Free His Heart's Revenge (The Marshall Brothers Series, Book 2) by Jo Goodman Page B

feathered brows drew together. "I am not playing. I assure you, I am in earnest."
    "Damn you." One of his hands snaked around her neck. He held her still for a moment, waiting for her to resist the pressure of his fingers. When she did nothing except drop her gaze from his eyes to his mouth, Logan pulled her toward him and ground his lips against hers. Without pausing for instruction, he forced her mouth open with the hard, wet edge of his tongue. He swept the ridges of her teeth, pushed against the barrier until she relented, and pushed hard in the warm, sweet interior of her mouth. He engaged her tongue in a battle, probing and retreating, tasting and tormenting. They shared the same breath. When he heard her small gasp, the hungry sound of pleasure and surprise, he released her, pushing her back with enough force to cause her to fall to one side. Almost immediately Logan was on his feet.
    "No," he said firmly, "you haven't been drinking. And you know what? It doesn't matter. Now get the hell out of here."
    "You forget. You are the trespasser here. Not I."
    "Then I'll leave."
    Mary Catherine saw him pick up his box and his bundled clothes. "It's been your plan all along," she said, eyes narrowing. "You were going to leave while I was at church."
    "What of it?"
    She didn't answer. Instead, Mary Catherine rose to her feet and crossed the loft to the ladder, blocking Logan's exit. Her chignon had come loose and tendrils of hair lay across her cheek and the tender nape of her neck. Her mouth was swollen and berry red with the proof of Logan's rough kiss. She stared at Logan defiantly and began to unfasten the row of cloth-covered buttons at the front of her gown.
    Words of protest died on Logan's lips as she slipped the bodice off her white shoulders. Over her lawn shift she was wearing a corset that confined her waist to a measurement Logan could span with his hands and lifted her breasts so they invited his touch. When she reached behind her to attack the corset strings, the lawn shift was stretched tautly across her breasts. Logan's mouth went dry. He swallowed hard and tore his eyes away from the high curves of her bosom. "Mary Cath... Kate... Katy... don't take that—" The corset fell, "—off."
    As far as Logan could see there was no earthly reason for Mary Catherine to wear the contraption. Her breasts were still as firm and high, her waist as small. One strap of her shift fell off her shoulder, and his eyes skimmed the delicate line of her collarbone and rested on the hollow of her throat. He dropped the bundle of clothes and the box. The precious contents scattered and he didn't notice.
    When he spoke his voice was taut because of the constriction in his chest. "Only one of us is thinking clearly Mary Catherine, and it's not me. I don't think you understand how long it's been... you're making it..." Hard, he wanted to say. God, she was making him hard. He could feel his erection pushing against his drawers. His knuckles were white from pressing his fingertips into the palm of his hands.
    Mary Catherine slipped the skirt of her gown past the crinoline, then stepped over the puddle of material—toward Logan. Her hoopskirt fastened at the waist and her fingers fumbled momentarily with the ties. It collapsed on the floor when she drew it off. There were two cotton petticoats, both of them shiny with wear and mended with tiny, careful stitches near the hem. She took them off, let them fall on top of the crinoline, and stood boldly in front of Logan in her shift and pantalets, shoes and stockings.
    She waited, and when Logan still made no move toward her, Mary Catherine's composure faltered.
    "It's because of the colonel, isn't it?" she asked plaintively. "He made me dirty."
    Logan snapped. He covered the distance between them in two short strides and pulled Katy into his arms. He held her close, pressing her cheek against his chest while his fingers slipped between the soft strands of her hair. His lips touched the crown