Tess sent him a look of frustration. “Why is it that women are never allowed to be of any use? It is hardly fair that you get to have all the excitement while I must be coddled and protected.”
“You can watch the cove from the castle battlements.”
“It will likely be dark, and I won’t be able to see a thing.” When that argument failed to sway him, she added crossly, “So what am I to do while you are off playing the hero, your grace?”
“You can keep Ned out of trouble. If something were to happen to you, who would take care of him?”
That argument at least gave Tess pause. “You have a point. Very well, I will agree to stay behind.”
Ian eyed her suspiciously, wondering if she was being truthful with him. Still, from her sparkling eyes, he could tell she was relishing the challenge of bringing a gang of thieves to justice, and he enjoyed seeing her enthusiasm.
Their relationship seemed to be improving daily. They were no longer at daggers drawn, as they’d been for the past four years, yet there was still a measure of spirited opposition between them. And in the bedchamber, their heated physical relationship had become something of a sexual rivalry. It was a game they played, to bring each other to gasping pleasure. Ian was a master at it, but Tess held her own in the battle to see who could arouse the other best. Neither wanted to admit defeat.
By late Saturday afternoon, as they rode home from yet another conference with Sir Thomas Greely and Lord Shaw, Tess’s spirits seemed quite high. When they reached the bluffs above the Fowey harbor, she drew her mount to a halt and waited for Ian to help her down, then stood beside him drinking in the splendid ocean view.
The recent rains had ceased, and a glorious sunset tinged the sky with rosy light. Seeing the glow bathe her lovely profile, Ian felt another fierce stab of desire for Tess. Watching her was a pure pleasure, yet seeing her delight was an even greater pleasure.
“Such power and grace,” she murmured with reverence. “The sea is so beautiful, especially at this time of day.”
“Not as beautiful as you are,” he said without thinking.
Turning to eye him, she arched an eyebrow. “You said as much this morning when you seduced me, but I take such comments with a grain of salt.”
Thankfully, she saw his compliment as mere flirtation, a weapon he used in their battle for supremacy.
“I’ll remind you,” Ian returned in that same bantering tone, “that this morning, I was not so much seducer as seducee.”
A catch of laughter escaped her, and Tess leaned into him, more to tease him, he suspected, than because she needed support.
“I realize I have not properly thanked you for trying to spare Ned,” she said huskily.
“You are free to do so now,” he invited, smiling down at her.
She smiled back, and Ian felt a strange lifting beneath his heart. Her smile was a lethal weapon, he thought not for the first time.
When she tilted her head back, inviting him to kiss her, he responded by sinking his tongue into the welcoming richness of her mouth. Like many of their recent encounters, the kiss began as a taunt, but quickly turned tender.
It was that tenderness more than anything that unsettled Ian. He was beginning to lose his self-control, he realized, no matter how determinedly he fought against Tess’s enchanting allure.
Heeding his warning instincts, he ended the kiss more abruptly than he’d intended and stepped back from her. And for the remainder of their ride home, he stayed on his guard. Yet his thoughts were churning at the alarms going off in his head.
His most powerful instinct was to protect Tess, to keep her safe from harm, but how could he pr
otect himself from her?
* * *
Unexpectedly, he faced that question again upon arriving home. Tess went directly to the kitchens to check on Ned, while Ian retreated to his study to finalize some details of his plan.
He was writing at his desk when Fanny Irwin knocked on his study door a few minutes later.
“Forgive me, your grace,” Fanny murmured. “I hoped I might have a private word with you.”
Setting down his quill pen, Ian invited her to take a chair in front of his desk, which she did.
“I wished to thank you, your grace. I am more grateful than I can say for your kind hospitality.”
“Think nothing of it, Miss Irwin. You are a friend of Tess’s, and as such, you are a welcome guest in our home.”