«Let go of me!»

Gore ignored Jessica, intent only on getting closer to the soft, fragrant creature who was finally within his grasp. Part of Jessica’s peignoir ripped in her struggles to be free. He stared at her exposed breasts and tried to understand his good fortune at having found a fiancee who was so eager for him she sought out his rooms while the house slept.

«Just look at thosebubbies, by God,» he said heavily. «Lord Stewart drove a mean bargain for you, but it was worth it to theha’penny.»

Gore bent down to Jessica’s breasts, staggered, and ended up shoving her against the wall with a force that knocked her breathless. That was the only thing that kept her from crying out in pain as his teeth closed over one breast. Grunting with growing excitement, he ignored her struggles as he flattened her against the wall and fumbled to undo his pants. Desperately, Jessica remembered what Wolfe had taught her just before they parted four years ago. With a silent prayer she brought one knee up hard between Gore’s legs. Instantly, his hands fell away and he staggered backward.

Clutching her ruined peignoir around her body, her hair streaming like dark fire behind her, Jessica fled to Wolfe’s room. The door opened easily beneath her shaking hands.

Wolfe came out of the canopy bed in a single flowing movement. He had just enough time to recognize Jessica and drop his knife on the bedside table before she threw herself at his chest. Her arms locked around his bare waist and she shook as wildly as she had when he had found her huddled within a haystack.

Automatically, Wolfe lifted Jessica onto the bed and sat holding her close, trying to soothe her. A few feet away the storm beat mindlessly against stone and glass.

«Gently, little one,» Wolfe murmured. «You’re safe with me. The storm can’t get you now. You’re safe. Here, I’ll light the lamp so that you can see. The storm is out there and you’re in here.»

Wolfe leaned over, lit the lamp one-handed, and resettled Jessica in his lap.

«There, elf. Is that better? You can see that you’re safe, can’t you? You can see…sweet Jesus Christ!»

Wolfe fell silent, unable to speak. Jessica’s breasts were bared and shockingly beautiful despite the bright drops of blood and blue-black bruises forming on her skin.

From somewhere in the house, raised voices could be heard. Wolfe barely noticed. The realization that a man had broken Jessica’s soft skin with his teeth and bruised her delicate flesh with his fingers enraged Wolfe.

«What bloody bastard did this to you?» he asked savagely.

«Lord G-G —» Jessica took a long, shuddering breath and tried to still the shaking of her body so that she could speak. «Lord Gore.»

Very carefully, Wolfe pulled the torn ends of Jessica’s peignoir in place, covering her breasts. «Hush, elf.» He kissed her hair gently. «Hush, little one. You’re safe. I won’t let him hurt you again.»

«P-promise?»

«Yes.»

Jessica let out a broken sigh. For a few moments there was no sound but that of the wind and Jessica’s slowly calming breathing.

Gore burst into the room through the open door. His face was sweaty and he was somewhat less drunk than he had been, for pain could temporarily sober a man.

«You need a taste of the rod, you little baggage,» Gore said coldly, stalking toward the bed, «and you shall have it. Get yourarse out of that savage’s bed.»

Wolfe put Jessica aside and stood up in a single motion. For the first time she realized that Wolfe was naked from the waist up — and from the waist down, as well. Lamplight ran over his body, outlining the power that ran through him like leashed lightning.

«I take it you’re the bastard who mauled myJessi?» Wolfe asked in a soft voice.

Jessica forgot Wolfe’s nakedness as his voice sank into her. She had never heard that tone from him. She shivered and realized that Wolfe could kill — and he would, to defend her.

Before Gore could answer, Lady Victoria came rushing into the room, followed by a distraught Betsy.

«I’m sorry,» Betsy said, looking at Jessica. «I just couldn’t let you come to Mr.Lonetree’s room. The man has a wicked reputation with the ladies.»

«Fully earned, from the look of it,» Victoria said dryly, her gray eyes taking in Gore’s fury, Jessica’sdeshabille, and Wolfe’s nakedness. «Do cover yourself, Wolfe.»

Wolfe ignored Victoria. His hand snaked out and fastened around Gore’s throat. From the hallway came the babble of excited voices. Lord Robert Stewart’s was foremost.

«My dear lady, would you mind explaining what in the devil is — Wolfe! Good Christ, man!»

Robert slammed the bedroom door behind him, but the damage was already done; five lords of the realm had gotten a look into Wolfe’s bedroom. The scandal would be all over London by dawn.

