, but her arms still wouldn’t cooperate. When she tried again, the struggle brought the pink tips of her breasts above the level of the water. Immediately, her nipples tightened against the cool air of the room.

When Wolfe looked down, he wished he hadn’t. His body hardened in a rush that would have brought him to his knees if he had been standing. But he wasn’t. He was kneeling next to an aristocratic little nun who had worked so hard at unaccustomed tasks that her arms had given out. He would have felt worse about being such a savage taskmaster, except that Jessica’s revenge, while unintentional, was complete. The memory of her breasts tipped by tight coral crowns would haunt him without mercy.

«Useless blue-blooded nun,» Wolfe said through gritted teeth. «Take another breath.»

«I didn’t mean to do this,» Jessica said, stung by the tone of Wolfe’s voice. «Between the clothes and the kitchen floor, I —»

The words ended in sputtering sounds as Wolfe lowered Jessica’s head into the water. Moments later, he hauled her into an upright position once more. With swift, efficient movements, he lifted her long hair and squeezed water from it.

«Where is your towel?» he asked.

There was silence followed by a sigh as she admitted, «I was so eager to get into the water I forgot about getting out again.»

«Hold your hair out of the water while I get — damn, you can’t lift your arms.»

Wolfe draped Jessica’s hair over the edge of the tub and down onto the bricks.

«Don’t move. If you slipped under the water, you’d probably drown. I’ll be right back.»

Moments later, Wolfe came back into the room carrying linen towels and a soft cotton flannel blanket. He dried Jessica’s hair as best he could, wrapped it in the length of linen, and tucked everything on top of her head in a neat turban.

«How are your arms doing?»

«Fine, as long as I don’t try to move them.»

Wolfe turned aside, picked up the sponge, and began soaping it. He washed her back, shoulders, and arms, rinsed her, and began soaping the sponge once more.

«Don’t panic, little nun.»

«What?»

The breath stopped in Jessica’s throat as she felt the sponge gliding over her collar bones, her breasts, her ribs, her belly.

«Lift one leg,» he said as he soaped the sponge once more.

«Wolfe,» she said faintly.

«Just brace your foot against the lip of the tub the way I did. Don’t worry. I won’t let you drown.»

Slowly, Jessica lifted her right leg. As though it was something he did every day, Wolfe washed the delicate, high-arched foot, slender ankle, and calf. She watched him with a sense of stunned disbelief as the sponge slid beneath the water and on up the length of her leg.

«Now the other.»

Dazed, Jessica obeyed, lowering one leg and raising the other. The sponge began moving over her once more. When it went from foot to calf to thigh, she shivered. But the sponge didn’t stop there. It swept over the triangle of hair and then down to the soft flesh below. An odd sound squeezed from Jessica’s throat. Instantly, the sponge stopped moving, remaining tucked between her thighs.

«Is something wrong?» Wolfe asked blandly, looking up.

Jessica made another small sound.

«Yes?» he asked.

She blushed brightly enough to put dawn to shame. «Wolfe, please.»

«Please what?»

Putting her hands against his wrist, she tugged, but her arms didn’t exert any force. His hand stayed where it was.

«Do you want me to move my hand?» he asked.

«Yes,» she said, shivering.

«Then unclamp your legs.»

Belatedly, Jessica realized that she had pressed her thighs together in an instinctive effort to shield herself from Wolfe’s touch. The sponge, and his fingers, were caught between her legs.

«S-sorry,» she whispered.

Wolfe wasn’t. He had loved being pressed into the secret, silky warmth of her.

Hurriedly, she shifted, releasing him. The slow withdrawal of the sponge and the hint of a sleek, intimate caress made her feel faint. She flushed from her breasts to her forehead.

«There’s no need to be embarrassed,» Wolfe said in a matter-of-fact tone. «Even if a husband and wife never share a bed, a certain amount of intimacy is inevitable between them.»

Jessica swallowed and watched with huge eyes as Wolfe stood and shook out the soft cotton flannel blanket.

«Can you stand up?»

Her eyes became even bigger. «No.»

«Then I’ll help.»

«But I’m not wearing anything!» she said frantically.

Wolfe sighed and said in a very patient tone, «I know. It’s the usual practice to be naked when in the bath. Can you stand or do you need help?»

«But —»

«Jessica,» he interrupted, «quit dithering and get out of the bath before you take a chill.»

«Close your eyes.»

«This is foolish,» he muttered, but he closed his eyes.

Despite her largely useless arms, Jessica thrashed around until she managed to get to her knees. She was almost to her feet when she slipped.

«Wolfe!»

He caught her, lifted her out of the tub, and stood her on the bricks. With as much disinterest as he could manage, he began drying her briskly.

«Close your eyes!» she wailed.

«I can’t see what I’m doing with my eyes closed. Why don’t you close yours, instead?»

Jessica blinked. «What good would that do?»

«Just a thought.»

Wolfe stifled a smile and closed his eyes. Almost immediately his hands slipped, fumbled, and ended up sliding over her hip without the towel between.

«This isn’t working,» she said breathlessly.

He thought it was working quite well, but said only, «Do you have a better idea?»

«Hold out the blanket tightly and I’ll dry myself on it.»

Within seconds, Wolfe knew it was a bad idea…and a good one. The feel of Jessica’s small, utterly female body rubbing against the cotton in his hands inflamed him as much as bathing her had. When the blanket slipped and he felt the unmistakable texture of a nipple dragging against his palm, he had to fight to draw air into his lungs.