Gryph stared at her disbelievingly. "What the hell are you saying?"
"I learned a lot about Shields from the medic this mom-ing and I learned even more at the fair. There seems to be some question about whether or not you and your kind are even human! That severely diminishes your potential usefulness to me as a husband."
"Why you mouthy, bad-tempered, perverse little easterner. You really don't know when to shut up, do you? I'm as human as you are, lady, and tonight I'll prove it. What's more, you can damn well forget about using whatever contraceptive device that medic gave you. Is that clear?"
Sariana decided that he was right. She didn't seem to know when to shut up. She also didn't know
when to quit. Her frustrated fury boiled over. Without any warning, not even a shout of anger, she launched herself at Gryph. Her spread hands caught him full on the chest and she shoved him backward with all her might.
Automatically Gryph tried to steady himself against the unexpected assault, but the low rail caught the back of his leg and he lost his balance. He didn't waste time trying to save himself after that. He simply wrapped one hand around Sariana's wrist and pulled her over with him.
The scarlet-toe wisely leaped from Sariana's shoulder to the safety of the sled rail. Sariana gasped as she hit the water with a splash. The river was chilly but it wasn't freezing. She found
herself floundering in water that only came up to her shoulders. Her skirts billowed out around her as she righted herself and surfaced. She pushed her hair back off her face and blinked away the water that was streaming into her eyes.
Glyph was surfacing a short distance away, his eyes glittering with a mixture of emotions that ran the gamut from fury to desire.
"So you've come to the conclusion I'm not a real man, Sariana?" Gryph started to glide slowly toward her through the water. "That's an interesting deduction. How do you define a real man?"
The plunge into the river was having a very sobering effect on Sariana's temper. "Calm down, Gryph. I was just feeling very provoked a few minutes ago. I'm sorry if I said anything to offend you." She retreated cautiously as he approached. She would have turned and tried to dash to shore, but she knew the weight of her clothes would hamper her too much. His sleek trousers and shirt were far less of a hindrance in the water. Gryph would catch her easily if she tried to escape.
"You're sorry for offending me? That's hard to believe. You seem to be making a career of offending me. You go out of your way to do it, in fact. It's going to take a lot more than an apology to calm me down this time." He began to close the distance between them. He did it with excruciating slowness, a hunter closing in on his prey. "Now tell me what your definition of a man is."
A shiver went through her that was not caused by the chill of the river water. "Gryph, this is hardly the time or place to discuss philosophy!"
"You're wrong. This is exactly the time and the place, What's more, I'm in the mood to discuss such matters."
"Well I'm not," she sputtered.
"Too bad. You started this, remember. As usual, your tendency to run off at the mouth has gotten you into trouble. Let's see how you get out of it. Tell me exactly where I fail to measure up to your standards for a man. I'll do my best to correct any problem areas."
Sariana eyed him warily. She was cold from the water. She was nervous about Gryph's intentions. She was still angry with him and she was determined not to let him win this battle. But into that chaotic mixture of emotions came another, familiar sensation of hungry excitement.
She could have fought that last feeling, Sariana realized. She was more aware of it now. She could control an unwanted passion if that's all that was involved.
But as she watched Gryph coming toward her through the water she realized what the real problem was.
She was falling in love with the man. She had been falling in love with him since the night she had set out to coerce him into helping the Avylyns.
She was falling in love with him and she wasn't even sure now that he was wholly human. "Gryph, stop this. I don't have to answer your foolish questions. You're just trying to make me
nervous. Admit it."
"I'm not trying to make you' nervous. You're already nervous. With good reason. Answer my question, Sariana. What does it take to make me a man in your eyes?"
"By the Lightstonn, you are a man! I've already apologized for implying otherwise. I told you, I was angry at the time. Stop tormenting me. Now let's get out of the water like sensible people. It's getting very cold,"
"Don't worry, Shieldmate," he growled softly. "I'll warm you. I'll warm your backside so thoroughly you won't be able to sit down for the next few days. I think it's time you learned there are limits to my
good nature. I'll teach you to imply I'm not a man. Your fast tongue has run away with you this time, Sariana. I'm going to help you learn to control it."
He swooped down on her, catching her up in his arms and lifting her high against his chest. Then he started wading toward shore.
"Gryph, put me down. Damn you, you're not going to have everything your own way." "Neither are you." He set her on her feet in the sand and began stripping the wet clothing from her
body.
"Then we've got a problem, don't we?" She shivered in the evening air.
"Nothing we can't resolve." Gryph let the last of her soaked garments fall to the sand. Then he reached for a blanket from his travel pouch and wrapped it around her. "Dry yourself," he ordered. "The last thing I need on this trip is for you to get sick." He went to work on his own clothes.
Sariana's temper rose once more. "Damn it, we certainly wouldn't want that to happen, would we? Mustn't interfere with the mysterious Shield's inscrutable plans by catching a little cold."
He dropped his shirt onto the sand and peeled off his wet trousers. "Sariana, if you have any sense you will close your mouth. You've said enough for one day."
"I haven't got any sense," she declared as she realized he was fully erect, his body hard with desire. So much for the lauded effects of a cold bath. Apparently it wasn't universally effective. "If I did, I wouldn't be here." Sariana clutched her blanket and watched as Gryph briskly nibbed himself dry.
"If I'd had any sense I would have left Serendipity the night you first sank your sharp little nails into me."
Sariana was unaccountably hurt. "What a terrible thing to say. I never sank my nails into you." "The hell you didn't. You poisoned me and had me kidnapped. Then you tried to blackmail me into