Read Dangerous Weakness for Free Online Page B

her fingers, icy even through her gloves, laced with his. Together they groped along the stone enclosure until they came to a rough wood structure. The stench told them it was no house long before they reached it.
    “Storage barn?” she suggested.
    “Shearing shed,” he guessed. Will had gone on at some length about shearing one night. Richard wished he had paid attention.
    He tightened a grip on her hand and looked in every direction. When he saw no glimmer of light or other sign of humanity, he tossed about for an alternative. This close, he could feel that she had begun to shiver violently. He needed to get her out of the wind.
    “If the racket those creatures made didn’t bring the farmer, he must be at some distance,” he said. “This appears to be our only choice.”
    She tried to open her mouth, but her teeth chattered too rapidly to speak. If she meant to disagree, she failed.
    If I don’t warm her, she’ll fall ill.
    He pulled her into the shed, and into his arms.

Chapter 7
    Warmth, wonderful warmth.
    Lily burrowed deeply into it, shaking uncontrollably. Her nose nestled into the soft lawn of Richard’s shirt, and she let the scent of sandalwood, shaving soap—the scent of man—fill her senses.
    “Easy,” he soothed. “Let me warm you.”
    His heavy greatcoat fell around her. In the protective cocoon of his arms, the odor of sheep receded, the ache in her legs eased, and her sense of threat in the darkness yielded to a sense of safety. She snuggled against him.
    “Better?” he slid his hands up her back to her shoulders, as if to push her away.
    “Some,” she replied, cuddling closer. The hands slid back down, sending warmth through her. “I’ve made a mess of it, haven’t I?”
    He didn’t answer.
    “Too much a diplomat to agree with me?” she mumbled from deep in his coat.
    “Too intelligent to state the obvious,” he responded.
    I acted without thinking. I put us both in jeopardy. I led him through muddy fields and sheep dung for heaven’s sake.
    And Volkov will know. She shivered again.
    “More cold?” he asked. He held her tight.
    Volkov will know and Sahin will kill his agent. Papa!
    The weight of it crushed her. Wet tears overflowed, ran down her cheeks, and soaked his shirt.
    Richard jerked away. “Please, no tears,” he whispered. “It won’t help and—”
    A sob escaped her and then another.
    “Don’t!” She could hear his consternation and confusion in that one word, a man all at sea when faced with a woman’s tears. He pulled her close again.
    Some things you can’t control, Glenaire. A woman’s grief is one of them.
    “Don’t,” he repeated more gently and lowered his mouth to hers.
    He kissed her, she thought, to quiet her sobs as much as to comfort. It quickly flamed into something else.
    She tasted salt in the kiss, her tears flowing into his mouth. His harsh lips softened, gently teasing and urging Lily to open to him. She did, falling headlong into the fire that had threatened to ignite between them for two days. One last coherent thought came to her: among the insane events of this foolish expedition, opening to Glenaire would be the most foolish. At that moment she didn’t care. She wanted the comfort he offered.
    He shrugged off his coat, brushing her hand aside when she tried to cling. “I need to touch you,” he rasped. “Let me get this out of the way.” He slipped off his tailored jacket and tossed it over the stall behind him. The jacket of her riding habit followed it, removed by his deft hands before she could protest.
    Soon enough he’d wrapped his greatcoat around them both, his hands inside, gliding up her back to undo the ties of her chemisette, one after inevitable one.
    Talented fingers slipped through the gap in back and caressed her through her shift, up, down, and up again to run his fingers along the edge where her skin burned at his touch. All the while his mouth moved down her neck to its juncture with her shoulder.
    He tugged