Devil's Daughter (Devil 2)

Rayna gulped at the mean anger in Adam’s eyes when he turned back to her. He took a purposeful step toward her, and Rayna leapt out of the chair and backed away.

“Listen to me, Adam Welles,” she shouted at him. “I could not let you leave Naples like some sort of avenging angel, bound for God knows what kind of danger. And I’ll tell you something else. I do not believe that even you, at your most persuasive, could convince my father to let us wed, even if he knew that we are lovers. I am sorry for the worry my parents will feel, but I told them I was with you, and as safe as I could be. I told them that I love you and that we are going to fetch Arabella.”

“So now I can expect to see your father waiting for me on the dock at Oran, a pistol in his hand.”

“No, I did not tell him where we were bound.”

Adam cursed long and fluently. Rayna regarded him with some astonishment, and then stared wide-eyed when he turned away from her and calmly began to strip off his clothes. She had expected him to burn her ears at least until dinner arrived.

“What are you doing?”

“I am going to wash up and shave,” Adam said, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it on the narrow bed.

/> He sat down on the edge of the cot and pulled off his boots. “Perhaps,” he said, not looking at her, “after a week in my company you will not wish to marry me. I can be a most demanding man, so I’ve been told, by a number of ladies.”

Rayna raised her chin and stared down her nose at him.

When he stood and unfastened his wide leather belt, she moved her chair closer. “Just a moment, my lord,” she said. “If you are planning to parade in front of me naked, I would like to have a better view of my treat.”

Adam’s fingers stilled for a moment on his pants.

“Are you going to shave off that fierce beard?”

“No. I wish to leave something on.”

His trousers dropped to the floor, and he stood before her splendidly naked. Rayna found herself staring at him pointedly. Despite herself, she said in a breathless voice, “I cannot imagine a man more beautiful than you, my lord.” She dropped her face into her hands, remembering his words. “And you have known so many women. How can you want me? I am so ordinary.”

Her guilelessness was as artful as the most skilled courtesan’s. No, he would not succumb to it. “Ordinary, Rayna? I have studied you carefully, and have decided that you will improve in a few more years.”

Their dinner arrived after Adam had bathed and shrugged into a change of clothes. It consisted indeed of huge portions of roast chicken, boiled potatoes, and green peas.

“If you drink any more wine, you will be vilely ill,” Adam said as Rayna drank what was left of her second glass of wine.

“Adam,” she said after a moment, “I know that you are angry with me, but—”

“That, madam, is not the half of it.”

“—but I could not stay in Naples pretending to my parents that I cared naught about anything, and knowing that I would not be with you to protect you.”

“Protect me. Good Lord, Rayna, you protect me?”

Silence reigned as Banyon, his eyes darting first to his master and then to the young lady, cleared away the dishes. “It looks to be a lovely evening,” he said, closely examining the chicken bones.

Adam scraped back his chair. “I believe I will see for myself. Madam, you will stay here. Is that clear?”

Rayna did not look at him, only nodded.

“I’ll bring you some fresh water, miss,” Banyon said when Adam had slammed out of the cabin. “Leave your clothes and I’ll freshen them for you.”

“Thank you, Banyon.”

Rayna washed quickly. She had no choice but to put on one of Adam’s cambric shirts. She pulled a blanket from the cot, lay down on the floor, covered herself with it to her nose, and waited.

Adam walked into the cabin at that moment. He took in the loose auburn hair, thick and lustrous, that framed her small face. And his cambric shirt.

“What are you doing on the floor?”

“Where else should I be?”