Captives' Charade by Susannah Merrill Read Free Book Online

believe.
    Even harder to believe was the fact that she was letting him enjoy the tenderness of her own lips when but a moment ago she had been screaming at him to leave her alone. Disgusted by her weakness, she ignored the pain it caused to move so abruptly, and flung herself away. Her chest heaving from her efforts, she swore, “Damn you for thinking you can kiss me whenever you please. Especially when you made me fall off my horse!”
    Shaking his head good-naturedly, Stewart replied, “I fear your temper was the cause of your fall, but if you wish me to take the blame, then please allow me to express my apologies,” he said and swiftly bent his head to claim her blossoming lips again. Too afflicted to struggle and too weak from his last assault, Sarah found herself going limp in Stewart’s caressing grasp. Her angry moans only seemed to encourage him further and she had a feeling of panic when a strange tingling sensation began to course through her.
    To her amazement, for she had never been so boldly kissed in her life, Stewart’s eager tongue parted her slackening lips, sliding with teasing abandon along her teeth until she gasped. Pressing his advantage, he met her small, pointed tongue with his own, engaging her in sensuous play until she was swept up securely in the passions he had aroused. Amazed by her own craving for the intimate sensations caused when his body pressed her down onto the sweet-smelling meadow, she found herself ignoring the weakening voice that warned her against this taste of heaven.
    Her jacket still unbuttoned, Sarah realized that Stewart’s warm hands were touching her through the sheer muslin of her blouse. And even though he seemed to move without thinking, he was very carefully avoiding her bruised ribs. Instead, he intimately cupped her breast, managing to imprison her arms lest she try to resist him.
    A cobweb of conflicting emotions sailed through Sarah’s fevered mind as Stewart’s thumb slowly brushed back and forth across her nipple. Her loins experienced a sweet ache and her ragged breath quickened as his tongue commanded hers to respond. Unobtrusively, Stewart turned her to her side, his right hand trailing down to the small of her back until he firmly pushed her hips toward him so that she could feel that she, too, was having an effect on him.
    Shocked by the contact she had never felt before, Sarah moaned again but it only caused him to move slowly back and forth against her. With great effort, she twisted her mouth away from his lips, but before she could speak, Stewart was whispering in her ear, his voice surprising her with its breathlessness. “Sarah ... relax. This is all right,” he murmured. “So right.”
    Listening to his soothing voice as her head was caught in the hollow of his throat, and feeling the body her nearness had aroused, Sarah recognized a fleeting urge to give in to her inflamed senses. But it was Stewart who began to pull away.
    With bittersweet longing, his pliant hands slowly moved from her body to her shoulders. Drawing her back and turning her bewildered face to look up into his, he sighed and smiled ruefully. “Sarah ....” he breathed, his thumb stroking her high cheekbone, flushed from his kiss. “I think I would give anything for this moment to continue. But as taken as I am with your beauty, I cannot in good conscience make love to a woman who has just fallen from a horse. Nor can I do it in an open meadow with the imminent threat of intrusion upon us.” Reluctantly, his hand drifted from her face as he gave her shoulder a light squeeze, a trace of resignation in his earthy brown eyes. Rising, he picked up the handkerchief she had dropped earlier and returned it to his pocket.
    After the shock of his sudden leave-taking, Sarah was quick to regain her composure. Seeking to minimize her own unprecedented surrender, she brushed away his aid and struggled to rise on her own. “Do not touch me! How dare you presume that I would ever let you