“How would you know?” he asked, his tone harsher than he’d intended, instantly quieting her. Logan silently scolded himself before continuing. “I don’t wish to talk about it.”
Faith nodded. “Very well.”
Blast. This wasn’t how he had envisioned their first coupling to start. Inhaling deeply, he cast his eyes around, searching for her pony, deciding to change the subject. “Where is your horse?”
“I walked,” she said, another smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. “I’m quite unlikely to ride again until I manage to forget my last jaunt.”
“I see,” he said, turning his horse about. “Well, then…shall we go in?”
Faith’s eyes widened slightly, and she stepped away from him.
“Uh, let’s first put your horse in the stables.”
“The stables?”
“Yes. We wouldn’t want to be discovered, would we?”
Pragmatic of her, he thought with a nod.
“Lead the way.”
Faith walked across the pine needle–covered drive to a C-shaped stable. She walked past the first five stalls, stopping before the first stall hidden from view upon the first entrance.It was obvious that she’d put some serious thought into how to ensure they wouldn’t be caught and for a moment Logan wondered if what they were doing wasn’t in her best interest. Evidently, his apprehension shone on his face because she reached for his hand, almost reassuringly.
“Just in case,” she said.
He led the horse into the stall and closed the grate before turning to face her. Whatever suspicious inkling he had felt a moment ago melted away. Faith’s green eyes all but shined at him, and his breath caught in his throat. She was beautiful, but he had seen many beautiful women before and none of them had affected him as she did. He couldn’t explain it. It was more than her heart-shaped face and perfectly arched brows. The way the corner of her mouth quivered between smile and sneer, or the way her eyes would widen when he said the right or wrong thing. It was so many nuances that her painting could never reproduce, and he was grateful to have her in the flesh.
Her curled, honey-brown hair was pulled back, and he longed to run his hands through it, to hold her head to his and kiss her into oblivion. Giving in to his desires, his hand touched her cheek, which she leaned into.
Not for the first time, he considered how fortunate he was to have found himself in this predicament. While he and Faith had started out at one another’s throats, the unfolding of their situation had seemed almost serendipitous.
“You know, had you told me a year ago that we would be involved in a secret rendezvous with one another, I’d have believed it.”
Her brow lifted.
“You would not have.”
“I would,” he said, his thumb gently rubbing the edge of her jaw. “From the first moment I saw you, I thought you were anarrogant, conceited thing,” his voice dipped as fire lit her eyes. “And the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.”
The last bit caught her off guard, and she looked down.
“I thought you were an egotistical prat,” she said, glancing up. “And I was right.”
“Were you?” he asked, a hint of danger in his tone. She nodded. “Well then, what an unfortunate situation for you to be in. Perhaps you should have taken better care.”
He leaned forward, his mouth nearly on hers when she spoke.
“It’s you who should be cautious, Logan.”
At the drop of his name, Logan felt a flame engulf him as he bent down to kiss her. Instantly, her hands came up over his shoulders, the faint pressure of her fingertips digging into his skin, emboldening him.
Though he was no stranger to physical acts of love, the feel of Faith in his arms was at once familiar and foreign. He knew the motions that were expected of him and had been praised for his ability to coax a lady into a euphoric state, but this was different. He knew Faith, knew her anger and annoyance, her wit, her likes and dislikes. A bizarre yearning to please her in all ways bubbled within him as their kiss deepened.
His hand moved to the back of her skull, his fingers snaking through her hair. Her head tipped backward, and he kissed down the column of her neck as a soft moan escaped her mouth. The sound aroused him, and he pulled her closer as his other hand drifted up from her side to the mild slope of her breast. Caressing her through the cloth of her gown was terrific but not enough. He needed to undress her.
His hands came up the row of buttons that ran down the center of her torso, searching for the top one, but as soon as his finger began to toy with her gown, a distant sound of hooves sounded, pulling him from his task.
“What the…” he said, turning away from Faith.
