“Frightened.”
“Ha,” she said, the word shaky as she spoke.
For a devastating moment, she wanted to explain everything to Logan—that she’d never given Donovan her body but that she’d thought she’d given him her heart…only to discover later that she hadn’t even known what love was. That she had been too young and too proud to listen to reason. But she was too cowardly to confess all that to him, and her head dropped.
Seeming to mistake her quietness for shame, Logan’s hand came up, curving beneath her jaw as he tilted her face back.
“Let me help you forget him,” he said softly as he leaned forward.
In all honesty, Donovan’s vague memory could barely compare to Logan.
Donovan had been dark haired and pretty, with soft hands and a youthfulness that had played to her young heart. He had been gentle but in a delicate way that had made Faith feel uncomfortably like a porcelain doll. On the other hand, Logan was entirely and unmistakably a man in his prime, and he treated her like a woman—one who had strength and vitality and passions of her own. The hard lines of his face, the strengthof his hands, and the rawness of his being both unnerved and delighted Faith in the worst way.
Logan may have challenged her, but his challenges were never condescending as Donovan’s reprimands had been. And best of all, he seemed just as eager to touch her as she did him, as opposed to Donovan, who had eagerly and earnestly run from her advances.
“Can you?” she asked softly, playing into this game that she didn’t understand.
“Will you let me try?”
She nodded absentmindedly as she pressed her cheek into his hand. He exhaled with a satisfied growl before his mouth landed on hers.
The magnetism between them was instant. Faith’s hands instantly went up to his neck, fingers snaking through his hair as she held him to her. His hands were bruising and powerful and everything that Faith had ever imagined.
There was no reason for hesitation. Faith had expected to feel scared at this moment, but she only found herself thinking one thing.
Finally.
Yes, it was outrageous to think, and it certainly didn’t speak to her being a lady, but Faith wasn’t in a drawing room surrounded by society. She was in Logan’s arms, and all she wanted to do, all she was going to do, was exactly what she wanted.
Even if she didn’t know quite what that was.
Clawing at his coat, she continued to kiss him as his hands fell to the front of her dress, working to free the six large, black buttons. He was efficient, untying her overskirt and continuing to kiss her. Soon, she was standing in only her chemise, petticoats, and corset.
Shocked at the speed with which he’d undressed her, Faith ignored the growing panic she felt in her heart.
“Turn around,” he said, lifting his mouth to her ear as he gently twisted her about.
His hands moved up the tight lacings of the back of her corset. If she had any idea what to expect, it certainly wasn’t the gentleness with which Logan seemed to handle her. He didn’t treat her as if she was fragile but rather as if she was precious, and it warmed her heart to be handled so.
With the same speed as before, he loosened the strings of her corset, removing it in a matter of moments. Turning her in his arms, Faith couldn’t help but feel they were moving too fast. She lay her hands on his chest, and he thankfully paused in his actions. To her surprise, a faint color broke over the bridge of his nose.
“Ah, I’m rushing, aren’t I?” he asked, his tone unsure. “I’m sorry. I’ve not done this in a while.”
Faith watched him, amazed that he would confess that. The tenseness displayed in his hazel eyes made her empathetic. It seemed he was nervous too.
Slowly, Faith raised her hand to his cheek.
“Truly?” she asked.
“Aye.”
“Why not?”
His muscular shoulders shrugged, and a cloud came over his face.
“It’s not been particularly important to me recently, I guess.”
“But isn’t it always important to men?”
