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it was sent here to find me and the money.”
    “But if, as you say, the money is rightfully yours, should you not settle this matter in the courts?”
    Jack laughed again.
    “What is so blasted funny?” she asked, offended.
    “Not you, my lady. Never you,” Jack replied, and then he put his head back against the cool rock wall and closed his eyes.
    *
    Jack tried to sleep, but thoughts of Katherine filled his mind. Her attitude was naïve, but to be expected. She was highborn; she’d never had to work a day in her life, whereas he had had to help his father from the day he was big enough to carry a bucket of feed for the chickens or slop for the pigs. He couldn’t expect her to understand about the inequities of the legal system—the scales of justice were always tipped in favor of the rich—or anything else pertaining to the life of a common man like himself. She was above all that. They were as different as night and day. How could he even think about having her for his own? But there, in a nutshell, was the problem; he did want her for his own, and he thought about her that way almost every waking moment.

Chapter 7
    A cold clammy feeling was seeping into her bones. Katherine sat up and looked around. The light from the glowing embers of what was left of the campfire allowed her to see her captor. His long, lean body was stretched out along the cave wall nearest the entrance. The other two men were nowhere in sight, and she wondered where they had gone.
    “Captain?” she called, quietly. There was not a sound in reply, so she called out again. “Captain…Jack?”
    Groaning ensued along with a rude expletive. And then a surly question erupted from his mouth. “What?”
    “I’m cold,” she whined miserably. “The fire has gone out,” she pointed out, instinctively crossing her arms over her mostly bare chest. Times like this she wished high-necked dresses were in fashion, or that she was at least dressed in one of her day gowns. At least they were made of warmer stuff.
    “There’s no more dry wood. Come over here, and I’ll warm you up,” he said, lifting his blanket.
    Katherine considered her options, and then she stood and slowly approached him. Stopping suddenly, she gasped at what she saw. Under the blanket he was as naked as the day he’d been born!
    “Captain, you’re…you’re…” She couldn’t say the word naked . Doing so would be embarrassing as well as improper. Even if he’d been her husband, speaking of such things just wasn’t done.
    “Oh, I forgot; I always sleep like this,” he stated, not quite apologizing.
    She wasn’t entirely certain that he had forgotten his state of undress. But if she wanted to get warm, then she would have to put aside her morals for the time being. After all, these were not normal circumstances.
    “Come on, I promise to behave like a gentleman, if you promise to behave like a lady,” he said with a smirking smile. Then he leaned on one elbow and looked at her, clearly waiting to see what she would decide.
    Katherine thought for a minute. They were alone, but what if his men came back and saw them?
    “All right, but turn your back.” He did as she requested, and she lifted the blanket and sat next to him. She had to struggle with her conscience to keep from ogling his tight little derrière, but finally she managed to lie down. With her back to his, she pulled the blanket up over her shoulders, and she soon was warm enough to fall asleep.
    When she awakened sometime later she was shocked to find herself snuggled up to him, her breasts pressed into his back. But that was not all; she had one arm around his middle, her hand splayed over the crinkly hairs of his chest, and her legs were in between his.
    Her first instinct was to pull away, but the feel of his hard body under her hand was enticing enough to make her stop and think. She had never even seen a man’s bare chest before, let alone felt one, and here was her chance.
    Hearing the sound of