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don’t tell me again how you’ve taken care of yourself. You were about to get yourself into a great deal of trouble with Pinworth, and even Mowbray couldn’t have helped you. Acceptit, my child. You’ll be a lot safer and happier at Sutter’s Head.”
    He was very hard and strong behind her, and hot as well. The man must have been made of solid bone and muscle—there didn’t seem to be a soft spot at all in his lean body. She didn’t bother fighting the restraining arm. If she did, he might accidentally touch her breasts, and that was the last thing she could risk. She had no choice but to lean back against him.
    She didn’t have to like it. A soft breeze had picked up, blowing the loose tendrils of hair about her face. They were following the edge of the sea, and the steady hush of the waves mingled with the gait of the horse, the heartbeat of the man pressed against her. She could close her eyes and feel safe for the first time in months. Surely it wasn’t wicked of her to give in to that momentary temptation?
    “That’s the lad,” Ramsey murmured in her ear as she relaxed against him, and she was suddenly too tired to resent the amusement in his voice. “Come tomorrow, Valerie will keep you hopping. Best get what rest you can. Trust me. I won’t let you fall.”
    “Trust you?” Juliette murmured sleepily, wishing she had the energy to drag herself out of the delicious torpor she was floating in. “I don’t trust anyone.”
    “Very wise, lad,” he said, his breath tickling her ear. “But just for now you can relax. No one’s going to hurt you. Not while I’m around.”
    Perhaps not, Juliette thought, unable to fight the mists of sleep any longer.
    But who’s going to protect me from you?

CHAPTER THREE
    Val glared up at his older brother. “You don’t have to be such a brute about it,” he snapped.
    It was the next morning. The two brothers were in the largest bedroom of the house at Sutter’s Head, and Phelan was assisting the recalcitrant Valerian with the rigors of his daily toilette.
    “Hold still.” Phelan yanked at the lacing of Valerian’s corset, then cursed as one of the strings snapped. “Why don’t you do without this instrument of torture? Those dresses Hannigan found for you were made for a mountainous female. No one will notice if your waist is several inches larger than it was yesterday.”
    “Especially since you put it about that I was in an interesting condition,” Val grumbled. “I expect you find it amusing.”
    “A bit.”
    “Then why are you glaring at me? I would have thought you’d be in a delightful mood now that you’ve got your little waif safely out of Pinworth’s clutches. Though it almost might have been worth it to see his reaction once he managed to strip her clothes off.”
    “We wouldn’t have been there to see it,” Phelan said in a reproving voice. “And I doubt it would have been a pretty sight.”
    “Really?” Val looked at him curiously. “Now, I happen to find young Julian, or whoever she is, quite enticing. I suppose you prefer ‘em well rounded, but I wouldn’t mind seeing her …”
    “I’m talking about Pinworth,” Phelan said tightly, retying the broken corset string.
    “You’ve got a point there. Still, once he discovered Julian was a girl, he might have been persuaded to change his proclivities.”
    “You are a naive one, aren’t you, Val?” Phelan said, yanking the strings mercilessly tight. “He’d simply use her as a boy. Something she wouldn’t have found pleasant at all.”
    Val looked a trifle pale. “Fortunately, I haven’t your breadth of knowledge. This is the first time I’ve even been out of Yorkshire, and the habits of pederasts aren’t part of my experience.”
    “I try to avoid ‘em myself,” Phelan said, giving his brother a shove. “Try to behave yourself, brat. Young Julian has already noticed a family resemblance, and once she gets settled in here, I’d wager she’ll see through your