Grimly, Lord Robert turned back to the five people who remained in the room. «Release Lord Gore.»

«I don’t think so,» Wolfe said evenly. «The man attackedJessi.»

«You are a liar as well as a bastard,» Gore said.

He would have said more, but Wolfe’s hand had contracted. Powerful fingers shut down Gore’s carotid arteries, rendering him unconscious with brutal efficiency. Reluctantly, Wolfe opened his hand and let Gore fall heavily to the floor.

«Dear God, Wolfe. You have killed him!» Victoria said in a horrified voice.

«In America I would have. Unfortunately, I’m not in America.»

«You shall be soon,» Robert said. «Damn! You have a gift for scandal, son.»

«It doesn’t come from my mother’s side,» Wolfe said coolly. «Scandal is a civilized notion.»

He turned back to see if Jessica was over her fright. He saw her eyes widen as her glance went down his body. She turned scarlet and looked away so quickly she almost lost her balance.

Calmly, Wolfe went to the dresser and pulled out a nightshirt. He hated the things, but he didn’t want to distress Jessica any further.

Gore began snoring. Robert spared him an irritated glance before he turned his attention to Jessica. He meant to make his voice kind, but he was too angry at losing his son again to be anything but blunt.

«Is Wolfe your paramour?»

The question brought back Gore’s drunken onslaught. Jessica went pale, then flushed with a force that made her feel dizzy. She put her burning face in her hands and shuddered, fighting for control, wondering if she was caught in one of her nightmares where the wind screamed with a woman’s voice and dawn was an eternity away.

«I can’t — Lord Robert — I —» Jessica said desperately, trying to make him understand that she couldn’t marry Gore. «Dear God. You have been so kind to me. I’m sorry.»

Her voice broke and she trembled. Her distress astonished both Stewarts, for Jessica had never shown anything but composure, even when she was a newly orphaned child.

«WhatJessi is trying to say,» Wolfe said coolly as he buttoned the shirt, «is that we aren’t lovers.»

«But you would have been, if Betsy had not come to me,» Victoria said. «You have wanted Jessica since her fifteenth summer.»

Even as Wolfe opened his mouth to deny it, he knew it was true. The sudden realization that he had wanted Jessica for years made it impossible to speak.

«Wolfe…» Victoria sighed wearily. «If you could not keep your cock in your breeches out of respect for your father, the least you could do is limit your attentions to married women and whores.»

«Enough, wife,» Robert said. «Wolfe is my son. He knows his duty.»

«Which is?» Wolfe asked quietly.

«You seduced Lady Jessica. You shall marry her.»

«There has been no seduction. Gore mauled her, she ran to my room in hysterics, and Gore followed. A minute later, Lady Victoria arrived.»

«Jessica?» Robert asked sharply. «If you are a virgin still, the engagement can be saved. Lord Gore is quite keen on you.»

Jessica held out her hands to Wolfe and whispered, «You promised…»

There was a shocked silence followed by Wolfe’s curt command. «Leave me with Jessica for a moment. And take that drunken swine with you.»

When Victoria started to protest, Robert simply grabbed Gore’s feet and dragged the man into the hall. Gore didn’t awaken. Victoria stepped over him. Betsy hurried after her employers. The door closed firmly. Before Wolfe could speak, Jessica sank to her knees in front of him.

«Please, Wolfe. I beg of you. Marry me. Don’t let that man have me.»

«Are you a virgin?» Wolfe asked tightly.

Jessica’s head snapped up. «Good God, yes! I can’t bear being touched by a man. It makes my stomach heave.»

«Then why were you coming to my room dressed — or rather, undressed — as you are?»

«It was what I was wearing when I realized I had to talk to you,» she said, perplexed. She held out her hand to him in silent plea. Despite the rigid control she exerted on her voice, her fingers trembled. «I came to ask you to save me from Lord Gore.»

«Consider yourself saved. No matter what my father thinks, I doubt that Gore will have you after tonight.»

«But another man might. Victoria will contract another marriage for me.»

For a moment Wolfe said nothing. He hated the thought of another man having Jessica, but there was nothing to be done for it. Even if the Stewarts permitted Wolfe to marry her, the match would be a disaster for him. No matter how much Jessica’s body tempted Wolfe, he knew she simply was all wrong as a wife for him.

«Finding a suitable husband for you is Lady Victoria’s duty,» Wolfe said tightly.

«No.Iwill lie beneath the ground before I lie beneath a man.»