CC stared up at him accusingly, but his features seemed carved in stone as he regarded her expressionlessly. She knew a feeling of very real dread then, for there was something terribly sinister about his manner. She swallowed nervously.

“What do you want?” CC forced herself to sound more furious than fearful.

“I think there’s something you need to understand.” He spoke tersely.

“Oh?” she challenged him with foolhardy disdain.

“I know what you and your fiancé are up to, and it’s not going to work.” His grip on her wrist tightened threateningly as he thought of her deceitful ways.

“Let go of me!” CC snapped, tugging against his bruising hold.

“In my own good time, my dear,” he snarled, looking around the terrace. When he spied the steps that led away from the house, he started toward them, drawing her along with him down the short flight of stairs and into the deep, dark privacy of the gardens.

Panic seized her.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” CC cried as she found herself practically being dragged from the house. “I have no desire to be out here with you!”

“Would you prefer Matthew? Or perhaps your loving fiancé, John?” he derided hatefully.

“John is not my fiancé,” she snapped.

Noah ignored her reply completely as he drew her on down one of the formal walks, and toward the secluded summerhouse near the rear of the garden. Usually CC loved the garden, but on this night the definite chill in the air and the leafless trees and shrubs of late autumn lent it an unnerving eeriness. She began to shiver as he led her onward, the lights of the main house fading in the distance until she was surrounded only by darkness and his overpowering male presence.

“I said to let me go!” CC dug her heels in and managed to stop his progress for a moment. “I don’t know what it is you want, but you can tell me right here, right now.” Painfully she twisted her arm, trying to free her wrist, but his hand was like a steel band.

“So your game is to play dumb? It won’t wash,” Noah sneered, turning on her. “I know what you’re up to…the both of you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” CC seethed, finding his cryptic statement baffling.

“You know damn good and well what I’m talking about!” There was an ominous edge to his voice that CC had never heard before, and she knew a true moment of fear.

“Let me go! You’re a madman!” She began to struggle again, trying valiantly to break his grip. “You attacked me the night of the meeting, and now…”

Noah chuckled then, and it was a very unpleasant sound. “On the contrary, my dear little rebel, as I recall…and believe me, I remember everything about that night…you were the one who attacked me.” The moonlight cast harsh shadows across his taut, angry features. “You’re in too deep, little girl. It’s time you learned that you have to pay the price, if you’re going to involve yourself in men’s affairs.”

“What do you mean?”

Noah gazed down at her dispassionately. He found her innocent, terrified look most amusing, and he applauded her thespian skills.

“You really should take to the London stage,” he told her sarcastically. “Your performance is quite believable, and if I was not aware of your true colors, I just might be convinced by your wide-eyed claim of innocence.”

“It’s no claim, and I have no idea what you’re babbling about!”

“You’re boring me with your denials, wench,” Noah drawled.

“Why, you!” CC tugged forcefully and managed finally to free her arm from his punishing grasp. “You’re everything I ever thought you were and worse!”

“Ah, yes. Let’s see, I was either fat and ugly or a ‘mincing fop’… Wasn’t that it?” His eyes glittered dangerously. “And we both know I’m no fop, don’t we?”

In a lightning move he crushed her to him, his mouth swooping down with unerring accuracy to possess hers. The kiss was meant to punish. He wanted to show her exactly who was in control.

Though her arms were trapped between them, CC fought him, pushing with all her strength against the solid wall of his chest. She had been right to be afraid of him, and she should have run from him while she had the chance. What did he think he was doing? And what did he mean by all the mysterious accusations he’d just thrown at her? Her struggles to be free only heightened Noah’s desire to dominate her, and he broke off the chastening kiss to look down at her with hard, cold eyes.

“Shall we see just how dedicated you are to this cause of yours? Do you do whatever John tells you to do, if it will help achieve your goal?”

CC stared up at him in horror, trying to grasp what he was saying. “John? I don’t understand…”

“Then let me make myself a little clearer. There’s no need for you to waste your considerable charms on someone as inexperienced as Matthew when I am more than willing to sample the fare you have to offer.” He bent to capture her lips again, his tongue delving within to duel and master hers in a ravishing exchange.

With all the strength she could muster, CC broke off the kiss. She raised her hand to strike him, but this time Noah anticipated her move and snared her arm in a viselike hold.

“I wouldn’t do that ever again if I were you. I might be inclined to hit back.”

His grip was so fiercely unyielding this time that CC paled and swayed, fearful that the bone might snap.

“You’re despicable! Let me go! I want to go back inside!” she gasped, tears of pain filling her eyes.

Just an instant, seeing her very real distress, Noah felt a twinge of conscience and gave a fleeting thought to the possibility that he might be wrong about her. He stopped himself harshly. This was the woman who, despite her vows of hatred for him, had been in his arms eagerly the other night and had just tried to seduce Matt the same way. No matter how she tried, she could not deny it. She was nothing but baggage. She was deceitful and not above using her body as a tool to pursue her own ends. Why shouldn’t he take her if he wanted her?

“Oh? How would your lover feel about that? Aren’t you supposed to use this lovely body of yours to further the cause?” he growled as he pulled her to him. “I’m not averse to being tempted. Forget Matthew. I’m the one you should be concerning yourself with… I’m the one who’s in control…” Noah was snarling as he brushed aside her fichu and slipped one hand within the confines of her bodice to fondle the fullness of her sweet, rounded breast.

“Please…no!” She tried to resist, but it was useless against his strength. She tried to make some semblance of sense of his words, but she was totally, mindlessly confused. Was he crazy? What did he mean, use her body for the cause?

But there was no time left to think or to question as he kissed her again, his mouth moving over hers in a demanding, potent exchange. CC’s limbs were quaking as he held her pinned against him. She could not move, she could not protest. All she could do was submit to his bold, questing touch, and it infuriated her even as it frightened her. What did he mean to do with her? Her mind was on fire with the need to escape him, even as she felt the stirrings of desire deep within her. She refused to acknowledge her weakness, though, and held herself rigidly in his arms, determined not to give him the satisfaction of knowing her desperation.

But Noah understood women far too well, and realizing that force was not working, he changed his tack. With all the moves of a master, he set out to seduce her senses, softening his kiss to a bare whisper of contact and easing up on his controlling embrace. He would dominate her, but he would do it with her consent.

CC was surprised by the sudden change in Kincade, yet she still held herself stiffly against him. She hated him! She would not capitulate. She would not let him know that his every touch was wreaking havoc on her senses. Any moment now, CC felt certain he was going to become frustrated in his efforts and stop, and then she would be free.