AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He dropped the first boot to the floor. “And there was Hamish, who thought you needed a wee paddle to get you in line.”
“You were a great deal too amused by that suggestion, sir.”
He wrestled with his other boot but finally got it off, then stood to unbutton his vest. “You responded by threatening to murder me if I came near you.”
She scrunched up her nose. “I suppose I did overreact a bit.”
“I was a brute to tease you, but you made an utterly adorable urchin. It was a wonder I was able to keep my hands to myself.”
“I believe you didn’t keep them to yourself the following night.”
He tossed his vest on top of his coat. “You can hardly blame me, since I was asleep at the time. Until I was rudely awakened from that very pleasant slumber.”
“I was afraid Alasdair was going to murder you.”
“And I was afraidyouwere going to murder him.”
She let out a reluctant chuckle. “He can be very irritating, but I shouldn’t complain. My family has always been protective of me.”
“And rightly so, but now it’s my job to protect you.”
When he began to unbutton the fall of his breeches, Donella’s heart stuttered.
“I’m quite good at protecting myself,” she said as pertly as she could manage, trying to compensate for her nervous reaction.
Logan’s breeches followed his other clothes onto the chair. Thankfully, he wore linen smalls and his shirt hung down to his thighs, sparing her blushes for the moment.
When he snuffed the candles on her bedside table, shadows drenched the room. Outlined by the uneven light of the flickering fire, he was a large, masculine presence looming over her.
“I’ve never met a braver woman,” he said in a husky tone. “It’s a miracle I didn’t carry you off myself, when I had the chance.”
Donella took his hand and held it to her cheek. “At the time, part of me wished you had.”
“I’ve got ye now, lass, and I’ll nae be lettin’ ye go.”
His low, rough brogue made her shiver. Donella had to resist the impulse to pull him down to the bed and kiss him with a mad passion. She’d never felt like this in her life, and it was both wonderful and terrifying. Life without Logan now seemed utterly inconceivable, and that made her vulnerable in ways she was only starting to realize.
“I’m happy to hear that,” she managed.
Logan braced his hands on either side of her, his face inches from hers. “Almost from the moment I met you, I wanted you, Donella.”
She wrinkled her nose. “But I was quite awful to you.”
“That was part of your charm. And it did take me a wee bit of time to recognize what was happening between us. After all, you were going to hike off to another convent. That would have been a rather formidable obstacle to romance.”
“You rather frightened me at the time,” she confessed. “You made me feel things. I thought I needed to keep you at a distance.”
“It worked,” he wryly replied.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, love.”
He kissed her—a slow, lingering seduction she felt down to her very bones. She clutched at his shoulders, whimpering with pleasure.
By the time he finished demolishing her self-control, Donella was almost flat on her back, and she’d pulled him halfway on top of her.
Logan kissed the tip of her nose. “Do you think I might get in bed with you now?”
