get comfortable.'
'When the two of you are together and no one else is around, is she pleasant to you then?'
Mary Rose thought about the question a long while before she finally answered.
'No.'
'Then why do you put up with her?'
She rolled onto her back and looked up at Harrison. He was scowling down at her. The man became upset over the oddest things.
'Why do you put up with MacHugh?'
'Why? Because he's a sound, reliable horse.'
'So is Eleanor. She's sound and reliable.'
'You can't know that for certain.'
'You couldn't have known for certain your horse was sound and reliable either. You went with your instincts, didn't you?'
'No, I didn't. One look at MacHugh and I fully understood why he was being difficult. His scars speak for him.'
'So do her scars,' she reasoned. 'Eleanor carries them inside, and perhaps, because people can't see them, the injuries done to her are even more damaging. She's often misunderstood.'
Harrison moved down, stretched out on his back, stacked his hands behind his head, and stared up at the stone ceiling of the cave while he thought about Eleanor.
'Travis is getting ready to toss her out.'
'No, he isn't.'
'He can't hide in the barn until she leaves, Mary Rose. Douglas, I couldn't help but notice, is doing the same thing. You're asking too much from your brothers. They should have the same rights you have.'
'They do have the same rights.' She turned toward him, propped her elbow on the blanket, and then rested her chin on the palm of her hand so she would be comfortable while she argued with him.
'My brothers aren't very patient men,' she began. 'Still, they know they can't toss her out. It wouldn't be a decent thing to do. They're all honorable men, every one of them.'
'There is an easy way to get Eleanor to behave,' Harrison said. He turned his attention from the ceiling to her eyes and allowed himself to be mesmerized by their intense, bewitching color.
She scooted closer to him and leaned up. 'How?' she asked.
'If something no longer works, you try something else, right?'
'Right,' she agreed.
'Does Eleanor expect breakfast to be served to her in bed every morning?'
'She said she did.'
'What would happen if no one carried a tray up?'
'She'd be furious.'
'And hungry,' he predicted. 'She would have to come downstairs.'
'I wouldn't want to be around when she did. Her anger is often quite worrisome.'
'Bluster.'
'Bluster?'
'In other words, it's all for show. Ignore her anger. Simply state your position, give her the rules of the household, and…'
'What rules?'
'When you eat, when you don't,' he said. 'That sort of thing.'
'I see. And then what should I do?'
His grin was devilish. 'Run like hell. You might try hiding in the barn with your brothers.'
She laughed. 'Everyone's going to love Eleanor once they understand her.'
'She should have responsibilities to take care of for as long as she is here, assuming, of course, Eleanor plans to stay for a long while.'
Mary Rose sat up and leaned over him. 'If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell Travis or Douglas or Cole?'
'What about Adam?'
'He already knows.'
She put her hand flat against his chest. His heart felt as if it had just flipped over. He couldn't stop himself from touching her and put his hand on top of hers.
'What don't you want your other brothers to find out?'
'Eleanor won't be leaving.'
'Do you mean to say she won't be leaving soon?'
'I mean to say, not ever.'
'Oh, Lord.'
'Exactly,' she whispered. 'She doesn't have any other place to go. Now do you understand? She doesn't have any family. Her father ran away from her and from the authorities. He's done terrible things to other people, and the law finally caught up with him.'
'What terrible things?'
'He took their money. He pretended to be an investor. He wasn't.'
'He took their savings.'
'Yes.'
'What about Eleanor's mother?'
'She died a long time ago. Eleanor's an only child, the poor thing.'
'Aren't there any aunts or uncles she could turn to?'
'No,' she answered. 'Most of the people in her town turned against her. She didn't have any friends to speak of.'
'I'm not surprised.'
'Show some compassion.'
'Why? You have enough for both of us, sweetheart.'
Her eyes widened. 'You called me sweetheart.'
'Sorry.'
'Don't be. I liked it. Say it again.'
'No. We were talking about Eleanor,' he reminded her.
'We shouldn't talk about anyone. It isn't polite.'
'I just wanted you to be aware of Travis's current frame of mind. He really is getting ready to call for a vote and toss your houseguest out. You'd better talk to him.'
She pulled her hand away from his and then reached up to stroke the side of his face. She felt the day's growth of whiskers under her fingertips and smiled over the pleasure the tickling sensation gave her.
He didn't stop her caress. He liked it too much. His hand cupped the back of her neck. His fingers threaded through her silky hair.
And then he pulled her down on top of him. He kissed her long and hard. He forced her mouth open by applying pressure on her chin. He was deliberate in his seduction, for the lure of tasting her once again overrode all thoughts of caution. There wasn't any harm in kissing her good night, or so he reasoned, and he was certainly experienced enough to know when to stop.
She opened her mouth for him as soon as she realized what he wanted. His tongue moved inside hers to take complete possession. She seemed to melt against him then. His mouth trapped her whispered sigh. And only then did he deepen the kiss. His mouth slanted over hers again. He was hard and hot against her, his tongue hungry to give her the taste of him inside her.
They mated with their mouths, their tongues, until she was overwhelmed by passion. Desire such as she had never known before swept through her body. Each time his tongue slid in and out of her mouth, she silently begged for more. Her nails dug into his shoulder blades, and her body rubbed against his, telling him without words how much she wanted him.
The sound she made in the back of her throat made him hungry to give her more.
