Free Married in Haste by Cathy Maxwell Page A

financial affairs. He didn’t want her to bolt.
    She started to speak. “I—” But then she stopped. Her chin came up to a stubborn angle and she glared at him almost defiantly. In a low, flat voice, she said, “I have nothing to confide. You are saving me from last night’s scandal and I thank you.”
    Brenn felt the swift rise of anger. Why was she being so bloody difficult?
    Why was he pressing the issue?
    After all, what did it matter if she had been with another man or not? He was marrying her for her fortune. Then why did her refusal to be honest make him a little crazed?
    Because it did, with a primitive anger at her stubbornness. And because it mattered, he resolved the issue with the same audacity he’d demonstrated on the battlefield.
    He took her by both arms and kissed her.
    At first she opposed him. She attempted to turn her head away, placing her hands on his chest. But something deep and primal that had been lurking within him from the moment she’d first walked into the room now urged him to press forward, to make her respond and bend to him.
    It wasn’t only lust. He liked the taste of her. Very much. More than he’d anticipated.
    To his satisfaction, ever so slowly, she relented. He deepened the kiss. She responded, tentative at first and then with growing passion.
    His tongue touched hers. She started to draw back but he wouldn’t let her. His hand followed the curve of her spine, keeping her close to him.
    Her nipples hardened. He could feel them even through the layers of clothes between them and he knew he could have her. Boldly, he pressed himself against her, wanting her to feel his desire.
    She caught her breath, making a small sound of surprise. Brenn looped her arm over his shoulder while his other hand held her captive. Slowly, deliberately, he began making love to her with his tongue. He knew how to pleasure a woman. He’d learned the art of making love in eight countries.
    And one of the things he’d learned was that not every partner sparked this sudden wild desire in him or responded with such innocent inhibition. Her body fit his. He rolled his hips against hers, aping the movements of his tongue. She moaned, both arms now around his neck, and he cupped her buttocks and lifted her slightly, the better to position himself close to her.
    He grabbed hold of the material of her skirt, wanting to feel her, to see if she was hot, ready. He wanted the barriers removed between them—
    A knock on the door was their only warning. They broke apart immediately and managed to place a small sofa between them just as Hamlin entered the room.
    The smile on his face did little to mask the anxiousness in his eyes. “So, I hope the two of you have had a moment to get to know each other,” he said with a false heartiness that made Brenn wonder what he had feared would happen when they were alone.
    Her color high, Tess reassured him with a small laugh. “Lord Merton was telling me about Wales.”
    Brenn didn’t like how easily the small falsehood had come to her lips. No, she was no virginal miss. No woman could respond with such wanton abandonment and still be untouched. Whether she carried another man’s brat or not, he wanted her with a force that was startling. He wanted his seed inside her, to mark her and bind her to him.
    “I am anxious to show Miss Hamlin Wales.” He glanced at her lips. They were still rosy red and slightly swollen from their kiss. “Spring is always such a fertile time.”
    Her hand came up and she covered her mouth. Their gazes met, and she quickly glanced away. Brenn couldn’t resist a grim smile of satisfaction. She’d known the direction of his thoughts.
    He and Tess Hamlin would suit very well…and in spite of Sir Charles’s warnings, and his own guarded instincts, he had to have her.
    “I’ll take you driving in the park this afternoon, Miss Hamlin,” he said. “Sir Charles assures me that such an act is tantamount to an announcement in the