And that was the end of that argument, so far as he was concerned. He needed. The darkness in him grew wild without a woman. He no longer had the option of entertaining Katie, or any other women, in his home. But seduction, not conquest, was the main course on the table this eve. He would give her this night, mayhap the morrow, but anon, ’twould be conquest.

“So, um, are you going to untie me?”

With effort, he pried his gaze from her twisted skirt. She’d clamped her knees together anyway. Wise lass, he thought darkly, but ’twill do you no good in the end.

“You can’t just keep me,” she said frostily.

“But I can.”

“People will be looking for me.”

“But no’ here. None will press me, you know that.”

When he eased himself down on the bed facing her, she plastered herself back against the headboard.

“You’ll come to no harm at my hands, lass. I give you my word.”

She opened her mouth, then closed it, as if she’d thought better of it. Then she seemed to change her mind, shrugged, and said, “How can I believe that? I’m sitting in the middle of all this stolen stuff and you’ve tied me up. I can’t help but worry about how you plan to deal with me. So, how do you?” When he didn’t respond immediately, she added heatedly. “If you’re going to kill me, I’m warning you right now—I’ll haunt you till the end of your thieving days. I’ll make your life a living hell. I’ll make your legendary banshee seem demure and soft-spoken by comparison. You . . . you . . . you barbarian Visigoth,” she spat.

“Och, and there’s your Scots blood, lass,” he said with a faint smile. “A fine bit o’ temper too. Though Visigoth is a bit far-fetched, I’m hardly doing anything so epic as the sacking of Rome.”

She scowled. “Lots of books were lost then too.”

“I treat them with care. And you needn’t fash yourself, lass. I will no’ harm you. Naught will be done to you that you doona wish done. I may borrow a few tomes, but that’s the extent of my crimes. I’ll be leaving soon. When I do, I’ll release you.”

Chloe searched his face intently, thinking she didn’t quite like that part about “naught will be done to you that you doona wish done.” Just what did he mean by that? Still, his gaze was level. She couldn’t imagine why he would bother lying. “I could almost believe you mean that,” she finally said.

“I do, lass.”

“Hmph,” she said noncommittally. A pause, then, “So, why do you do it?” she asked, nodding her head in the direction of the stolen texts.

“Does it matter?”

“Well, it shouldn’t, but it sort of does. You see, I know those collections you stole from. There were far more valuable relics in them.”

“I seek certain information. I merely borrowed them. They will be returned when I leave.”