Harlequin Historical August 2014 - Bundle 1 of 2: Beguiled by Her Betrayer\Salvation in the Rancher's Arms\The Viscount's Frozen Heart by Kelly Boyce

Author:Kelly Boyce
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4603-3983-1
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

He thought she would resist. Cleo went rigid in Quin’s arms and then, with a little gasp, burrowed deep against his chest and wept. His nice clean shirt, borrowed from Sir James, stuck wetly to his chest, his hand where she had struck him ached, there was a lump in the plaster behind his head—and his arms were full of soft, fragrant woman. Cleo, who might never forgive him, Cleo, who certainly needed him at this moment.

The discomforts faded. Quin bent his head and nuzzled the top of hers, his lips moving against the shifting texture of her hair. He felt no need to try to stop her weeping. She would be better for the release and, selfishly, he enjoyed having her in his arms.

When she sat up, red-eyed and endearingly snuffly, he found his handkerchief and offered it without a word.

‘Sorry,’ she muttered into the depths of the linen.

‘Don’t be.’ Quin stayed where he was and waited until she emerged. ‘Cleo, we believe you. And we believe your father now we’ve talked with him. The man isn’t that good an actor.’

‘What...what did he say?’

‘He is furious that he was deceived and appears to regard it as an insult. The implications for national security do not appear to concern him anything like as much as the thought that we might cut him off from his correspondents.’

Cleo gave a moan of what sounded like pain. ‘Typical! Has he no idea what would have happened to us if you hadn’t believed him?’

Quin grinned. At the time he had wanted to hit the man, but in retrospect Sir Philip was so predictable it was almost funny. ‘He is an English baronet and a noted scholar. Naturally, in his opinion, we would take his word. I doubt it occurred to him for a moment that we might not. I thought Sir James was going to lose his temper, which would have been a novelty.’

‘Did Father ask about me?’ Cleo had recovered her poise, as much as a young woman sitting up in bed in her shift and mopping red eyes could. Her question was put calmly, with an air of indifference that made Quin want to wince.

‘He was rather preoccupied,’ he prevaricated.

‘In other words he did not.’

‘Cleo—’

‘I am used to it,’ she said with a smile.

He had seen that smile before, knew it well enough now not to be convinced. ‘The lack is in him, not in you,’ Quin said as he traced the curve of her lips with his fingertip. As he suspected, her flesh felt tight and unyielding as she forced the smile.

He expected her to move her head, to reject the caress. Instead her lips parted and her eyes closed. Quin caught his breath as the shock of arousal swept through him. He bent and touched his lips to hers. Sweet, soft, salty with tears. The desire to taste more, to reach the essence of her, was overwhelming. Quin cradled the back of Cleo’s head and opened his mouth over hers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.