Twice the Temptation by Beverley Kendall Read Free Book Online Page A

your brother-in-law to have you in my life…as my wife, I would gladly do whatever it took.” 
    Catherine visibly shivered and her eyes took on a glassy sheen. 
    “In other words, I found I could not live without you.” The need for her had grown until it had affected everything he did. He’d rushed through the expansion of his company, an undertaking that would normally have taken double the nine months he’d condensed it to. He and his men had worked themselves ragged to get the new steel plant equipped and adequately manned so he could return to England—to her. 
    Catherine’s breath emerged shaky and shallow. She stared at him and swallowed. “I don’t know what to say.” An enchanting blush suffused her face, her pupils large, and her blue eyes as clear as a cloudless sky. 
     “At present, I don’t want you to say anything. I want you to come here.” He’d intended it as a request but it came out a husky command. 
    “For what?” she asked, her voice a tremulous whisper, for she knew what he wanted. She’d known it almost since their introduction. The attraction between them had been immediate and explosive. 
    Lucas chuckled softly. “Surely you can guess,” he murmured. 
    Her gaze fell to the evidence of his arousal before jerking up swiftly. “You want to marry me yet I received only one letter from you. Those actions hardly seem to fit the sentiment you’ve just professed.” Her voice broke ever so slightly. 
    “I received no letter from you,” he retorted, still piqued at that. He’d hoped she would write but after two months had passed without a letter from her, he’d accepted the fact that there wouldn’t be one. 
    Catherine’s eyes narrowed as she folded her arms across her chest. “Pray what precisely was I to respond to? You informed me that you’d arrived safely and wished me well. What you sent me was a courtesy letter and nothing more.” 
    “If you recall, we didn’t part on the best of terms. I had no idea what kind of reception my letter would receive.” For the first time in his life, he’d feared his feelings not being reciprocated. 
    “You might have given me an inkling of how you felt.” Her eyes flashed in anger and hurt. She clearly blamed him for that. 
    Well he would make it up to her the best way he could. He’d give her a courting the likes of which she’d never seen or heard of before. 
    “Believe me, I would have written again but by the time I finally set my mind on my course of action, I believed a letter would be inadequate given the time that had elapsed and the fact that you’d never written me back. I felt it would be to my advantage to see you, speak to you in person,” he admitted gruffly. Whether she believed it or not, she held his heart and future happiness in her soft, slender hands. 
    He started toward her, approaching her with measured strides and affording her enough time to bolt if she so desired. But she stood her ground, strands of golden curls about her shoulders, his fingers having liberated them from the pins that secured them at her nape. He’d have preferred her hair completely unbound, trailing the length of his bare chest all the way down to his groin. 
    “I also thought it may be to my benefit to have the element of surprise on my side,” he said upon reaching her and drew her still form into his arms. She offered no resistance, her body stiff for a moment before she seemed to melt into him, molding to fit his frame as if fashioned for that specific purpose. 
    His erection went from interested to fully engaged, raging out of control. He settled it hard against her belly. He stared down at her and it was all he could do not to take her right there, heedless of the inappropriateness of the time and the venue. God, her sister was somewhere out there on the other side of the door. 
    All chivalrous thoughts fled from his mind when she caught her pink, bottom lip between her teeth on a whisper of a moan. Her eyes