And since she was fifteen, he had known what Hell was: living with what he wanted forever just beyond his reach, forever calling to him across an abyss he must not cross, for if he did, he would destroy the very thing he wanted.

He had nearly done just that despite his best intentions.

«I love you,» Jessica said. «I love —»

«No more,» Wolfe interrupted savagely, cutting across the words that were more painful to him than any blow he had ever received. «I am Tree That Stands Alone. You are Lady JessicaCharteris. You have nothing to fear in England any longer. I’ll see that you get a suitable husband or none at all.»

Wolfe would have preferred none at all. The thought of another man touching Jessica added another dimension to his own personal Hell. He wasn’t sure he could bear it. Yet he must. He took in a deep breath, let it out, and spoke more gently.

«I should be hung for ever bringing you to this wilderness.»

«But —»

«No more.»

Jessica flinched at the raw pain in Wolfe’s voice. It stopped her as nothing else could have. Fear went through her in a cold wave. She closed her eyes and turned her face against Wolfe’s neck, not wanting him to see her despair.

His anger she could fight, and had. His pain defeated her.

When Wolfe opened the kitchen door, Willow took one look at his dark face and breathed a wordless prayer. Wolfe walked right by her as though only he and Jessica existed.

«What is it? Is she hurt?» Willow asked anxiously, following.

«Just exhausted.»

As Wolfe kicked the bedroom door shut behind him, he saw that food, brandy, and pans of warm water had been set out in the bedroom. The hearth was alive with the dance of flame.

«Can you stand?» he asked quietly.

Jessica nodded.

Wolfe set her down near the hearth he had built for Caleb’s home and began undressing her with gentle hands. Jessica neither looked up nor objected. She simply stood with a docility that made Wolfe glance sharply at her from time to time. Soon she was wearing nothing but her filmypantelets and camisole. They looked startlingly clean, fragile, and feminine after the condition of her outer clothing. He eased the undergarments from her body as delicately as though they were made of moonlight.

Jessica shivered when the last bit of lace fell to the hearth, leaving her naked before the fire and the man she loved, the man she had hurt in ways she had never intended.

Wolfe swept the fur coverlet from the bed and wrapped it around her.

«Warm enough?» he asked.

Without looking at him, she nodded.

«Are you hungry?»

She shook her head.

«When did you last eat?» he asked.

«I don’t remember.»

The tone of Jessica’s voice went through Wolfe like an icy wind. There was no music, no laughter, none of the mischief and warmth that had danced in her voice since he had become her lover in all ways but one. The barrier of her maidenhead still lay between them, the abyss that must not be crossed.

Aristocrat andhalfbreed bastard.

«Jessi…» Wolfe whispered.

But there was nothing more he could say. It had all been said. All that remained was to return her to the land and the life for which she had been born; a land and a life that were impossible for him to share.

In silence, Wolfe found Jessica’s hairbrush and went back to the fire where she stood. Without a word, he began combing her snarled hair.

«I’m no longer so useless I can’t brush my own hair.»

Wolfe’s eyes narrowed at the loss of color and life in Jessica’s voice. It was the same for her body. Like grass flattened by a storm, she was defeated. Yet like grass, she would regain her resilience after the storm passed. He was certain of it. All she needed was rest and a return to her own place, her own people.

«I like brushing your hair,» Wolfe said. «It’s both cool and fiery, and it smells of roses. The feel and scent of you will always haunt me.»

Jessica made no other objection, because to speak would have been to reveal the tears aching in her throat. Wolfe was standing very close to her, yet he was withdrawing from her with every breath, every instant, and the brush was whispering his good-byes through her hair.

Eyes closed, Jessica stood with the patience of the damned while the man she loved tormented her with all she would never have of life and of him. If she could have died, she would have, but she could not. She could only endure the pain and pleasure of his touch and pray that tomorrow would never come, separating her from the only man she would ever love.

When Jessica’s hair swirled about her in a shining, softly curling cloud, Wolfe reluctantly put aside the brush. Air stirred by the movements of his body disturbed her hair, weaving firelight through the silky strands.

Wolfe’s breath came out in a soundless rush as he memorized the picture of Jessica standing in front of the fire. He wanted to see the aquamarine gems of her eyes, but they were hidden behind half-closed lids and thick eyelashes, as though she were too weary to bear even the sight of the man who had dragged her through Hell.

