"Tell me."

He studied her eyes, her face, then murmured, "I think,mignonne, that we have had enough words. I think it's time I showed you."

A shiver skittered up her spine, but when he arched a brow at her, she haughtily arched one back. She had to know if she could do this-if becoming his, placing herself under his protection, was an option for her. If she could withstand the fire of his touch, if she could become his and still be herself.

She said nothing, simply waited, coolly expectant. He read the determination in her eyes, then his gaze lowered. Washed over her bare shoulders, drifted lower, rose again-she felt it like a physical sensation, the brush of an ephemeral touch. Then his gaze fixed on the gold clasp at her shoulder.

With his habitual languor, he raised one hand; extending one finger, he nudged, then pushed the clasp sideways until it and the gathered silk it held slipped over the arc of her shoulder. His finger followed the upper curve of her arm, trailing down the smooth skin. Just a few inches.

She couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Couldn't shift as he slowly leaned forward, bent his head and set his lips like a brand to her shoulder.

To the very spot he'd uncovered-the only spot on her shoulders that had been concealed, the only place where she felt vulnerable, now it had been exposed. Bared. To him. By him.

She closed her eyes, concentrated, caught by the shift of his lips on her skin, seduced by the hot sweep of his tongue. Opening her eyes, she watched, fascinated, as he pressed his lips again to the sensitized spot; she felt her spine shake, quake, felt his hand close about her waist, fingers pressing in response.

Driven by an inner force she didn't recognize, she lifted her hand to his nape, slid and spread her fingers into his silky hair. His lips firmed on her skin. She turned her head as he lifted his. Their lips met.

That balancing power she'd experienced before still operated between them. As they kissed-taking, giving, pausing to savor, to entice, to indulge-she felt it like a constraint, some limit on a tipping scale that prevented him, or her, from taking too much without giving, from conquering without first surrendering.

Again and again that power tipped the scales. He took her mouth in a hot, heated rush, a primitive ravishment that left her senses reeling. Then she gathered herself and boldly pressed her own demands, and he was the one giving way, laying himself open to her conquest. Shuddering when she pressed deep. Following when she retreated.

The wave washed back and forth; the hot tide steadily rose be-tween them.

They broke for an instant to breathe. She lifted her lids, met his blue eyes, only inches distant. One hard hand framed her jaw; the other was locked at her waist, fingers burning through layers of silk. Her own hand cradled his skull, holding him to her; her other arm circled him, hand splayed on his back.

Her lids fell; their lips met again, and the tide rose higher.

Ten yards away, on the other side of the connecting door, Louis frowned. Lifting his ear from the crack of the open door, he stared at the panels.

He could see nothing more than a sliver of bookcase, but he didn't dare push the door farther open. Unable to see, he'd listened. He'd heard Helena and St. Ives talking but hadn't been able to catch many words. Nevertheless, he'd heard enough to know that matters were proceeding in the direction Fabien had predicted. Wanted.

But he'd yet to hear St. Ives issue the invitation that was so critical to their plan's success.

And now they'd stopped talking.

If it had been any woman but Helena, he'd have known what to think, but he'd been her shadow for years-she was cold, remote. As far as Louis knew, she'd never allowed men to maul her.

But if not that, then what was going on in the all-but-silent library?

Perhaps some haughty standoff-that he could imagine. And the English, they were unpredictable at best. So much more laissez-faire than the French over some things, yet such high sticklers on other matters-and there seemed no logical distinction over which matter would be what.

The English were confusing, but Helena was much more reliable, at least in her temper.

A low murmur reached him; Louis quickly put his ear to the crack again and waited for them to resume talking.

Helena felt sure she was on fire, that flames were licking her skin. Head back, fingers sinking into Sebastian's shoulders, she gasped, felt his lips slide from her jaw to her throat.

Gasped again as they pressed heat into her veins, then slid lower. Found the pulse at the base of her throat and pressed there, too. Then he licked, laved; a fierce shiver rushed over her skin.

