Page 21 (1/2)

"I iine Thorne could have scared them off with a look" She traced a scar on the side of his knee, a thin line that stood out against the gnarled mess "But someone operated here Someone skilled"

He nodded "Took three days, but we found a surgeon who promised not to ah, above the bullet wound There was no scar tissue there, but a leather strap had worn him bald in a telltale stripe of pale, baby-s band of hairless skin circled his upper calf She touched that, too He winced, not at the pain, but at the exposure He hoped she wouldn’t understand the significance of those bands

"You’ve been wearing a brace," she said

He didn’t respond

"Why did you renitude"

He had to ignore it His purpose was not only trainingthem How could he accomplish that with such an obvious weakness?

"I’m healed," he told her "It scarcely pains ruff, incredulous noise "Liar You’re in great pain And er, after all that ood"

"It did But not as good as you" He reached for her, suddenly eager to take the aggressive role He’d been lying here helplessly for

She batted his hand aside "You should still be wearing the brace Look at this swelling" Her fingertip traced his red, misshapen knee "You’re not ready towordsSoht, she gasped "Don’t tell me what I’m ready to do" He squeezed harder still "Do you hear eons toldMy superiors think I can’t co, too If you mean to treat me like an invalid--a man you can coddle and nurse and stroke without any hint of danger" He yanked on her wrist, pulling her atop him He cinched his other ar, as well"

Her eyes flashed "Release rip, and her short, quick breaths gave him a luscious display of her breasts

"That won’t work, love My legas a bull everywhere else"

"Even bulls have their weaknesses" He felt her wriggling, insinuating one of her lithe, slender legs between his The hot friction of their bodies, through just the thin layers of her frock and a linen sheet, had hiroin Oh, she understood how to hurt a ood leg over hers, trapping her lower body Then he flipped the her on her back

"There I have you," he said, pinning one hand over her head "And ill you do now?"

"I’ll scream There are two foot down the corridor"

"Go ahead, scream Call the foot position My career will be over, you’ll be ruined, and we’ll be stuck together for life We can’t have that, now can we?"

"Lord, no"

Bram stared down at her Odd He’d spent his entire adulthood avoiding roled with this wo forced to ht In fact, if he let hiraciously appointed bedchamber, atop a soft, clean mattress, with her lovely scent of herbs in the air and her pale body writhing under his

It was the strangest, e But curiously, he didn’t hate it

She squir, he kissed her on the forehead "That’s more like it" He’d much rather have her scorn than her pity Pityher ire made him feel alive And she was so wonderfully easy to provoke

"God, having you under me, in a bed" He kissed her, just at the corner of her lips "You drive ether"

He gentled his grip on her wrist, but kept it pinned with just the weight of his ar the line of her jaw, covering her racing pulse Then dipping lower, caressing the tender slope of her throat Her skin was so soft Had she bathed? he wondered Or would she still taste of the sea?

"Very well," she said "You’veo"

"I’ll release you, if that’s truly what you want But I don’t think it is"

Flipping his hand, he slid the backs of his fingers down her chest, all the way to her bosoe of her chemise The sheer, lacy fabric rose and fell with her rhythe of a wave

If she wanted him to stop, she could stop hiht onto one elbow A quick dart to the side, and she’d be free

She glanced in that very direction, obviously thinking the same

But she didn’t , he fitted his palled to contain his own groan of pleasure The soft, round swell fit his hand so perfectly, warhtened to a knot, pressing against the center of his palm Just a s Her body was responding to his, calling to his His cock answered, stiffening to a painful degree

He bent his head and pressed his lips to her bared throat, kneading the taut globe of her breast as he kissed a slow trail doard She did taste of salt, and of sweet feue in a lazy, serpentine path over her collarbone Then dipping down, to trace the border of her décolletage There, her close-fitted bodice thwarted hi the neckline to give, just a little He needed to touch her there, feel that tight bead of her nipple press against the pad of his fingertip

Working in tiny arcs, he ski the warraphy of the plurazed the textured edge of her areola, and triuh hi a new territory An enticing round island of pro dunes and capped with an upward-thrusting peak He cli for breath God, just a little further

There