Free The Husband Hunt by Jillian Hunter Page B

disarmingly honest woman before outside his own family, and found this encounter rather invigorating. "I suppose you're an expert on such matters?"
    "Well, I certainly cannot claim to have
your
experience." She didn't have any, actually, unless she counted the time Lamont, her wizard-uncle's apprentice, had kissed her while simultaneously dropping a handful of earthworms down her bodice. Not exactly a soul-stirring romance.
    He leaned forward, his nose practically touching hers. His voice lowered an octave to a dangerous whisper. He really was going to have to teach her a few things. "I've known you for less than two days. Who in this house is telling tales out of school?"
    "I'd cut my tongue out before revealing my sources."
    He stood with a frown. "It was Olivia."
    She rose, not about to be craning her neck to talk to him. The man's lithe, muscular body made her feel vulnerable and insubstantial. "No."
    "Wendell?"
    She shook her head.
    "Then it has to be Howard."
    "It was not."
    He stared at her for several moments. "You won't last long in my house if you take every remark to heart. My world is rather ruthless, I'm afraid."
    "Hmmm." She turned to go, and before he could stop himself, he caught her by the waist and drew her back toward him. She glanced up, transfixed by the dark promise in his eyes.
    "What—"
    "Don't ever let a rogue make you cry," he murmured a split second before he lowered his head and kissed her.
    She did not resist. Perhaps she was too surprised. He savored the sweet innocence of her lips and felt her hand lift to his shoulder, whether to push him away or hang on for balance he wasn't sure. For a perilous moment, he wanted to take this further, wanted to wield his power to subdue her. The way she arched against him, unaware of her own danger, aroused some dark sexual instinct to master her.
    "Oh," she said, her head falling back, the effect of his kiss utter devastation.
    He narrowed his eyes to watch her. Tentatively he touched his tongue to hers. Her body shivered against his, giving him all the encouragement he needed to deepen the kiss. He slid his arms down her back to support her, but suddenly his control was slipping away, and it was no longer a game.
    No, she thought distantly. Escape wasn't a choice. His strong body molded her to him in an unbreakable hold, not that she possessed the wherewithal to go anywhere. It had happened too fast, and she had to concentrate on breathing, on not allowing her legs to give out on her. When his large hand brushed lightly against her breast, she felt as if her body had caught fire.
    "And don't," he added in a low, ironic voice as he drew his mouth from hers, as composed as she was shaken, "let a rogue kiss you, either."
    There was barely time to recover. The sound of footsteps on the path to the pond broke the dangerous tension between them, and just as well, too. Catriona had no idea how to react. He had completely flustered her control. She took a shaky breath as he drew back a respectable distance. Her entire body felt achy and flushed with the most unsettling feelings. In fact, she could not remember a time in all her past humiliations when she had been tempted to resort to the supernatural for help. The man had no idea how fortunate he was that she had exercised such remarkable restraint. Or how deeply she regretted that the wonderful kiss had ended.
     
     

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Chapter 6
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    Olivia burst upon them like a child
finding a hidden treasure in the garden. "Oh, there you are, making friends. I cannot tell you how pleased I am to see you together like this."
    Knight straightened, belatedly offering his hand to help Catriona step away from the pond. The fact that she ignored his help seemed completely to escape his sister's notice. Olivia saw what she wanted to see, which was her beloved brother and her beloved husband's cousin caught in a friendly conversation. She would fly into the boughs if she dreamed what sort of conversation they had actually