Read To Tame a Scoundrel's Heart (A Waltz with a Rogue Novella Book 4) for Free Online Page B

anywhere, she would wager. Did he climb the mast and rigging himself? Probably. He didn’t seem the type to leave the dangerous work to his crew while he sat idly by.
    She could more easily picture him clinging aloft, his muscles straining and bulging, than circling a dance floor, although, each required a certain form of animal-like grace and carriage, and he exhibited a masterful command of both.
    Katrina’s step faltered to a stop once out of Miss Sweeting’s earshot. She still held Nic’s arm and had accidentally brushed against him when exiting the salon’s narrow doorway, not that she permitted herself to acknowledge the heat permeating her spencer and gown once more.
    Affianced— almost affianced —ladies did not notice, and most certainly did not enjoy, a gentleman’s attention or touch other than their betrothed’s.
    “I’m concerned about your aunt.” Katrina gestured toward the door. “The parlor is unbearably warm, yet she complains of cold, and her skin is too dry to the touch. I think a physician ought to be consulted, but I know you intend to leave straightaway.”
    Nic swiveled to stare at the empty doorway, consternation creasing his forehead. “I’ll delay my departure. She’s too important to me to risk her health by waiting until I return. Can you recommend a physician?”
    “Certainly. Doctor Cutter is attending Mama this afternoon. I’ll ask him to stop here on the return trip.”
    “I’d appreciate that. Very much.”
    Gratitude shone in his genial gaze. He had the most astonishingly beautiful and expressive eyes. He might be coarse and rugged from his privateer life, but within the depths of his spectacular, thick-lashed eyes, humility and kindness lurked.
    His willingness to set aside his vocation, for the time being, at least, to care for his sisters touched her deeply. Most titled men of her acquaintance were arrogant, selfish boors concerned only with their pleasures and interests.
    After withdrawing her arm, Katrina went about donning her gloves. Once finished, she permitted him to assist her into her pelisse, steadfastly ignoring the rush of pleasure the simple act elicited. The brush of his calloused fingertips at her nape and shoulder produced curious little quivers.
    Quivers she oughtn’t to have noticed, let alone enjoyed.
    Richard possessed work-roughened hands too.
    So why didn’t Richard’s fingers accidently sweeping her skin provoke the same tingling response? Assuredly, she felt tender arousal when he kissed her, but his mild caresses never had the ability to turn her knees custard soft or caused her to want to arch into him. Oh, he’d wanted to do more, had pressed her to do much more, but Katrina had been adamant about having a ring on her finger before she succumbed to passion’s lure.
    Far past time she wed and experienced the marriage bed. Once her virginal curiosity had been satisfied, she’d not respond like an untried maid when a dashing man paid her attention.
    Only one man has ever had this effect on you, Katrina Lorraine Rebecca Needham.
    Stubble it!
    She was not fast or fickle. She loved Richard. She couldn’t wait to be his bride.
    She needed to think of something else.
    “It’s an honorable thing you’re doing, Nic. I can only guess at the sacrifice you’re making and how difficult it must be to relinquish captaining your ship.”
    Katrina tilted her head to meet his gaze. She wasn’t short, but his height topped hers by several inches. For a man reputed to have seized over fifty ships and taken innumerable lives, he possessed the gentlest eyes she’d ever seen. In the salon, they’d been a mossy green, but in the entry’s dimmer light, they appeared more marine, and a deeper forest green rimmed his outer iris.
    “I’ve always wanted to be part of a large family, and I’ll admit, Pendergast’s refusal to allow me to know my brother and sisters has chafed my ar—that is, my pride.” He scratched his cheek, charmingly