Free Let Me Love You by Mary Wine

sweet slumber it had been looking for since her struggle to live began. Her body was full of little ripples of delight and they rocked her like a babe. Sloan smoothed and cradled her body, pushing her into sleep as contentedly as a child now that she was warm, the fingertips resting on his chest no longer icy.
    He felt the steady beat of her heart as he hugged her close. If there had ever been a single moment in his life that might be termed perfect, this was it.
    Yeah, he was a bastard but he wasn’t a defiler. When Brianna spread her body for his use, she would do it with full surrender or he would take his cock to bed hard. His life was often harsh and brutal, but at the center of everything that he was, Sloan still had his principles.
    He wanted her and that meant all of her. Complete surrender or nothing at all.
    It wasn’t something he needed to rush. Guilt weighed on his conscience as he looked at her dress lying in a wet puddle on the floor. Little shivers still shook her body, and he hugged her closer as she continued to relax and let the tension leave her mind. His temper heated up faster. There weren’t many reasons that would have sent her into the river. None of them were good. She was restless, wiggling and kicking against his embrace. Whatever had frightened her bad enough to go swimming still rattled around in her brain. Smoothing a hand over her wet hair, he felt his resolve harden. Sure, it wasn’t his job, maybe not even his business, but he was going to uncover just who had driven Brianna into an icy current. Whatever—or whoever—she’d been trying to escape needed killing.
    He was just the man for the job. That was one place he did belong. Enforcing the law. Brianna shouldn’t have to face that ugly reality of life. It wasn’t his job to enforce civility on the culprit, but at that moment, with her head resting on his shoulder, he was tempted to make it his responsibility. It sure felt personal. Sloan smiled at the idea and let it rest in his mind for a bit. Temptation was one of those things that he just couldn’t keep himself from considering once in a while.
    Tonight, it was sleeping in his bed.
    And no one took what was his. Even if he hadn’t taken it himself.

Chapter Four
    Brianna stretched her legs and sighed. She felt as content as a cat. The bed was warm and there was plenty of room for her toes. Even the air on her face was cozy. Her eyelashes fluttered while her brain attempted to clear the night’s slumber from it. If the room was warm, she’d put too much coal in the stove. That was an oversight her budget couldn’t afford.
    She tried to push herself up, but the blankets keeping her so toasty-warm held her to the bed. Kicking at the stubborn bedding, she dislodged a corner and sat up. Her eyes rounded with horror as she cast a look around the cabin. Unfamiliar and Spartan, furnished with the bare basics. A black cast-iron stove sat in the corner, a small pot-bellied model. A neat cupboard stood next to it with a few tins stored on the upper shelves. Heat radiated from the stove and her dress was draped over the back of a chair sitting a few feet in front of it.
    Her face burned scarlet as she looked down at her nude body. There was nothing on her but what she’d come into the world wearing—skin. She was caught between the need to giggle and groan, because not once in her memory could she recall being bare for an entire night. A part of her found it ridiculously amusing, just as long as she didn’t look too closely at the fact that it had really happened.
    And Sloan McAlister had stripped her down…
    Tossing the blankets off, she hurried across the wooden floor to snatch her knickers off the seat of the chair. There was no sign of her shoes, making her hiss in anger as she realized the harsh current must have plucked her footwear right off her feet. She could add a pair of shoes to whatever else had been stolen from her house last night. The moment she closed her grip