Seducing the Rake (Mad, Bad and Dangerous Heroes) by Christina Skye Page A

reflected there.
    But what else was it about those eyes? Were they blue? Green, perhaps?
    Frowning, he leaned closer. Sweet and delicate, her perfume filled his lungs. Her soft hips shoved at his thigh, her breasts at his shoulder.
    His pulse hammered to a gallop.
    The chit smelled good. And she felt even better. He inhaled slowly, trying to place her scent.
    And then somehow his hand was on her hip and she was crushed against his chest, the fence at her back. He yanked off the straw hat and gleaming ebony curls spilled free, falling over her shoulders and down past her waist.
    Morland slid his fingers into the thick, blue-black strands. They reminded him of polished mahogany. He felt a dim tugging at the back of his mind, something that urged caution, logic, sense…
    But it was far too late for caution. Smiling grimly, he tossed all reason to the wind and dug his fingers deeper.
    Beneath the coal dust her face went sheet-white. Her eyes widened.
    He still couldn’t quite make out the color…
    No matter, for her body was sleek, perfectly made to fill his fingers.
    And yet those eyes. There was something most odd about those eyes of hers…
    Morland struggled for control. He had to stop. He had to stay aloof.
    But his aroused body paid absolutely no attention.
    He eased her head back. He slid his mouth hungrily over hers and felt her hat slip free as his lips explored the soft arch of her mouth.
    She tasted warm. Rich with strawberries and mint.
    He was pondering that alluring blend of tastes when his captive came to furious life against him, her arms flailing, her feet kicking wildly. She tripped on a coal bin and cursed.
    “Bloody hell, woman! There’s no need to—” Morland winced as a slender fist smashed into his jaw. “Stop ! I’m not going to—”
    Her open palm cracked against his cheek. Then her half-boot savaged his shin.
    He jumped back, growling an oath.
    But the little cat was ready for him. Her hair was a wild black mane about her face as she circled slowly. So the wench wanted a fight, did she?
    Moorland scowled. He’d learned a few tricks in Spain that she wouldn’t be expecting, in spite of the fact that she was obviously a seasoned fighter herself.
    Probably James Cameron’s latest stray cat. The old reprobate had a habit of collecting flotsam of every shape and size. Even the human sort.
    Morland’s eyes narrowed on the woman’s slender hips, outlined for a moment as she jerked at her dusty skirts.
    But maybe she and the Black Cameron had a more intimate association. Maybe she—
    “You haven’t changed a bit, have you? Still out to suit yourself! The same opportunist you always were! “
    Once more her palm cracked down, this time against his shoulder.
    Morland scowled down at the tangled curls, the sooty cheeks, the blazing eyes, trying to trace that low, throaty voice. “I beg your pardon.”
    “Pardon? You’ll not have that from me, either, Tony Morland! There you’ll find yourself sadly out, you bounder, because I know all your tricks. And if you have the slightest bit of decency—which I sincerely doubt—you’ll take yourself off before—”
    Bounder? Knowing his tricks? What was the little hellion talking about?
    Morland feinted swiftly and seized her wrist as it whipped past his cheek. “What are you ranting about, woman?” But he got only a hissed oath for his trouble. Her slender fingers clenched and unclenched as he stared down at her. “Where is James Cameron? Enough arguing!”
    A shudder lurched through her, from sooty face to slender, wiggling thighs.
    And then, without a breath of warning, she simply crumpled, boneless as a stuffed doll in his arms.
    Morland caught her barely a foot from the ground. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he swept her up against his chest.
    She was soft.
    And warm where her breast nestled against his arm.
    All that fight and fury, and the woman was nothing more than thistledown in his hands…
    Morland’s jaw clenched as her cheek slid