"No, but you can't do that to me. It cannotWell, it cannot be right or proper."
He wanted to laugh at her outrage, but didn't, of course. He kept his voice low and soothing, yet stern. "You belong to me, Diana. I can and will do to you what I know will please you."
"That doesn't please me. It's awful and embarrassing and you do it to everyone!"
Her accusation hurled itself at his head, waded through his confusion, and finally penetrated. "Ah," he said
, his voice filled with deep pleasure, "you're jealous."
"I will not let you paw me like you have done to all your other little amours."
"My mouth is more intimate than my coming inside you?"
"Yes! You talk with your mouth."
"That is certainly a fact I can't refute. You are being silly." He heard her jerky breathing and sighed. "Let's get some sleep. Come here now. I swear to keep my mouth closed, both on words and on you."
True to what he'd said, he didn't speak again. He stretched out on his palm fronds and closed his eyes. He needed time. Perhaps tomorrow he could forgo his breechcloth and fold away her chemise. He found himself praying that Rafael would take his time returning.
Diana eyed him with annoyance and with chagrin, but she didn't move.
"Very well, you're making me go back on my word. You could at least thank me, Diana. I did give you my body."
"I don't suppose you bled?"
"No," he said, and laughed. "Only virgins and semivirgins bleed."
"It isn't fair. I think a man should come to his marriage as chaste and virginal as his wife. I don't think I want to marry you, Lyon."
"If he did, I doubt much would get done."
"You men like to control things, you ---"
"That's quite enough, my girl. Listen to me now because I mean every word. The die has been cast. You do belong to me. You will marry me. There is no going back." Suddenly, his voice lightened. "Who knows? I might have got you with child."
"No!"
"I shall try my best to ensure that you are pregnant before we are rescued."
"I won't do it."
"You, my dear, will have nothing to say about it. Neither will I, for that matter. I can but try and try, and you, dear girl, can but receive and receive."
She heard the determination in his voice. She said, a touch of bitterness in her voice, "I am well and truly caught now, am I not? Just because I'm a woman and you are a man ---"
"Very true." He added, amusement in his voice, "Just think, Diana, our child could both catch a fish and scale it."
"In England?"
He sighed. It was something to think about. "We will work something out," he said finally. "Now, come here. I want to hold you. I want to fall asleep with you in my arms. Just promise me you won't snore."
She didn't respond to his provocation. "This is all most odd," she said, more to herself than to him. She snuggled beside him and rested her cheek on his shoulder. She felt him lifting her hair and spreading it over his chest. "Very nice," he said. "Finally I have my blanket."
Diana laid her hand very lightly on his chest. She felt his heartbeat increase. He tried to hold himself in check.
"This is difficult," he said, removing her hand.
I am no longer innocent, she thought, knowing that if she looked down his body she would see his response.