The Lady and the Lion by Kay Hooper Read Free Book Online Page A

shocking because she had never before made a sound like that. Her fingers were exploring the hard muscles of his back, and her breasts throbbed almost painfully against his massive chest as if all the veins had expanded and filled with hot blood. The thrust of his tongue was a small possession she welcomed eagerly, and her body moved unconsciously, seeking and inviting a much greater intimacy.
    Keith hadn't meant for this to happen. With what little coherent thought left to him, he told himself that his own lack of control was due to his tension, the pressure he was under, and the long months of obsessive planning that had left no room for a personal life of any kind. He was a sensual man by nature, not accustomed to denying himself, and that was why... It was just physical desire, only lust.
    Nothing else made sense.
    But the same thread of reason to which he grimly clung insisted there was more to it than simple lust. Much more, even though he couldn't put a name to it. What his body demanded wasn't mere release—it was joining. He wanted, needed, to become a part of her, to merge the two of them together until there was no separateness, until they were bound immutably together. And he thought she wanted the same thing. She was so alive in his arms, so utterly responsive, and he wanted her with a reckless, heedless need almost impossible to fight.
    Almost. But the thread of sanity held in his mind, and it was enough—barely—to give him the will to end that scorching kiss and set her away from him. He kept his hands on her hips, holding her away, trying to control his ragged breathing enough to say something, anything, that would stop them before it was too late... before he pulled them both over the edge.
    She was staring at him, her eyes wide and dazed, her parted lips a little swollen from the fierce pressure of his. Pushed back away from him, she had grasped handfuls of his shirt as if unconsciously determined not to let go of him.
    "No," he said finally, his voice little more than a hoarse rasp.
    "Why?" she whispered, not even vaguely surprised that she was, quite definitely, throwing herself at him now. It didn't make any sense, none of it did, but she was caught up in something that was rushing forward and she couldn't stop it, couldn't stop herself. She couldn't even stop the naked words, "I want you too. You know that. You have to know it."
    Keith managed to get his breathing under control, but his willpower was still hanging by a mere thread and she wasn't helping any. "Erin, you don't know what you want. You've cut one tie to a domineering man, don't be so quick to form another."
    "Is that what you are? A domineering man?" She wondered why he was doing this, because that didn't make sense either. He wanted her, but was obviously determined that they wouldn't be lovers, and she didn't understand why.
    "Bet on it."
    "I don't think so." She shook her head as if it didn't really matter, but her beautiful face expressed puzzlement and hurt, a dawning realization. "You just don't want—complications. Is that it? You're afraid I'd cling." She seemed to notice her deathgrip on his shirt for the first time, and slowly released the material. "Maybe you're right. I don't seem to have any pride at all."
    "Erin—"
    In a very steady voice, she said, "Tell me you've got a wife and kids back in Topeka. Or that you're a convicted ax murderer or gunrunner or something. Tell me something, Keith. Tell me why."
    He forced his hands to let go of her. In the most even voice he could manage, he said, "Erin, this is happening too fast, you know that. You aren't thinking clearly."
    "But you are?"
    "I have to. I don't want to hurt you, and I think that's what would happen. I wouldn't be good for you. I wouldn't be good for anyone right now."
    "Would I be good for you?"
    "I don't know."
    "Is there a wife? Kids?"
    Keith shook his head, angry at himself because he was unable to tell her the one thing that would probably make her run from