But not even the fear of his fraternal violence upon her still unclad rear cushions could hold the frantic and shamed Marion any longer in that obvious position.
He allowed her to scramble to her feet. Trembling, she turned her back upon him that he might not see her suffused and lovely features, forgetting entirely the nudity of the hillocks which he had bared.
Suddenly a soft kiss, perhaps apologetic in part, since the distress of the girl was so evident and so burning, was laid upon the back of her neck. Unrebuked fingers performed the Samaritan task of drawing the blue silk downward over the twin mounds below.
“Oh-d-don’t-don’t k-kiss me!” he heard in a tremulous voice. “How incredibly horrible you have been to me, Stanley Cochrane!”
Chapter 2
“Horrible!” he cried, in a tone suggesting gentle reproach and righteous indignation. “Horrible for kissing affectionately the mere back of your neck-and for taking pains to cover chastely that beautiful bottom which you had carelessly allowed to become stark naked? I think such a frame of mind as yours requires heroic treatment!”
And Marion-who had added to his regret over the concealment of the snowy behind by nervously pulling the silk farther downward yet-emitted squeals of genuine dismay as she felt herself caught to the stalwart and light-clad figure of her audacious brother-in-law.
She was pressed in his left arm, face to face with him, their bodies in conjunction. Already his right hand was busy in raising the pliant, thin silk once more over the smooth skin of a hillock, which he was delighted beyond words to touch thus in its nudity.
Holding her tightly against him, he managed to glance down for another look at the swelling cushion.
“I think just a bit of paddling may be necessary, after all,” he said thickly. “When a child, still a mere college girl, so far forgets the respect due to five long years of seniority over her-to an elder brother-as to use such language towards him!”