'How do you know they haven't?'
'The frequency of their trips to Hammond.'
Harrison smiled. 'You know about the house outside of town?'
'With the women? Of course. I've known for a long time. Adam explained everything to me. Now that you've explained what it could be like in bed with you, I believe I shall start having those same thoughts and dreams you have. I won't tell Adam about them though.'
'Not what it could be like in my bed, what it will be like. I mean to have you, Mary Rose.'
'You do?'
'I love you, sweetheart.'
She was overwhelmed with joy. Tears welled up in her eyes, and all she wanted to do was throw herself into his arms and hold him close for the rest of her life. She hadn't realized how long she'd yearned to hear those words.
He wouldn't let her hug him. He held her by her shoulders and gave her a little squeeze so she would pay attention to what he wanted to explain to her.
'I want you to listen carefully. I love you, and I'm going to keep on loving you until the day I die. I want to spend the rest of my life protecting you and cherishing you. I have a tremendous amount of faith in you. I know that once you get past your anger, you'll realize we were meant to be together. It's inevitable. No man can ever love you the way I do. I want you to try to remember that when you're hating me. Remember too that I never, ever meant to hurt you.'
'I don't understand what you're trying to tell me. I could never hate you.'
'Ah, love, you will hate me,' he promised. 'I wish to God I could prevent the heartache you're going to have to endure, but I can't. It's out of my hands now.'
She wasn't frightened by his dark prediction. He loved her. Nothing else mattered to her.
'You tell me you have faith in me, but you contradict yourself by suggesting I could ever hate you. I have far more trust in you than you have in me, Harrison. Nothing you have ever done, or will ever do, could make me hate you. I love you, more than I could ever have imagined was possible. With my love comes my complete trust. I don't give it easily. When I come to your bed, it will be with a loving heart. I'm not so weak-willed to love one minute and hate the next. I don't care what heartache awaits me. If you are by my side, I shall endure anything.'
He gripped her shoulders tight. 'Think long and hard before you give me your pledge of love. Understand and remember every word you just said to me. Then go and talk to your brothers. Hear what they have to say before you tell me you love me again.'
She shook her head. 'I don't need to talk to them. I already know what is in my heart. Nothing they can say will change the way I feel about you.'
He was shaken by her trust in him. 'You tempt me to damn the consequences. I need you, Mary Rose, and I know I can't continue to wait much longer. I won't ever force you. You're going to give yourself willingly to me. Don't dare tell me you love me again, for if you do, from that moment on, you will belong to me. I will not let you change your mind.'
His hands moved to cup the sides of her face. His rough calluses against her skin emphasized the wonderful differences between them. She luxuriated in the power that radiated from him, the strength in his hands, the hardness in his body, the very way he towered over her. She didn't feel less because he had far more physical strength than she had. She gloried in all the amazing contrasts between them. She was his equal in all ways that mattered most to both of them. In her mind, and in her heart.
'I love you, Mary Rose.'
The tenderness in his voice was testimony he had spoken from his heart.
His thumb rubbed across her lower lip. She felt the warmth of his caress down to her toes.
'You are everything I could ever want in a mate, and so much more. I was drawn to your kindness and your strength and your pure heart. Go back inside now, before I forget my promise.'
His hands dropped to his sides. She understood completely what he expected her to do. He had given her a way out because he wanted her to be certain. There could be no going back once she made her commitment to him.
Oh, yes, she understood. He didn't understand though. It was already too late, for her heart had already been given.
'I love you, Harrison.'
He went completely still. She repeated her pledge.
'Dear God, Mary Rose. Do you understand that I…'
'I love you.'
He pulled her into his arms. His hands cupped her backside, and he lifted her up tight against him until her pelvis was pressed against his groin.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. She began to tremble with anticipation, for his heat and strength enveloped her now. She loved the scent and feel of him against her, and dear God, if he didn't kiss her soon, she thought she would go out of her mind.
He waited until his hunger consumed him. And then he leaned down and began to make love to her with his mouth. His tongue stroked her lips, then sank deep inside to mate with hers.
The taste of her intoxicated him. His mouth became more demanding, slanting over hers again and again until he became wild with his own pulsating need. There was only Mary Rose, the passion of his life, the love for eternity. He wrapped himself in her softness and believed he'd reached heaven.
The hot, wet, open-mouthed kisses became more urgent because her uninhibited response drove him on.
She couldn't seem to get enough of him. She wanted to touch and stroke him everywhere. His arousal was cuddled between her hips. She could feel his hardness pressed against her and began to instinctively rub against him.
The temptation to go further was beginning to override all other considerations. Harrison suddenly realized his jeopardy. And hers. If he didn't stop now, he would take her virginity in the backyard. God help him, the thought didn't repulse him.
He abruptly pulled away from her. His breathing was ragged and choppy. Every nerve in his body screamed out for fulfillment. He shuddered in reaction to the raging need coursing through him and clenched his jaw tight as he desperately tried to mentally distance himself from her.
She felt as though her anchor had just been ripped away from her. Her strength deserted her, and she collapsed against him, shaking with her own need.
She wanted him to put his arms around her again and hold her close.
'Go back inside.'
The harshness in his command cut through her haze of desire. She tried to understand. 'Inside? I don't want to leave you. Please kiss me again. I love you, Harrison. I want you to hold me.'
'Go back inside.'
He wasn't asking her to leave, he was telling her to. She took a deep breath and slowly pulled her arms away from him.
She was confused by the sudden change in him. Had she done something wrong, and if so, what?
She wasn't in any condition to try to figure anything out now. She would have to wait until later, after her heart had stopped pounding so frantically and she could catch her breath without panting, and then she would think things through.
He wasn't going to have to tell her to leave him alone again, however. As dazed as she was, she still fully understood what the word
She turned around and started walking back to the house. Irritation and frustration didn't catch her until she was halfway to her destination.
It was damned rude of him to be so abrupt in his dismissal, wasn't it? Would it have killed him to tell the woman he loved why he'd been in such a hurry to stop kissing her?
She thought he was behind her. 'You're as moody as your horse,' she muttered loud enough for him to hear.
He didn't respond to her barb. She turned around to repeat her insult and realized then he couldn't possibly
