Page 25 of Along Came a Rogue

As she laughed softly, he grinned at her, his eyes sparkling even in the dim blue-gray light of the rainy day. His smile cascaded through her, all the way down to the singed tips of her toes. Oh my. It warmed her from the inside out, the way no blanket ever could.

She cleared her throat and glanced out the window to distract herself from how appealing he looked, all travel-rumpled and unshaven, but the mud-streaked glass made it impossible to see anything. “Do you think—”

The vehicle lurched, the wheels stopping so suddenly that she sailed off the leather-cushioned seat and across the compartment, straight toward him.

With a fluid motion, he caught her and pulled her down onto his lap. She gasped in surprise and threw her arms around his neck.

They’d stopped. Everything around them came to a sudden halt. Except her heart, which now pounded so fiercely she was certain he could hear it. Or worse. That with her body pressed against his like this that he’d be able to feel it.

His mouth hovered close to hers, their eyes level as she sat perched precariously across his thighs with her arms wrapped around his neck. Her heart began to beat impossibly faster.

“Are you all right?” he murmured, his eyes flicking down to stare at her mouth before glancing back up to hers.

As the heat of his breath fanned her cheek, she nodded jerkily. “I’m the one who landed on you.” She forced a nervous smile, as if sitting on the lap of a handsome army major was the most ordinary thing in the world. But she’d die of mortification if he ever suspected the fluttering for him low in her stomach or how her breasts grew heavy as they brushed unintentionally against his chest. “Are you all right?”

“Just fine,” he answered, although she could have sworn she saw a fleeting grimace of pain on his face. “Perhaps I should check outside to see—”

With another swaying lurch that once again left her clinging to him to keep from falling, the carriage rolled forward.

“What happened?” she whispered.

Her cheek brushed against his. At the delicious sensation of his beard stubble scratching her skin, a tingle swept through her, landing straight between her thighs and blossoming the intimate ache growing there. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remember to breathe.

“We’re moving again.” His voice tickled her ear, making her tremble. “We must have been stuck.” But his arms didn’t loosen their hold around her, his hands on her back didn’t drop away. The warmth of his body seeped through her thin dressing robe and stirred a prickling heat beneath her skin that made her remember how good it felt to be in a man’s arms, to have her body pressed hotly against another’s.

“Oh.” Suddenly her mouth went dry, and she licked her lips to wet them.

“Mrs. Crenshaw,” he rasped out hoarsely.

“Yes?”

He cleared his throat. “You’re still sitting on my lap.”

“Oh!”

Embarrassed, she tried to scoot away, but her off-balance position worked against her. Her feet failed to find purchase on the floor, and she could do nothing more than wiggle her bottom against his thighs.

And he wasn’t helping. Instead of setting her on her feet, Grey sucked in a mouthful of air between clenched teeth and just sat there, his body stiffening.

“Emily,” he ground out.

“I’m trying, but I can’t get my balance to—”

“Stop wiggling!”

She froze.

Slowly, she raised her gaze to look at him. And lost her breath. “Oh,” she whispered, her swirling mind unable to think of anything else except the raw desire she saw in his eyes. She nervously licked her lips again, and this time, when his gaze fell to her mouth, he didn’t look away.

Her heart pounded fiercely now for a whole new reason. Grey wanted her…didn’t he?

Oh, she simply didn’t know! What she knew about men could fit on the head of a pin, and even that had proved so very wrong before.

But she understood Grey now, knew what kind of man he was and what goodness lay in his heart. If he could make her lips tingle with only his hot gaze, then surely…

Or surely not. Because he hadn’t tried to lay a hand on her, not once during all this time they’d been alone. For heaven’s sake! They’d been more intimate five years ago when he’d given her that first kiss. And even now confusion poured through her at the way he stared at her mouth so longingly but made no move to kiss her.

Blast it! Did the infuriating man want her or not?