Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,189

his arms around her? Why wouldn't he let go of her?

"You stay right here, Katie girl. Do you really think what happened matters to me?"

"Please, let me go, Brad." His chest was solid, and he smelled good.

"You don't want me to let go, not any more than I want to let go. I love you, Katie Fontaine, and there isn't anything going to change that. I'm just sorry I wasn't around at the time to have a hand in catching those bastards. I would love to have helped pull that lever."

Katie put a hand to her face, cringing against his chest, and finally the tears came full force. "Who told you?" she sobbed.

"Mrs. Stowe. She could see how things were getting to be between us, and she suspected you never said anything. She didn't do it to be mean. She did it because she cares about you, Katie. She figured maybe it would be easier if somebody else told me so I'd be prepared, and so you wouldn't have to go through the whole ugly thing again yourself. Having to tell it to a jury was bad enough."

"I was... only fourteen," she wept. "And they were... grown men... and strong. There wasn't anything... I could do to stop them. I tried, Brad... but they... kept hitting me... and they held me..."

"Hush, Katie." He wrapped his arms even tighter around her. "It doesn't matter now. What matters is that you came through it, and you're strong and proud and you've gone on with your life. All you need now is to learn that being with a man doesn't have to be something horrible like that... not if you love him... and he loves you. And you might as well know right now that I want to be that man. I'd never hurt you, Katie. I love you and I want you to be my wife."

She reached into a pocket on her yellow dress and took out a handkerchief, pulling away from him then to wipe at her nose and eyes. "How can you want me?"

He put his hands to her waist. "Because you're beautiful and brave and tough, let alone damn smart and a hard worker. You're everything a man could want, Katie, and you were raised on a ranch, so you know what that kind of life is like. Mostly I want you just because you're sweet and good-hearted, and I just plain love you. I think I loved you the first day we met."

She managed a faint smile through her tears, feeling the heat come back into her face again. It continued to amaze her that she actually enjoyed his touch. "I feel the same way about you, Brad, but I was so afraid that once you knew... I'd lose you."

He smiled the fetching grin that had a way of melting away her inhibitions. "You've got to have more faith in the man you love, Katie girl, especially when he's going to be your husband."

She studied the sincerity and determination in his gentle eyes, and did not resist when he leaned closer. With a pounding heart, Katie closed her own eyes and allowed his lips to touch hers lightly. It was a sweet, tender kiss. She wondered how one man's touch could be so horrifying, while another's could be so wonderful. The kiss grew deeper, and he pressed her close. She felt on fire with feelings she'd never thought she could possibly have for a man, yet when she thought of letting him invade her the way the Walker boys had done, she stiffened in his arms.

Bradley felt her resistance, and he left her lips, kissed her hair. "It will be okay, Katie. If you'll be my wife, I promise you I won't come to your bed until you feel like you're ready; but I also promise you that when you decide to be my wife in every way, you're going to be surprised at how nice it will be. And then you'll start having babies, and you'll forget all the ugly things and see the beautiful side of being with a man."

She thought about her own mother, how she had found that happiness with Luke, in spite of what she had been through. Now she understood what Lettie meant when she told her the right man would come along some day to erase all the ugliness. She relaxed again, meeting his gaze. "I do love you, Brad, and I do want to marry you. Three months might not