Free My Desperado by Lois Greiman Page B

linen just so, partially covering the breadth of his bare chest. "I could feed you if you—-"
    "Goddamn it, woman!" Travis swore abruptly. His body quivered with explosive frustration. "Don't touch me!"
    Her face, when he looked at her, held an expression of utter shock, her eyes wide and brimmed with tears.
    "Oh, God," he moaned, covering his eyes with one hand. "Don't cry." He drew a ragged breath. "Please, don't cry."
    She backed away a step, her hands shaking, as did her voice. "I'm sorry."
    "Don't cry." His tone had become wheedling he knew. But he'd rather face a troop of first rate militia than cope with one crying female. Especially this female, whose very touch inflamed him.
    "It's my fault," she said solemnly. 'They'd never have accused you of murder if I hadn't forced you to take me to Grey's. My fault." She sniffled once.
    He closed his mind, trying not to hear her despair. Trying to pretend he was elsewhere, tracking Yankees maybe. But there was no safe harbor. Without thinking, he set the tray aside and then slowly got out of bed.
    "It's—"
    Katherine felt his arms wrap around her, and his chest was warm against her cheek. She should draw away she knew. She should be ashamed of her weakness, of her thoughts—of his nudity. But God forgive her, the strong embrace of his arms felt like heaven, like a safe haven from the horrors that had found her.
    "I'm sorry," she whispered to the taut muscles of his chest.
    His left hand stroked her back, while his right simply cradled her against him. "It's not your fault."
    "Yes." She sniffled, feeling a single tear slip from her cheek to be caught and spread between their bodies. His arms felt immensely strong, his body warm and firm. "If I hadn't been with Patterson..." She shrugged, remembering her need to save Daisy.
    He shushed her again, noticing her ears for the first time. Fascinating, how tiny an ear could be. How alluring. He touched it gently with his fingertips then followed the curve of it downward. She shivered. He felt the tremble, transferred from her lovely softness to his aching form.
    "If I hadn't..." she began again, but her line of thought had been disrupted.
    "Shhh." He stood a full head taller than she, though she was not a small woman. "Quiet, lady," he soothed, and kissed that ear ever so gently.
    As a young girl, Katherine had seen fireworks. But never had she felt them. Never until now. They exploded at the lobe of her ear, sending light sparking off in every direction. She slipped her arms about the incredible width of his chest and pulled him closer now. "Mr. Ryland."
    Don't let her speak, he reminded himself. He was teetering on the edge of no return, and if he heard that lovely molasses voice, he'd fall, taking her with him, down to his level.
    She turned her face, finding his eyes. They were warm, deep-set eyes that said so much. "Mr. Ryland," she whispered again, failing to realize the incongruity of such formality with a nearly naked man clutched to her body in a deathlike grip. Love me, she thought, but said, "I'm sorry," in that same way she used to in an attempt to gain her father's approval.
    "Shhh." Travis closed his eyes, shushing her through his gritted teeth and feeling the deep burn of his shaft throb against her thigh.
    "It's all my fault," she said, not certain why she felt such a scorching ache to hold him. Only knowing that her need was deep. "I should never have been..."
    He drew her closer, smelling the fresh fragrance of her hair.
    "Never have been there..." She pressed up against him, breathing hard. "With Patterson."
    "Don't." He moved stiffly back a pace, taking her arms in his large hands. "Don't say you were with Patterson." His eyes bore into hers. "I know it's a lie."
    Katherine stared at him in silence.
    "I know it wasn't you who was with him."
    Frustration welled within her. Never before had she been held in the strong warmth of a man's arms, and she wished now to feel that warmth again.
    "You weren't with