"Then it's obviously time I sent her away," Philip said as he closed the door and leaned against it. He was dressed in dark trousers and shirt that outlined his lean, tough body and was as maddeningly attractive as he was outrageous. "Her stay here was supposed to be a punishment. Clearly it hasn't turned out that way."

"What do you have in mind?" Zilah asked storm -ily. "Perhaps you could throw her into the dungeon instead."

"Yes, I could. There is one, you know. Thank you for the suggestion," Philip drawled. "I'll consider it."

"You're utterly impossible. Do you realize that? You're a complete anachronism."

He smiled. "But I have the power to get away with it. In the end, that's the bottom line. Haven't you found that to be true?" His smile vanished. "And I don't appreciate your taking it upon yourself to defend her from my very righteous wrath. Pandora is my property. She'll tell you that herself."

"Only because she mistakenly thinks the sun rises and sets with you. She's lived for the past several years in an environment entirely under your control. What do you think her reaction will be when she goes out into the world and finds out all men aren't self-indulgent barbarians?"

Something flickered in his face. Anger? Pain? It was difficult to tell, for it was gone so quickly. "It's hard to anticipate Pandora's reactions. She seldom thinks and acts like other women." He paused. "Yet. She's still in the embryo stage." He straightened. "Now, if you've quite finished trying to puncture my arrogance, I'll go fetch your poor victimized little friend." He started across the room.

Zilah instinctively ran to stand before the bathroom door. "No. I'll get her. You stay right here."

Philip stopped, his gaze taking in the trace of panic in her face. He shook his head. "I don't think so," he said slowly. He grasped her shoulders and lifted her aside. "I find I'm suddenly very eager to view this newly docile Pandora at her housekeeping duties." He turned the knob. "Very eager indeed."

Zilah said hurriedly, "I don't think—" She broke off.

It was too late. He had thrown open the door and she could tell by the stunned expression on his face that the jig was very definitely up.

She shifted to peer over his shoulder and almost groaned aloud. Ribbons! Where on earth had Pandora gotten the pink ribbons?

Somewhere, evidently, for she was sitting in the center of the sunken tub dressed in her usual jeans and ribbed cotton sweater. It was Androcles who was haute couture with an enormous pink satin bow tied around his striped tail. Pandora was in the process of tying another around his neck when she casually glanced up. She froze into statuelike stillness.

"A tigress! My God, a tigress! No wonder you did a double-take when I said that," Philip exclaimed.

Pandora was rallying quickly. "He's a male, actually. His name is Androcles. Hello, Philip."

"A tiger," he repeated, dazed. "You've had a tiger in the bathtub for the last week?"

Pandora lifted her chin defiantly. "Well, it's your own fault, Philip. It was your idea for me to come here. I couldn't just abandon him, could I?"

"Abandon a tiger?'" Philip asked blankly. "How does one abandon a tiger?"

Pandora got to her feet and gathered Androcles protectively in her arms. "He's only a baby. He didn't even know how to swim until I taught him."

"You taught him to swim?" He shook his head as if to clear it.

Pandora frowned. "Really, Philip, I wish you'd listen. I think I'm making everything perfectly clear."

"Oh, perfectly." His lips were twitching uncontrollably. "I don't know why I appear to be so thickheaded tonight. I suppose I'm more accustomed to thinking of a tiger in the jungle than in the bathtub. You'll have to forgive my lack of adaptability." He suddenly threw back his head and laughed uproariously. It was some time before his laughter dwindled to a chuckle. His blue-green eyes were still twinkling as he slowly shook his head. "I've heard of a tiger in the tank, of course. But, as usual, you've gone a step further, Pandora. Why should I have expected anything else?"

Pandora breathed a sigh of relief. "You're not angry with me?"

"I'm furious," he drawled as he crossed the bathroom and jumped down into the tub beside her. "Or I will be when I have time to think about it."

"It's just a little tiger," Pandora said coaxingly.

"I don't know whether I should ask where you acquired him. I have an idea that I don't want to know."

"Bazaar. Poachers," Pandora said succinctly.

"I'm sure there's considerably more to the tale than that, but I can wait until later for the details." His usually cynical eyes were still alight with laughter and a rare tenderness as he looked down into her

face. "You can't keep him, you know," he said gently. "We'll have to send him to the wildlife reserve."

"I know that." Pandora's eyes were misty. "It's not fair to take away a wild thing's freedom just because we want to love and keep it close to us. It wouldn't be right."

There was an odd look on Philip's face. "No, it wouldn't be right," he repeated in an abstracted way. He glanced down at the cub in her arms and reached out to take it from her. "I'll give your friend to Raoul to care for until we can make arrangements to transport him."

"No." Pandora took a hasty step backward. "I'll take him to Raoul. He gets a little excited sometimes. He might scratch you."

His gaze was on the gauze bandage on her forearm. "So I see. I take it that's a souvenir from this harmless little baby?"

She nodded, a grimace on her face.

"Yet I'm not to be allowed to take my chances?" he asked with a curious smile.

"That's different." She shrugged. "He sort of belongs to me."

"Not so different," he said softly. He took the cub and held him gently but firmly. "You sort of belong to me." He turned away so that he didn't see the radiance that dawned on her face. "Get your things together. I'm sending you back to your father for the time being. I think we all agree that this punishment detail wasn't exactly a success." He had climbed the two steps of the tub and was striding toward Zilah, his expression as cynical and inscrutable as ever. "I'll be back for you in twenty minutes." He paused beside Zilah to give her a slightly crooked smile. "I still think there was magic used, Miss Dabala, but I'm not sure which one of you was the spellweaver. You must be a good deal more softhearted than most women to let

Pandora talk you into this particular madness. By the way, I forgot to give you a message from Daniel." For an instant there was a touch of lingering amusement in his eyes. "I don't know how it slipped my mind. It seems three of your former captors have been apprehended, but Hassan is still at large. Daniel is waiting for a phone call with more information, so he won't be able to join you for dinner. He said he'd stop by later."

He didn't wait for a reply, and she turned from watching the door close behind him to see that Pandora hadn't moved from where Philip had left her. Her face was still wearing that expression of sunrise glory and Zilah felt a shiver of fear run through her. Pandora experienced emotions with more intensity than anyone she had ever known. How could she help but be hurt?