Gryph swore violently as he felt her trying to retreat. 'No," he grated, anchoring her with one leg while he pushed her back into the pillows. "No, it's all right. I've got it now. Relax, Sariana, I'm in control. It's all right. Relax, my sweet. It's going to be okay. Don't be afraid. It's just that I want you so much." He rained small kisses across her br**sts, his pulse thudding with the mental and physical effort he was exerting.

"I know," Sariana's voice was husky with the discovery she had just made. A thread of fear underlined her words. She clutched at him, her nails gripping his skin. "For a minute there I knew exactly how much you want me. It was like this the other night. I was so aware of how you felt. Gryph, what's happening

between us?"

"Nothing that wasn't meant to happen." He hushed her with a kiss and rolled onto his back, taking her with him. He had to halt her agile mind from going down this path tonight. Now was not the time for her to acknowledge what was really happening. She might panic. He had to find a way to distract her.

He knew the exact instant passion reasserted its grip on her. It occurred when Sariana discovered herself astride him, his hot, throbbing manhood in her hands. She looked down at her prize and her thighs tightened convulsively around him. Her lashes were dark sweeps against her cheeks.

"There's so much power in you." She stroked him in wonder. "Everything about you is large and solid and beautiful in a way I can't quite explain."

He vibrated with the genuine pleasure she was taking in his masculinity. Gryph had to brace himself against the waves of desire beating at him. He locked his muscles, willing himself to take a step back from the edge of the climax that awaited him.

"Sariana, I keep telling you, you have a way with words."

He found the damp, hot flesh between her widely spread thighs and slowly slid a finger into her. She gasped and tightened around him. Gryph fought harder for his self-control. Slowly he withdrew his finger, his thumb gliding lightly over the small, secret bud of her desire in the process.

Sariana gave a tiny, choked cry. She rose to her knees in response to the new level of tension he was inducing. Gryph took advantage of the new position to trace the valley between her bu**ocks with his damp finger. Sariana quivered and inhaled deeply.

Gently he eased her back down until she was again sitting astride him. Her eyes were closed and he could see her tiny white teeth sinking into her lower lip. Her br**sts were high and full with sexual tension. He could feel her reaching for the unknown conclusion to the exquisite torture and deliberately he stroked the fires within her with another slow insertion of his finger.

Again and again he repeated the slow, tantalizing caress, never filling her damp sheath as much as she craved, never removing his finger entirely. And always he finished the withdrawing stroke with a gentle circle around the beautifully sensitive nubbin sheltered in the triangular nest of hair.

Her climax hit her without warning. Gryph was taken as much by surprise as she was when it struck. One instant she was straining toward release, lost in the powerful new sensations that he was coaxing from her, and the next she was convulsing around his finger, crying out his name as her head tipped back and her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

The last of Gryph's self-control slipped from his grasp. The sudden onset of Sariana's intense climax pushed him into the heart of the storm he had- been trying to manipulate and he was lost. He dug his fingers into her hips, lifting her and positioning her above him.

Then he pulled her down onto him with all his strength, sheathing himself in her tight, hot channel. Crying her name, he began to explode inside her almost at once.

Gryph could not shelter her from the force of his own release. It spilled into her, through her, over her just as his seed spilled deeply into her body.

His last coherent thought was that fte could make Sariana pregnant. The knowledge filled him with joy.

Chapter 11

PREGNANT.

The word had seared its way into Sariana's mind at the climax of the lovemaking the night before and it seemed to be permanently implanted in her brain. She had been thinking about the implications most of the night. Her mind still reeled with them. She was fairly certain she was still in the safe zone of her monthly cycle, but every woman knew how unreliable such a method of contraception was.

As the anxious thoughts went through her head, Sariana was kneeling, fully dressed, on the cabin bunk. She was watching the activity on the docks of Little Chance through the muttipaned window. The windrigger had just finished tying. Through the glass she could see laborers loading and unloading cargo from neighboring ships. In the distance she thought she could make out several rows of colorful pennants.

Perhaps there was a fair going on in town.

"Little Chance looks like a busy place," Sariana remarked to Gryph as he moved purposefully about the cabin. He had bathed and shaved earlier and now he was intent on making preparations to go ashore.

"It is a busy place. Busiest port on the coast outside of Serendipity. Like most port towns, it's got its share of rough areas. That's why I want you to stay on board while I take care of my business. I'll only be gone a couple of hours."

"I can take care of myself, Gryph."

"The way you did yesterday morning in Serendipity when you tried to run from me?" He gave her an admonishing glance as he finished fastening his worn belt buckle. The buckle had definitely seen better days. The man carried a fortune in prisma in the form of a pouch lock but that appeared to be the sum total of his wealth. "Forget it. You stay right here and try not to get into any trouble. I'll have my plans made by the time I return. We might be taking a sled upriver. I'm not sure yet."

Sariana glanced over her shoulder. "What, exactly, are you going to do here?" He sat down on the edge of the bunk, putting a sizable dent in the mattress, and tugged on his boots.

"I'm going to see someone I know. An old friend. I want to discuss this matter of the cutter with him."

"He lives here? I thought Shields lived in the frontier towns. Little Chance is hardly a frontier town." "Most Shields do live on the frontier. But not all. Delek chose to live in Little Chance because he no

longer makes his living chasing bandits. And his lady prefers to live here. It's her home."

"Lucky woman. You mean your friend Delek actually gave her a choice?" Sariana didn't bother to hide the sarcasm.

Gryph raised one eyebrow at the tone of her voice but kept his own even. "Where they live isn't too critical in the case of Delek and his lady. They have no sons to be trained."