He gave a ragged chuckle. “You’re doing just fine, lass,” he responded. He knew he should push her hand away, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that. The sensations she was creating were too powerful, too exquisite, too compelling to be set aside.

Encouraged, Bliss became more confident—and more aggressive. All of a sudden, the blankets seemed to be crushing Jamie, holding in more heat than he could bear, and he tossed them back. The cool night air played over his sore body, making his desire all the more urgent. On and on the pleasuring went, stripping Jamie of all pretense and, for the moment, all pain.

He rasped Bliss’s name, over and over, when the joy grew almost beyond his tolerance. Then she lowered her head to taste him, and he lost his reason entirely. With a strangled shout, he arched his back in full surrender, and Bliss received him without hesitation or shyness, seeming to revel in his fulfillment, to share it.

“There, now,” she said, when the glorious storm of satisfaction had passed, leaving Jamie’s mind clear, “wasn’t that what you needed?” At some point before his thoughts had become coherent again, she’d fetched warm water and a cloth, and for a time she bathed his raw flesh, soothing him more with each caressing motion of her hand.

The washing was a kind of lovemaking in and of itself, and the tenderness he found in Bliss’s touch made Jamie want to weep. It wasn’t going to be easy, once they’d seen a magistrate in Auckland, to turn his back on Bliss and walk away. He had never known a woman quite like her.

Presently, she dispensed with the basin and cloth and cuddled close against Jamie’s shoulder, at the same time drawing the blankets up to cover them. Within seconds, Jamie slipped into the sweet, cosseting darkness that was sleep.

Jamie was up and fully dressed when Bliss opened her eyes early the next morning. Recollections of the night just past made her blush and slide beneath the covers to hide.

She heard Jamie’s bootheels striking the stone floor of the cottage as he came toward the bed at a pace only slightly slower than his normal gait. In another moment, he pulled back the blankets, just as far as Bliss’s shoulders, and smiled down at her.

“Hello, Duchess,” he drawled. “Having second thoughts, are you?”

Bliss glared at him, for she despised being teased, especially when she’d just woken up. Her cheeks burned as hot as the embers in the grate. A quick glance around Jamie’s right thigh revealed that they were alone.

“Where’s Cutter?” she asked, ignoring Jamie’s question.

“He and Dog have sheep to look after, love. They’ve been gone for hours.”

Bliss wasn’t sure whether being alone with Jamie McKenna was a plus or a minus, and she didn’t try to decide. Careful to keep herself covered, she sat up, yawning, and ran the fingers of both hands through her tangled russet hair. She started with pleased surprise when Jamie handed her a mug of fragrant coffee.