Calamity Mom by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online Page B

crowd applauded, but they were so lost in each other, in the intoxicating magic of aroused awareness, that they barely noticed.
    “Oh, for a few seconds of privacy,” he murmured huskily, searching her eyes as he slowly drew her back up again, the sensual brush of his hard body against her soft one arousing her suddenly and violently.
    The dance had been sensual. She could feel her heart, and his, pounding in rhythm. “What would you do?” she challenged.
    “I think that you’re not quite that naive,” he said, and his silver eyes fell to her soft mouth, lingering there until her lips parted and a tiny, frustrated moan escaped them.
    His breathing was suddenly audible. “Shelly, stop it!”
    She wanted to, she really did. But for the first time in her life, she wasn’t quite in control. The feel of his chest against her soft breasts made them swell and she felt a sweet trembling all through her body. She was young and untried and hungry for her first taste of physical ravishment. All that was in the eyes she lifted bravely to his.
    His jaw clenched. He swallowed. “All right. But not here,” he said roughly.
    He took her hand in his and drew her along with him. Her head was spinning; he’d read her thoughts as surely as if she’d spoken them. She’d never before experienced that kind of communication. It was frightening, similar to the headlong rush into passion that made her legs tremble.
    “People. Damn people!” he muttered under his breath as he searched for a single uncrowded place. There wasn’t one. He looked toward the beach, where the sea oats and sand dunes gave at least the illusion of privacy.
    If he’d been thinking rationally, he’d have taken her straight back to the hotel and left her with Nan while there was still time. But she was wearing some sort of tangy perfume that made his senses whirl, and the thought of her softly rounded body in his arms made him reckless.
    He led her along the dunes and then helped her down to the level of the beach with him, holding her so that, for an instant, her eyes were even with the aroused glitter of his.
    He let her slide gently against his muscular body until her feet touched the sand. Behind him was the roar of the surf with moonlight glistening like diamonds along the waves that ran into the beach. But louder even than that was the frantic beat of her heart as he drew her to him with a self-mocking smile and bent his head.
    “Every man is entitled to make a fool of himself once,” he whispered into her mouth as he took it.

CHAPTER FOUR
    S HELLY WASN ’ T MODEL-LOVELY , but her wealth had guaranteed that she’d had suitors in the past. None of them, not one, had made her mouth ache for his kisses, her body plead to be touched and caressed. But Faulkner did. Her response to him was instant and alarming.
    Once, she tried to draw back, but his big hands slid to her hips and pushed them hard into the changing contours of his body while his lips teased around her trembling mouth.
    He felt her instinctive withdrawal and checked it expertly. His nose brushed against hers and there was no urgency, no brutality in the touch of his mouth on her face. He was remarkably tender for the level of arousal he’d already reached.
    “Don’t be afraid of me,” he whispered, his voice gentle, indulgent. “You can stop me whenever you like. Force is for bullies.”
    The calm tone pacified her. For just an instant she’d counted her folly in coming out alone with him, when she hardly knew him. There was a very real danger in being secluded with a strange man. The papers were full of tragediesthat a little common sense, caution and wise counsel could have prevented.
    “I read too many newspapers, I guess,” she said unsteadily.
    “Some women should read more,” he replied flatly. He pushed the hair back from her flushed cheeks and stared down at her in the faint light. “You’re quite safe with me. I wouldn’t advise you to come out here with your friend