If He's Daring by Hannah Howell

she also had a temper when provoked. Her marriage had been a failure, judging from all she had said about it, which was not too much; but he suspected she was not a woman to silently accept her husband’s acting the bachelor after the marriage vows were said. No, Morris would never be able to get Lady Catryn under his thumb even if he somehow got her in his hands. He never had the ghost of a chance, and even if he had, stealing her son had ended that forever.
    Orion had no intention of letting the man get his hands on her. He had guessed that Morris was motivated partly by lust for Catryn, but she should have told him. He should have been planning to protect her from that from the very beginning. The only reason he had men on hand to call to his side and help was because he and Giles had known she was hiding something.
    What struck him as odd was that it was more than a need to protect a woman from a man she did not want that was brewing his anger at Morris, and at her for not telling him the truth. There was a thread of sharp possessiveness running through all the emotion he was having so much trouble subduing. That was something he had never felt for any woman. When his affairs ended, either by his choice or because the woman strayed, he always walked away without another thought and never felt a twinge of any emotion upon seeing that woman with another man. He knew he would feel more than a twinge if he saw Morris even try to put his hands on Lady Catryn. Orion was also concerned about how even the thought of walking away from her bothered him.
    Shaking off such thoughts as they accomplished nothing, he decided it was time to confront Lady Catryn. He had not stilled all of his anger over what she had neglected to tell him, but now he could talk to her about it without a lot of yelling or sharp words. That would have to do. He opened the door, planning his first words, and found himself facing a pistol aimed straight and unwavering at his heart.

Chapter Six
    “I believe there is a part of this tale you have neglected to tell me.”
    Orion was impressed by how quickly she hid her shock over his statement, but he had seen it. That glimpse of emotion had also revealed a hint of guilt. She was definitely hiding something. He and Giles had known it, but seeing the proof of it in her eyes still stung a little.
    He was also impressed by how she had aimed the gun at his heart when he had entered the room, her small hand so admirably steady and her face set in cold, determined lines. The way she had so quickly shifted her body to put herself between him and the boy won his hearty approval. Giles grinned at him over her shoulder and Orion suspected his son found Lady Catryn’s attempt to protect him amusing and a little too endearing. When he got the full truth out of her, Orion intended to have a talk with Giles about his growing attachment to Lady Catryn. There was a chance Giles was thinking he would play the matchmaker, and that was something Orion wanted to put a swift stop to. If he ever decided that the life of a bachelor no longer held an appeal for him, and he would like to think that was still a very big if , he would do his own courting without direction from an eight-year-old boy.
    “You can put the pistol down now,” he said as he stepped into the room and shut the door.
    “Oh.” Catryn quickly set her pistol down on the small table near the bed. “My apologies.”
    “No apology necessary about that. You did not know who was coming through the door. Next time I will announce myself before entering.” He moved to the washbowl to clean off his hands, the now cold water soothing the slight sting in his knuckles.
    Catryn watched him. He did not look wounded, aside from some scrapes on his hands, just mussed. It could be that Giles’s confidence in his father’s skills might not be born of nothing more than a boy’s blind belief in his sire.
    “Did you find out what the danger was?” she asked when he dried off