“Kendra Douglas, may I present the Magdalene?” Lucas said with tongue-in-cheek formality. He opened the door and stepped into the loose box. The Magdalene was floppy-eared and ungainly in the way of mules, with great liquid eyes that seemed to hold the wisdom of the ages. As she gave him an affectionate head butt, he said, “Yes, old girl, I’m glad to see you, too.”

“She’s large for a mule, isn’t she?” Kendra observed.

“Yes, my guess is that her dam was a draft horse.” Using both hands, Lucas scratched her scruffy mane fondly. If the Magdalene had been a cat, she’d have purred at the attention. “Wherever we went, children wanted to ride her. Three or four could fit on her back at once if they were small. She was always very gentle and patient with them.”

Kendra entered the loose box, cooing, “Aren’t you the pretty girl? Those great floppy ears are quite adorable.”

“They make horse ears look rather undersized,” Lucas agreed with a smile.

“She’s a big mule with a big personality.” Kendra curved her fingers to scratch through the coarse white hair. The Magdalene gave a happy bray and swept her head to one side so energetically that she knocked Kendra backward.

As Kendra lost her balance, Lucas stepped forward and caught her from behind. She fell against him . . . and for an instant the world stopped.

Kendra had held his arm when they walked and had wept in his arms, but they hadn’t touched like this before. She was pressed full length against him, all warm feminine curves and subtle, provocative scent. The contact was intimate and deeply arousing.

Almost against his will, his hands skimmed down her arms to her waist. He felt the pulse of her blood through the layers of her clothing. There was a long moment of absolute silence. Then she turned in his grasp and looked up at him, her changeable eyes intense. Their gazes met and he knew that she saw him as he saw her.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d held a woman close, and he was hungry, so hungry. Moving with infinite care, he bent into a kiss, giving her time to move away. She didn’t. Instead, she leaned into him, her arms going around his neck, and in the warm depths of her mouth he found a hunger that matched his own. She tasted sweet, so sweet, as they explored each other.

Tension and desire were rising, mutual and urgent. He’d been alone so long. Now he wanted to be this close to her forever, to follow this passion to its natural conclusion. It was madness, but a madness that brought him fully alive.

Yet though he’d dishonored his word, he was still a gentleman, and he told himself he must let her go. He must.