Nicholas cracked an eye open. "What are you doing here?"

"Cleaning your wound."

"This I know. But why?"

Katherine's fingers tightened on his arm as she gazed off, worrying her lower lip with her teeth. On another woman, he would have thought the gesture flirtatious, a calculated effort to draw his attention to her mouth. But he could tell she was unaware of it.

Her voice, when she finally answered, was almost too soft for him to hear. "If I had left you to die, I would be as wicked as he who tried to kill you."

"No one tried to kill me," he scoffed. " 'Twas an accident."

" 'Tis not what I heard." She shook her head and went back to work on his arm. "My neighbor, Richard Finch, said he shot the Raven."

"What has that to do with me?"

"Are you not the Raven?" She looked down at him, eyes wide.

"Do I look to be a bird?"

She ignored his attempt to parry. "The Raven I speak of is an outlaw."

"Do I look like an outlaw?" He gave her his most sincere and noble look.

She studied him. "Indeed you do. But if you are not the Raven, then I apologize."

He laughed. It made his head hurt, but the rest of him felt better. "If I am the Raven, why would a good Puritan lass like you tend to me?"

"I am not a Puritan." She picked up a clean piece of bandage.

"No, of course not. I remember now. You're one of our dear King's ladyloves. We were introduced when last I was at Whitehall. The injury to my head must have confused me."

She eyed him doubtfully and pressed cool fingers to his cheek.

Nicholas caught her hand in his good one and willed her to look directly at him. Her fingers were long and delicate, her eyes apprehensive.

" 'Twas a jest," he said, unable to keep the exasperation from his voice. " 'Twas meant to make you laugh." But she didn't look like she'd laughed at anything for a very long time.

She turned to him and threw her arms around his neck. Her bare breasts pressed against his chest through his linen shirt, awakening a physical need so strong Nicholas almost groaned aloud.

He pulled back, fearing she could see the lust in his heart. But he could not look away. Her eyes glistened, and her hair fell in a delightful tangle.

Dragging her hands down his chest, Katherine grasped his shirt. "I would rather kiss you than do anything else," she said, her voice almost a whisper.

As she brought her lips to his, Nicholas's good intentions melted away.

It was a kiss of wild despair, a kiss of need. Artless. Passionate. What it lacked in artifice it more than made up with intensity. His arms tightened around her, and he crushed her to him. The fire beside them sparked. Fever ran through his veins. He ran a hand over her curves as she clung to him.

A voice in his head said he should hold back, she could not know what she was doing, and if he had any sense of honor he would tell her.

She was not some trollop he'd found at an inn, or an experienced lady at court who knew the game of love; she was a simple country girl, grateful for her rescue. He'd taken her from her home promising her safety. But he'd given her none. He'd teased her, taunted her, and tormented her with kisses; given her the first taste of arousal.

He was a scoundrel and a knave.

Nicholas sucked in a deep breath, hoping it would moderate his pounding heart and throbbing loins. "I am no hero."

Her breath caught. She went still in his arms, looking up at him in surprise.

"I know you are grateful," he said. "But it is not necessary to express it in this fashion."

"I do feel gratitude, but I do not kiss you for it." Katherine traced a finger along his ear, sending tender sensations all through him. Her eyes focused on the fastenings of his linen shirt. "I kiss you because it pleases me." Her fingers trailed down from his ear to run feather-light over his lips and down his shirt to the fabric tie at the neck. "I should not have run away." A light smile played upon her lips. "I was afraid of your kisses." She tugged the knot apart exposing his chest and put her hand inside his shirt-opening.

The air sizzled between them. Nicholas's chest burned where her hand rested on his bare skin. His heart throbbed almost painfully, as did his loins. He let out a long breath.

"I am not afraid anymore." She looked into his eyes and smiled, an innocent seductive smile that made his heart twist.

"Ah, lass, do you have any idea what you do to me?"

"I think it must be very like what you do to me." She leaned forward, raising her lips to his. "Please do it some more."

Nicholas groaned. He was a knave to be sure. She needed comfort, but she asked for passion. So he would give it to her.

He lowered his mouth until it met hers.

Heat ran through Katherine as Nicholas's lips played with hers, alternately soft, then demanding. Never had she wanted anything as much as she wanted to be with him, like this. She marveled at his many textures. The smooth firm muscles of his shoulders, the hard tendons in his neck, the softness of his lips and tongue, the roughness of his shirt as it brushed her tender nipples.

It seemed each moment since she first came upon him, had inevitably led to this one, this moment that would change the course of her life forever, this moment that would change her forever.

Nicholas buried his hands in her hair. Katherine exhaled in a puff as his lips left hers to trail over her chin and down her throat. Each tantalizing movement of his mouth sent warm shivers surging through her.

Easing her from his lap to the floor, he settled beside her. His hair brushed across the sensitive skin of her breasts as his tongue traced the line of her collarbone, not tickling exactly but sending delicious thrills over her hot skin.

His mouth came up to hers. His teeth grazed her upper lip. He suckled on it as he drew up her skirt. Inch by agonizing inch, the hem rose, passing her ankles, her calves, exposing her skin to the cool air. The kiss deepened, becoming more urgent.

She gasped with shock as his fingers slid under the satin fabric, touching the bare skin behind her knee. In a slow torture, they moved along the inside of her thigh until they reached the apex of her legs. Through the flimsy material of her drawers, he touched her in a place she'd never been touched before.

Katherine clamped her legs together.

"Do you wish me to stop?" Nicholas's voice was thick and rough. He took his hand away.

Katherine let out her breath in a shudder, trying to ease the jittery tension building inside her. More than she had ever wanted anything, she wanted him to continue. Shaking her head, she eased her thighs apart.

"I trust you."

Nicholas stroked her thigh and gave her an odd smile. "Do you now?"