A low sound of satisfaction rumbled from him. His hands had shifted to her waist; they tightened, letting her feel their strength, then both slid upward, brushed, then closed about her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Her body arched, eager for his touch, eager for more. She turned wildly and caught his lips as he raised his head-tasted his satisfaction, his triumph as his thumbs cruised over the silk, over and about her nipples, tight and hard as pebbles. He teased, squeezed, kneaded; she squirmed, gasped-then kissed him desperately.

"Ssshh." He drew back from the kiss and looked down.

She did, too; a tremor of elemental sensation racked her as she watched his long fingers stroke, caress, fondle.

She felt him glance at her face, then his hands eased. His fingers shifted, reached for her neckline, slipped beneath.

Her breath strangled in her throat. One tiny part of her brain screamed for her to protest; she shut it out, locked it out-she wasn't interested in stopping him. He'd said he would show her. She wanted to see, know, feel it all-all that he would demonstrate.

She needed to know, needed to be certain just how difficult it would be, how dangerous. Before she agreed to be his.

Once she was . . .

Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s had swollen; the gown was now tight.

She helped him ease down the silk, lifting her arm free of the gown's shoulder, breathing out as he held the material away from her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, then edged it lower bit by bit until her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were free. That freedom was a relief; she drew in a quick breath as he released the gown and pressed it down about her waist. She was conscious of his gaze again touching her face as he reached for the bow securing the drawstring of her chemise. One tug and the bow slithered free.

He hesitated, his hand falling from the dangling ribbon. She looked up, caught his gaze, burning blue under heavy lids. She read the challenge in his eyes, dragged in a breath, looked down. Eased open the neckline of the chemise, then drew it down.

She glanced up, but he'd already looked down. She saw the concentration in his face as he raised one hand and trailed his fingers over her breast.

Over and around, between, but never touching the tightly ruched peaks. Until she was panting, aching, so hot she was burning.

"Touch me." She shifted one hand and closed it over the back of one of his, pressing it to her heated flesh.

He complied, filling his hands, closing his fingers about her nipples, gently at first, then tighter, tighter, until she gasped.

He kissed her then, deeply, deeper than before, or so it seemed. As if he would devour her, as if their earlier kisses had been a mere prelude to this deeper, richer intimacy.

When he drew back, her head was reeling. She reached to draw him back, but he swooped on the instant. His hand cupped her breast, his lips closed about her nipple.

Her gasp filled the room, then shattered.

Spine rigid, head back, she struggled to breathe, struggled to hold on to her whirling senses-her wits she'd lost long ago.

He feasted; her hand tight on his skull, she urged him on. Urged him, when sensation at that breast became too great to bear, to turn his attention to the other.

Then he suckled, and she could have sworn she lost consciousness, just for one second, for that moment when sensation overwhelmed her and swept her into some black void. But he drew her back again, into the world of the living, the sensate, where feeling-exquisite and enthralling-ruled.

She'd wanted to see, and he'd opened her eyes; she was grateful, very ready to let him kiss, caress, lick, and fondle to their mutual satisfaction. Untried she might be, but she was no man's fool. He was demanding, commanding, but generous, too, more than willing-indeed, insisting-that they share. He didn't leave her behind, overwhelmed, buffeted by sensation, as he certainly could have done. He was patient, encouraging, ready to give her the time to brace her hands on his chest, spread her fingers, flex them, sink her fingertips into the heavy muscles, then trace them. The silk of his toga muted her touch; his gown was caught at both shoulders-there was little bare skin for her to stroke. Much to her dissatisfaction.

Before she could press any further demands, he kissed her hard, then drew back and shifted her, drawing one knee up and over his thighs. His hands were on her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, his lips on hers again, before she could think.

Then she couldn't think at all.

Their kisses had been hot before; now they turned incendiary. They burned-with desire, pa.s.sion, with all the primitive emotions she'd never before felt, never had a chance to feel, to experience, to lose herself in. He gave them to her, pressed them on her, and she drank them in.