Shield's Lady

and believe me, I take them into full account,” he shot back. “You want me as much as I want you.”
    “All you really want is a good breeder,” she snapped, someone you can turn into a mother. How do you think that makes me feel?”
    “It should make you feel needed and wanted and very important to me,” he flung at her as his own control began to slip.
    “Well, it doesn’t. It makes me feel like a farm animal.”
    “That’s ridiculous.”
    “You’re telling me! And I’m tired of feeling ridiculous, do you hear me, Gryph Chassyn? I didn’t think I could feel any more useless and ridiculous than I did the day I got word I had failed my academy entrance exams, but I was wrong. That was just a feeling of intellectual failure. You’re trying to make me feel like a failure as a woman and a human being.”
    “Are you out of your mind?” he snarled, still not moving. “I’m more than willing to turn you into a success as a woman. It seems to me I’m offering you a better deal than any you’d get from a routine business marriage. At least with me your real talent as a woman will be fully appreciated.”
    “Having your babies is supposed to be a sign of my success?”
    “You could do worse, lady.”
    “I could also do a whole lot better.” Recklessly she took a step toward him, her eyes flashing with pride and outrage. “Do you hear me, Chassyn? I said I could do a whole lot better than you.”
    “How? By forming a marriage alliance with someone like that banker friend of yours? What do you think the chances are that you’d find any real passion in his arms? What do you think the chances are of him bringing out the real woman in you?”
    It was too much. Sariana went over some invisible edge. “What do you think the chances are that you can make me into a real woman when, from all accounts, you may not even be a real man yourself?”
    Gryph stared at her disbelievingly. “What the hell are you saying?”
    “I learned a lot about Shields from the medic this morning 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.
    Gryph 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