![Mallory Rush - [Outlawsand Heroes 02]](https://fs.ageofbook.com/564424/thumbs/152x264/mallory-rush-outlawsand-heroes-02.jpg)
to groom me for an appointment myself. Instead, I left the esteemed practice where I had been employed and returned, with Attu, to Juneau. By then I was well into my twenties and certain of my ability to see justice done with the silver saber of my tongue. Alas, I was mistaken. My attempts to bring to trial those men, who were rich, having laid claim to my rightful land, were laughed at. They fairly ran me out on a rail."
"That's terrible," Lori breathed. "Worse than terrible. It's about the most unfair thing I've ever heard in my life."
"I couldn't agree more." Though she supported his feelings, he doubted she would support the means by which he had sought his ultimate justice. He might get sympathy, but it was empathy he was after. His own for Lori was great. Much of what he'd unconsciously absorbed, the unguarded whole of her life, was coming back to him.
He'd been granted a rare privilege, and he honored it with a respectful silence. The whole of his life he kept silent as well, respecting the choices he had made while he longed for the day he could divulge them to Lori.
This was not the day.
"What happened after that?" she pressed, her voice a mixture of compassion and curiosity.
Carefully, he answered, "Attu and I took up residence in Skagway. Though it was dangerous, I did return to Juneau a few times, but always at night and incognito."
"So that's why you were so concerned with your whereabouts at first." At his nod, she frowned, puzzled. "Okay, now I understand what you meant about me keeping your secrets safe and it explains you having two identities. But what I don't get is why you'd risk coming back to Juneau when you had enemies here."
"It's really quite simple, my dear." He leaned close. "Pride. Not to return would have been an admission of defeat. And of cowardice. I am no more a coward than I am a quitter. Or a fool. Hence, the precaution of disguise and the gun I'd learned to shoot rather well, a better protection than law books could provide.
"So there you have it, Lori," Noble concluded. "And now that I am done telling my tale, I will exact my price for it." He watched as she nervously wet her lips, which whetted his appetite to consume them with a fury.
Noble swept aside their cups and gripped the lapel of her robe. A small jerk and he traced her lips with his tongue.
"My kiss, Lori. I would have that kiss from you now."
"O-okay," she stammered. "But just a kiss. That's all."
Noble laughed softly. "Could it be you might actually have as much to learn from me as I have to learn from you?"
"No doubt," she answered, her breath coming shallow and fast. "But what does that have to do with a kiss?"
"Only everything, my dear." He nipped her bottom lip. "I've yet to well and truly kiss you. Though I daresay, once I do, you'll realize any real kiss from me will never be 'just a kiss.'"
Chapter 10
Lori glanced at the clock: 2:00 a.m. She tossed and turned another half hour before slinging aside the covers. While she paced she worried her still-swollen lips.
Damn Noble. Damn him anyway. By no stretch of the imagination was that a kiss he'd given her. Kisses stayed on the lips and even involved one tongue getting turned on by another. But a kiss did not include a man's slow and deliberate roving over a woman's neck, ears, and the cleavage he exposed with his teeth to the bodice of her nightgown.
Lori wiped her forehead. Sweating, she was still sweating. But surely any woman would be sweating for days after a kiss that gave new meaning to extended foreplay—only, if Noble considered that a kiss, what in heaven's name did he consider foreplay?
Lori felt her knees go weak, her inner thighs quiver just wondering. And remembering. Remembering how he'd pressed her down on the table, her protests a sequence of moans as she'd pulled him on top of her. And there she'd writhed among peanut butter and crunched the crackers with her back, not even realizing what she was doing until Noble drew
"That's terrible," Lori breathed. "Worse than terrible. It's about the most unfair thing I've ever heard in my life."
"I couldn't agree more." Though she supported his feelings, he doubted she would support the means by which he had sought his ultimate justice. He might get sympathy, but it was empathy he was after. His own for Lori was great. Much of what he'd unconsciously absorbed, the unguarded whole of her life, was coming back to him.
He'd been granted a rare privilege, and he honored it with a respectful silence. The whole of his life he kept silent as well, respecting the choices he had made while he longed for the day he could divulge them to Lori.
This was not the day.
"What happened after that?" she pressed, her voice a mixture of compassion and curiosity.
Carefully, he answered, "Attu and I took up residence in Skagway. Though it was dangerous, I did return to Juneau a few times, but always at night and incognito."
"So that's why you were so concerned with your whereabouts at first." At his nod, she frowned, puzzled. "Okay, now I understand what you meant about me keeping your secrets safe and it explains you having two identities. But what I don't get is why you'd risk coming back to Juneau when you had enemies here."
"It's really quite simple, my dear." He leaned close. "Pride. Not to return would have been an admission of defeat. And of cowardice. I am no more a coward than I am a quitter. Or a fool. Hence, the precaution of disguise and the gun I'd learned to shoot rather well, a better protection than law books could provide.
"So there you have it, Lori," Noble concluded. "And now that I am done telling my tale, I will exact my price for it." He watched as she nervously wet her lips, which whetted his appetite to consume them with a fury.
Noble swept aside their cups and gripped the lapel of her robe. A small jerk and he traced her lips with his tongue.
"My kiss, Lori. I would have that kiss from you now."
"O-okay," she stammered. "But just a kiss. That's all."
Noble laughed softly. "Could it be you might actually have as much to learn from me as I have to learn from you?"
"No doubt," she answered, her breath coming shallow and fast. "But what does that have to do with a kiss?"
"Only everything, my dear." He nipped her bottom lip. "I've yet to well and truly kiss you. Though I daresay, once I do, you'll realize any real kiss from me will never be 'just a kiss.'"
Chapter 10
Lori glanced at the clock: 2:00 a.m. She tossed and turned another half hour before slinging aside the covers. While she paced she worried her still-swollen lips.
Damn Noble. Damn him anyway. By no stretch of the imagination was that a kiss he'd given her. Kisses stayed on the lips and even involved one tongue getting turned on by another. But a kiss did not include a man's slow and deliberate roving over a woman's neck, ears, and the cleavage he exposed with his teeth to the bodice of her nightgown.
Lori wiped her forehead. Sweating, she was still sweating. But surely any woman would be sweating for days after a kiss that gave new meaning to extended foreplay—only, if Noble considered that a kiss, what in heaven's name did he consider foreplay?
Lori felt her knees go weak, her inner thighs quiver just wondering. And remembering. Remembering how he'd pressed her down on the table, her protests a sequence of moans as she'd pulled him on top of her. And there she'd writhed among peanut butter and crunched the crackers with her back, not even realizing what she was doing until Noble drew
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