Courting Carolina by Janet Chapman

never…And you didn’t—”
    “Oh, but I did, lass,” he lied with a derisive chuckle. “Just like a schoolboy.”
    Her eyes rounded, her mouth forming a perfect O .
    Alec kissed her, then rolled away and sat up to stare out at the fiord, noticing the tide had reached the rock he’d been sitting on. “Not that it matters, because my pants will be staying on whenever we’re horizon—”
    She was on her feet and running before he even finished. Alec jumped up and caught her in three strides, only to have her hand shoot out of the sleeve of his shirt and poke him in the chest again. “You’re no different from all the other men,” she snapped. “You haven’t even met my father and you’re too afraid to make love to me.”
    He pulled her to him before she could poke him again. “This isn’t about your father, Jane, it’s about you . And until you want to make love for all the right reasons, nothing more than what we did tonight is going to happen between us.”
    “What do you mean, all the right reasons?”
    “I mean that until ye see me only as a man you want instead of a good way to get out from under your father’s rule, your one lonely condom is staying in that pouch with your other precious jewels.”
    Her mouth opened only to snap shut again, and Alec saw her cheeks flush and her eyes well with tears.
    He pressed his hands to her face to keep her looking at him. “I’m sorry for being so blunt, but ye need to know how I feel. You’ve managed to hold on to your virginity this long; please don’t toss it away merely to win a senseless war. Give it to the man lucky enough to earn your love.”
    “Do…do you know why I’m still a virgin?” she whispered, her tears spilling free. “Because all the men I’ve ever been allowed to be around were too afraid even to hold my hand. And those I’ve been with since I’ve been on my own were…I didn’t…I couldn’t…” She pulled in a shuddering breath. “Never mind, I understand. If you’ll be so kind as to let me stay tonight, I’ll leave first thing in the morning.”
    “No,” he growled, tightening his grip when she tried to step away. “You can’t run forever, Jane. Stand up to your father here and now, with me standing beside you.”
    “But at what cost? Because you were right, you know; you’ll be in the direct line of fire if this all goes to hell in a handbasket, and the price you could end up paying is more than I’m willing to live with.”
    “I’m not afraid of your father, lass.”
    “You should—”
    He kissed her before she could finish, then swept her into his arms and carried her across the pebbled beach to the stream. “I’ll make a deal with ye, then,” he said over her sputtering protests, standing her next to her satchel. “Let me worry about finding a way to deal with your father that doesn’t involve using your condom, and you worry about finding the best way to deal with me.”
    She stilled. “What do you mean, deal with you?”
    “I mean,” he said quietly, getting right in her face and stifling a grin when she didn’t back away, “that every time Icatch you lying to me or acting clueless, I’m going to kiss you. And every time you look embarrassed or grateful, I’m going to strip you naked right on the spot and do exactly what I did to you tonight.”
    Her eyes kept widening with every threat he made—only to suddenly narrow. “And if I catch you lying to me, I will return the favor,” she snapped, giving him a shove and bending to grab her satchel.
    Alec used the momentum to pivot away and headed down the beach toward the boulder. “Ye certainly have my permission to try.”
    “Wait, where are you going?”
    “For a swim,” he said without looking back.
    “In the fiord ? But it’s freezing!”
    “It won’t be by the time I’m done. Get dressed and call your pet so we can leave. I have one more stop I need to make before we head back to camp.”

Chapter Six

    Alec stood several yards