“Oh, Jesus,” he said, wheezing with the effort it took to controlhimself. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “You littleinnocent. I’m fluent in French, but it isn’t my first language.” Itwas plain by the mortified expression in those green eyes that shedidn’t understand, so he explained. “Baby , if I can still thinkclearly enough to speak French, then I’m not totally involved inwhat I’m doing. It may sound pretty , but it doesn’t meanany thing. Men are different from women; the more excited we are,the more like cavemen we sound. I could barely speak English withyou, much less French. As I remember, my vocabularydeteriorated to a few short, explicit words, ‘fuck’ being the mostprominent.”To his amazement, she blushed, and he smiled at this furtherevidence of her charming prudery. “Go to sleep,” he said gently.“Lindsey didn’t even rate a replay.”

“Connor suddenly reached out and touched the side of my face with his finger, right near my eye. “You have the most beautiful eyes,” he said softly, and I nearly melted.“I’m not going to sleep with you,” I said softly, feeling the need to clarify that point.“I’m not asking you to,” he said, tilting his head down slightly. Ever so gently, he pressed his lips to mine.”

“You’ll have sweet dreams?” he asked quietly and sounding like he cared, a lot. God but I loved this man. I felt my mouth smile and I pressed even closer. “I’m a good girl, I always do what I’m told.” His hand left my hair so both his arms could wrap tight around me. “Love you, Ace,” he murmured and my stomach melted. He said it. Right out. He said it. “Love you too, Captain.”

“I phoned the Admiral back.'It's no use, Admiral, the French speak nothing but French.'There was a short pause on the end of the line then his voice rattled into life like a sabre.'They're lying, Tim!''What?''The French Navy must by law speak English, as English is the international maritime language of the sea.''Has anyone told the French that?'The line went dead for a moment before he thundered, 'Yes Nelson. At the battle of Trafalgar.'I tried to stifle an irresistibly British giggle not knowing if the Admiral was making a joke or not. I got it right. He was serious.”

“Now, I believe the best way for you to learn is immersion and since we can't teleport you all to France," he grinned at me, and there were once again sighs from the girls. "I'll be speaking only in French and will expect you to do the same. Is anyone here already proficient in the language?" I narrowed my eyes at him. He knew darn well I was fluent in French and several other languages. "Eveline, I believe your dad mentioned at dinner the other night that you are?"What was he doing? "Umm. Yes-"He shook his head at me. "En français s'il vous plait." More sighs from the class. I clenched my jaw and spoke rapidly. "Oui, Monsieur Smith. Je parle français. Qu'est-ce que tu veux?" Yes, Mr.Smith. I speak French. What do you want?His eyes smoldered and caressed my face as he delivered his swift reply, "Je veux plus de toi que vous imaginez, ma petit lueur.”

“The French just said he was a damned nuisance. Or they would have had they the good fortune to speak English. Instead being French they were forced to say it in their own language.”