Read Online Along Came a Rogue by Anna Harrington - Free Book Online Page B

enough to heat her back, every inch of her hummed with long-forgotten need to be wanted as a woman. And with the way his head hung low over her shoulder and his lips poised close to her ear, his ragged breath warm against her cheek—could it be possible that Grey wanted her, too?
    She could barely dare to believe that, yet the pulsing inside her was simply too electric, too thrilling to be wrong. Her body knew instinctively what his wanted. But would he act on his desire? If she simply leaned back, bringing her body against his hard chest, would the gentleman in him set her away, or would the rake wrap his arms around her, remove her clothes to reveal her to the firelight—
    No. Tears of frustration and torment dampened her lashes because she so desperately wanted what she could never have.
    “Come with me to London,” he cajoled, his fingers touching hers as her hand dangled at her side.
    Anguish sliced at her heart as the enormity of what she was refusing crashed through her—the opportunity to be at her brother’s side, the chance to be in Grey’s arms. Squeezing her eyes shut, she choked out, “I—I can’t.”
    “Why not?” His hands brushed up her arms now, heating her skin as if the sleeves of her robe didn’t exist.
    “Because I…I haven’t been feeling well.” His caresses made it difficult to think, and damn him, he knew it, too! “I need a few more weeks, Grey, please.”
    “If I come back for you then,” he asked quietly, his lips so close to her ear that they brushed her earlobe with each word, “you’ll return with me?”
    “Yes.” Another lie. Because when he returned, she’d be gone.
    He took her shoulders and faced her toward him, and his eyes turned hard as they leveled on hers. “Brat, you are trying my patience.”
    Her lips parted in stunned surprise as the heat he’d flamed between them vanished. “What do you—”
    “You’re beautiful when you lie.” He arched a brow. “But you’re still lying.”
    She desperately shook her head. “Grey, please—”
    His hands tightened around her arms. “Are you in trouble?”
    She fought back a gasp. Oh God, he knew…somehow, Grey knew ! And for a heartbeat, she wanted to admit the truth to him and put an end to the lonely nightmare her life had become. But she couldn’t.
    “No,” she lied, the single word barely above a whisper.
    The hard flicker in his eyes told her he didn’t believe her. In that instant, she had a glimpse of the War Office agent he was, suspicious and wary, catching every detail.
    Then he softened, and she glimpsed the man beneath the agent, who gazed on her with concern. He asked gently, “Are you in danger, Emily?” As she stepped back to escape his grasp, he pursued her and cupped her face in both his hands. “Let me help you.”
    A knot of emotion tightened her throat at the strength and support Grey offered. And God help her, she wanted to take it. She wanted to crawl into his arms, to somehow bury herself inside him and finally be safe—
    She groaned softly. “You shouldn’t be here.”
    “If you didn’t want me at Snowden Hall,” he countered, crooking a half grin, “then you should have aimed lower with your gun.”
    She didn’t laugh at his teasing. Instead, she fisted her hands helplessly at her sides to keep from reaching for him. “That’s not what I meant.”
    He frowned. “Then what exactly did you mean?”
    She shook her head, futilely attempting to chase away both the fear and the arousal blossoming inside her. She should never have allowed him into the room with her tonight, or offered him a drink, or let him ever get this close. While she wore nothing more than her robe and thin night rail beneath, Grey stood there in the firelight half-dressed himself, with his shirt collar hanging open wide and revealing the place where his neck and shoulder met. That place where she found herself longing to place her lips…
    Madness! She would have laughed at herself if frustration