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On that, he had to agree. There was nothing either of them could do. At least, not legally. His arm brushed against the holstered gun at his hip as he took a step toward her.
TWENTY-TWO
The need to keep his distance from Cat no longer existed now that Logan had gotten the full story from her. The tight fold of her arms and the cleansing rub of her hands over them told Logan that she had yet to rid herself completely of the feel of Lath’s touch. He needed to change that. For her and for himself.
“I’m sorry, Cat.” His hands settled lightly, high on her arms, exerting no pressure. She stiffened in instant resistance, her eyes flashing to his face. He held them. “I meant for you to feel safe in this house.”
A small, barely perceptible tremor quivered through her, taking away her stiffness. Her glance strayed to his shirtfront as she wavered, a broken look in her eyes. Recognizing that it was all the invitation she could give, Logan gently gathered her into his arms. She shuddered once, then accepted the simple comfort he offered.
“You aren’t to blame for what happened, Logan. It was my fault,” she murmured.
“No. There is only one person responsible for what happened, and that is Lath.” His hands moved over her in slow, soothing strokes that encouraged her to relax against him, even as they worked to banish the memory of other hands. “You may have left the doors open, but that didn’t give him license to assault you.”
“I know.” She rested her head against him, a fisted hand moving childlike near her mouth. “It’s just that I…”
When her voice trailed off, leaving the sentence unfinished, Logan guessed at it, “You felt powerless, right?”
“Yes,” she sighed the admission and stirred in his arms, the agitation rising again.
He hooked a finger under her chin, tilting it to prompt Cat to look at him. “Tonight, after Quint’s in bed, I’ll show you the different ways to break out of that hold.”
“There’s more than one?”
“Always.” He watched the mix of doubt and surprise in her eyes give way to a militant light.
“Like what?”
“Like instantly going limp and sinking to the floor, forcing him to try to hold your entire weight.”
“But I would be twice as vulnerable on the floor.”
“Not necessarily. Your legs would be free, and a well-aimed kick could take out his knee—literally. As a defensive tactic, falling can be very effective, but it’s hard to do because it goes against every instinct.” He could tell that he had given her something to think about other than the attack itself. “Tonight I’ll show you others.” His glance strayed to her lips, seeing them part in anticipation of that. Before the thought of kissing her could take root, Logan stepped back, aware there were limits to his control. “Right now, you’d better get dresse
d. I’ll give your father a hand unloading the horses.”
Lending action to his words, he headed for the door before she could see the hard-biting hunger in his eyes. Her voice stopped him halfway across the room.
“Logan.” She waited until he looked back. “You might as well know that I unpacked all my things and put them in your bedroom after I found out you had already moved all your clothes to the spare room.”
“That’s fine.” He saw the unspoken question in her eyes and chose to ignore it.
Cat wouldn’t let him. “You intended to sleep on the sofa last night, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“What changed your mind?” She studied him closely, puzzled and curious.
“I got irritated,” Logan replied without emotion. “You seemed dead set on sleeping with a ghost last night. I decided I didn’t want it to be in my bed.”
Cat had her answer, and she didn’t particularly like it. Something told her it wouldn’t be Repp she thought about when she crawled into bed that night. And it wouldn’t be Lath Anderson, either. Somehow Logan had managed to supplant both. On one hand, she was glad about that, but on the other…
“Any more questions?” Logan’s raised eyebrow challenged her.
“No.” She moved toward the bedroom.
“For your information,” Logan began, “your uncle told me nothing about what happened. He did call me, but only to say you needed me. He refused to tell me why, claiming that he had given you his word.”
Cat murmured a stunned, “Then you didn’t know anything.”
