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She shook her head. “Nothing,” she said, then put her hand on his arm. “Only when ye send her home…have Kieran take her.”

He understood all too well and realized that he would be dealing with another matter of the heart when he informed Kieran of the orders. God, why did everything have to be so damn complicated?

She was watching him, her mind wandering from Jemma to her encounter with William last night. He seemed to be returning to the William she loved, not the captain who irritated the hell out of her.

“Do ye have any regrets?” she asked softly.

He looked confused. “About what?”

“Last night,” she whispered.

The change that came over his face was miraculous and her heart was filled with a wild sense of happiness. She knew instantly that all of her worries were for naught.

“Nay,” he whispered. “And you?”

She shook her head. “Never. For as long as I live.”

He smiled gently. “I could hardly sleep last night. I have grown accustomed to holding you and it was not the same at all. I fear I shall face many nights like that.”

“I slept, but I must confess I was disappointed not to awaken to yer face,” she said. “Is that why ye were so harsh on yer knights? Because ye had no sleep?”

“Hardly,” his stiff demeanor returned. “I was harsh with them because they were sorely neglecting their duties to follow you around like dogs going after a bitch in heat.”

She scowled at him. “What an awful thing to say.”

“ ’Tis the truth of it,” he insisted, then his eyes trailed to her surcoat. “You look delicious in that dress. In fact, it is an almost indecent dress the way it clings to you.”

She’d never given that aspect any thought. Bewildered, she looked down at herself. “ ’Tis my favorite dress.”

“And mine,” he said with a cock of his brow. “In fact, it emphasizes your magnificent figure to the point of distraction.”

Her head came up and her eyes narrowed at him. “Is that what ye think? That I dressed a-purpose this way to distract yer knights?”

He gave her an impatient look. “I think no such thing. However, even if you did not mean to, you had my knights acting like stud stallions. I was harsh with them because they knew better. They acted as if they had never seen a beautiful woman before.”

She looked at him a moment, studying his features as he spoke. Then her eyes narrowed and she gave him a crooked smile.

“Ye were jealous,” she accused.

His face hardened. “That’s ridiculous, Jordan.”

“So ye were not jealous?” she demanded, insulted. “Look me in the eye, English, and tell me that ye were not consumed with jealousy when ye saw yer knights trailing after me. Tell me.”

He looked her right in the eye. He tried to force himself to deny it, but he realized that he could not. She was right; of course. He had been jealous. He hadn’t understood that until this very moment. He’d probably noticed it at the beginning but convinced himself that it was not a contributing factor to his anger.

When he didn’t answer right away a slow smile crept onto her lips. He saw it and it inflamed him. With a muttered curse, he pulled her against him and descended on her lips in a bruising kiss. She giggled as his mouth came down on her again and again, sucking the breath right out of her.

“Does that answer your question?” he asked huskily.

She smiled a victorious, seductive smile. “Ye were jealous,” she repeated because she could scarcely believe it.

He rolled his eyes and buried his face in her neck. “Oh, very well, I was indeed,” he snapped without force. “Next time I shall dispense with the punishment and simply kill the bastards.”

She laughed jubilantly, closing her eyes at his passionate touch. His hot tongue was licking, probing, tasting until she was gasping with arousal. His mouth was making her mad, his hands driving her wild as they caressed her breasts firmly. A slow warmth was spreading through her limbs and she knew she had to have him now or die.

“Now, English,” she said raggedly, licking his ear. “Can we… can we do what we did last night?”

He groaned low. Latching onto her hot mouth, he gathered her into his arms and disappeared into the cover of the trees.