Wolfe brought the basins of warm water to the hearth. He wrung out a small, soft cloth in one of the basins, soaped it lightly, and began washing Jessica’s face. The fragrance of a summer rose garden slowly expanded through the room.

«I’m not so useless that I can’t wash myself,» she said quietly, looking at the stone hearth rather than at the man who was so gently and so completely tearing the heart from her body.

«I know. You’re tired. Let me take care of you as I should have from the beginning.»

Jessica’s eyelids flinched at the brush of the cloth on her cheek.

«Sore?» Wolfe whispered.

She shook her head wearily.

«Are you certain? Those welts look tender. How did you get them?»

«I don’t remember,» she said tonelessly.

Wolfe’s fingertips caressed Jessica’s cheek with great tenderness. Her breath hesitated, then frayed. When he eased the fur coverlet down to her waist, she made a tiny sound.

«Don’t worry, elf. I’m not going to demand any sensual games from you. You’re too tired…and I came too close to seeing you die to trust my own control tonight.»

Jessica’s eyes widened, seeking Wolfe’s for the first time. He didn’t notice. He was looking at the picture she made with the silver fur wrapped around her hips and her hair a mahogany glory spilling over the creamy curves of her breasts.

Slowly, Wolfe rearranged Jessica’s hair until it fell down her back. Even before the washcloth touched her breasts, the nipples gathered into tight velvet crowns, contrasting starkly with the pale satin of her skin.

«You’re more beautiful than fire itself,» Wolfe said huskily. «I’ll remember you like this until I die.»

And I’ll want you until I die.

Yet Wolfe said nothing of that, for the knowledge had just come to him in another stroke of black lightning, another raw wound burning in the depths of his soul.

Breath trembled out of Jessica when she saw the harsh lines of Wolfe’s face. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but didn’t trust herself to open her mouth without crying out her need and her love for the man who didn’t love her. So she stood silently, unable to speak for the sadness locked within her throat.

The fur wrap slid from Jessica’s hips into Wolfe’s hands and from there to the floor. He ignored the luminous beauty of the coverlet, for the curves of Jessica’s legs and the dark mahogany cloud concealing her feminine core were far more compelling to him than the rare arctic fur.

Slowly, Wolfe raised the washcloth and resumed bathing Jessica in a hushed silence. The first warm touch of water made her breath unravel in a soundless rush. When Wolfe asked wordlessly for more freedom of her body, she shifted, allowing him the intimacy. For long minutes, there was only the liquid dance of water, the whispering of flame, and the glide of cloth over skin. Finally, reluctantly, Wolfe rinsed away the last bit of soap, leaving behind the mingled fragrance of rose and warm woman.

«All done,» he said huskily.

He stood up in a rush and closed his eyes, unable to look at Jessica any longer without touching her in a way that had nothing to do with unspoken apologies and everything to do with the hunger whose fiery claws had long since raked him into readiness for the coupling that must never occur.

Jessica saw Wolfe’s need and felt her own, both physical hunger and something far more complex. Without a word she began unbuttoning Wolfe’s shirt.

His eyes snapped open.

«What are you doing?» he asked roughly.

«Undressing you.»

«I can see that.»

«Then you’ll be able to see me bathing you as gently as you bathed me.»

«No.»

«Why not?»

«You’re too tired.»

Jessica’s elegant fingers didn’t so much as pause in their work. «I’m no more tired than you.»

«Jessi…»

Her eyes met his. For a moment he didn’t know if he could bear what he saw in their clear, light blue depths.

«You have done as Lady Victoria asked,» Jessica said quietly. «You have taught me not to fear your touch. Now you are exiling me from your life. Will you deny me this night, too?»

Wolfe knew he should do just that, but he couldn’t force the words past his lips. Jessica finally had accepted the end that he had always known must come: She would fight the annulment no longer.

He hadn’t expected victory to be so painful.

You are exiling me from your life.

Silently, Wolfe removed his boots and socks, then closed his eyes and stood motionless while Jessica undressed him. With a distant sense of surprise, he realized that he had never given himself to a woman in this way, trusting her enough to surrender sensual control to her hands.