Gideon had set down his lamp and taken two long strides forward. He was suddenly looming over her, one huge hand planted against the cave wall behind her head. She was caged between his solid body and the equally solid rock. Her eyes widened.

"Miss Pomeroy," Gideon said very softly, each word spaced for maximum emphasis, "I will say this once more and once more only. You are going to stay out of this cavern until further notice. Indeed, you will not come anywhere near this place until I say it is safe to do so. In fact, you will stay out of all the cliff caves until I have taken care of matters."

"Really, St. Justin, you go too far."

He leaned closer. The yellow glare from the lamp in Harriet's hand cast his harsh features into demonic relief. For a moment he truly looked like the beast he was reputed to be.

"You will not," Gideon said through his teeth, "hunt fossils anywhere on this beach until I have given you express permission to do so."

"Now see here, sir, if you think I will tolerate this sort of behavior from you, you may think again. I have no intention of giving up all fossil hunting along this beach until such time as you see fit to allow it. I have certain rights in this matter."

"You have no rights in this, Miss Pomeroy. You have clearly come to think of these caves as your personal property, but I would like to remind you that my family happens to own every square inch of the land that is presently over your head," Gideon bit out. "If I catch you anywhere near these caves I shall consider it trespassing."

She eyed him furiously, trying to determine if he was actually serious. "Is that so? And what will you do, sir? Have me clapped into prison or transported? Do not be ridiculous."

"Perhaps I shall find another way to punish you for disobeying me, Miss Pomeroy. I am St. Justin, remember? The Beast of Blackthorne Hall." His eyes gleamed in the golden light. The scar on his face was a vivid, savage slash of old pain and mortal danger.

"Stop this intimidation at once," Harriet ordered, albeit rather weakly.

He leaned closer. "The local people think I am a man totally lacking in honor when it comes to dealing with women. Ask anyone around here and he will tell you I am the devil himself where innocent young ladies are concerned."

"Rubbish." Harriet's fingers were trembling on the lamp, but she held her ground. "I believe you are deliberately trying to frighten me, sir."

"Damn right." His hand closed around the nape of her neck. The leather of his glove was rough against her skin.

Harriet abruptly read the intent in him, but it was too late to run. Gideon's fierce, leonine eyes flamed behind his hooded dark lashes. He brought his mouth heavily down on hers in a crushing kiss.

Harriet stood transfixed for a timeless instant. She could not move, could not even think. Nothing she had ever experienced in her entire twenty-four and a half years had prepared her for Gideon's embrace.

He groaned heavily, the sound reverberating deep in his chest. His big hand flexed with startling gentleness around her throat, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw. And then he was urging her closer to the fierce warmth of his own body. The heavy greatcoat brushed against Harriet's legs.

She could not seem to catch her breath. After the initial shock, a shimmering, glittering excitement roared through her. When Gideon removed the lamp from her limp, unresisting fingers, she scarcely noticed.

Without conscious volition, Harriet raised her hands to his shoulders and sank her fingers into the heavy wool of his coat. She did not know whether she was trying to push him away or pull him closer.

"Bloody hell." Gideon's voice was husky now, betraying some new emotion that Harriet could not identify. "If you had any sense, you would run from me as fast as you possibly could."

"I do not think I could run a single step," Harriet whispered in bemused wonder. She looked up at him through her lashes and gently touched his scarred cheek.

Gideon flinched at the feel of her fingers. Then his eyes narrowed. "Just as well. I am suddenly not in the mood to let you escape me."

He lowered his head again and his mouth moved on hers with astonishing tenderness, easing apart her lips until she realized with shock that he wanted inside. Hesitantly, she obeyed the silent command.

When his tongue surged into her warmth with stunning intimacy, she moaned softly and sagged against him. Never had a man kissed her in this manner.

"You are very delicate," he finally said against her lips. "Very soft. But there is strength in you." Gideon slid his hands around Harriet's waist.

She shivered as he grasped her firmly and lifted her up high against his chest. He held her effortlessly off the stone floor. Her booted feet dangled in midair. She was forced to steady herself by clinging to his broad shoulders.

"Kiss me," he ordered in a deep, dark voice that sent a delicious chill down Harriet's spine.

Without stopping to think, she wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed her mouth shyly across his. Was this what it meant to be ravished? she wondered. Perhaps it was just this heady mix of emotion and desire that had encouraged poor Deirdre Rushton to surrender to Gideon all those years ago. If so, Harriet decided, she could now understand that young woman's recklessness.

"Ah, my sweet Miss Pomeroy," Gideon muttered, "can it be that you truly do not find my features any more offensive than those of your precious fossil skulls?"

"There is nothing in the least offensive about you, my lord, as I am certain you are well aware." Harriet moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. She felt dazed with the emotions that were surging within her. She touched his ravaged face lightly and smiled tremulously. "You are magnificent. Rather like your horse."

Gideon looked startled for an instant. His eyes blazed. And then his expression hardened. He set her slowly on her feet. "Well, then, Miss Harriet Pomeroy?" There was an unmistakable challenge in the words.

"Well, what, my lord?" Harriet managed breathlessly. It was true she had virtually no experience of this sort of thing, but all her womanly instincts were assuring her that Gideon had been as powerfully affected by that kiss as she had been. She did not understand why he had suddenly gone all cold and dangerous.

"You have a decision to make. You may either take off your gown and lie down on the stone floor of this cave so that we can finish what we have started or you may run back toward the beach and safety. I suggest you make your choice quickly, as my own mood is somewhat unpredictable at the moment. I must tell you that I find you a very tempting little morsel."

Harriet felt as if he had thrown a bucket of icy seawater over her head. She stared at Gideon, her sensual euphoria vanishing in the face of the obvious threat. He was serious. He was actually warning her that if she did not get out of this cavern right now he might ravish her on the spot.

It was her own fault, she realized in belated dismay. She had responded much too readily to his kiss. He was bound to think the worst of her.

Harriet's face flamed with humiliation and not a little primitive female fear. She scooped up her lamp and fled toward the safety of the passage that led to the beach.

Gideon followed, but Harriet did not once look back. She was too afraid that she would see the taunting laughter of the beast in his golden eyes.