Long, Tall Texans: Calhoun by Diana Palmer Read Free Book Online

state lent her. She looked oddly mature with the pink swell of her breasts blatantly revealed and her long hair tangled around her face. Then she laughed at her own fancy and stretched out on top of the pale pink coverlet on her canopied bed.
    The whole room was decorated in shades of pink and white with blue accents. She loved it. The Ballengers had let her choose her own colors, and these were what she favored. Very feminine colors, even if she wasn't a sophisticated blonde. She shifted restlessly on the cover, and the bodice of her gown came completely away from one breast. Her eyes closed. What did it matter, she thought as she drifted off to sleep. There was no one to see her.
    No one except Calhoun, who eased the door open with an expression of concern in his dark eyes. He saw something that knocked the breath out of him.
    Abby was barely conscious. She didn't even open her eyes when he came into the room. It was just as well, because he

    knew he wouldn't be lucid if he had to speak. He'd never thought of Abby as a woman, but the sight of her in that silky drift of silver fabric, with one exquisite breast completely bare and her slender body outlined to its best advantage, shot through him like fire.
    He stood frozen in the doorway, facing for the first time the fact that Abby was an adult. No sane man who saw her lying there like that could ever think of her as a child again. And even as the thought formed he realized why he hadn't been himself lately, why he'd deliberately antagonized her, why he'd been so overprotective. He...wanted her.
    He closed the door absently behind him and moved closer to her. God, she was lovely! His face hardened as he stared down at her, helplessly feeding on the sensuous nudity she wasn't even aware of.
    He wondered if she'd ever let any of her dates see her like this, and a murderous rage stiffened his tall form.
    He hated the thought of that. Of another man looking at her, touching her, putting his mouth on that soft swell and searching for a tip that he could make hard with the warm pressure of his open mouth—
    He shook himself. This wouldn't do. "Abby," he said tersely.
    She stirred, but only to shift on the bed so that the whole damned bodice fell open. He actually trembled at the sweetness of her pretty pink breasts with their delicate mauve tips relaxed in sleep.
    He muttered something explosive and forced himself to bend over her, to pull the fabric together and fasten it. His hands shook. Thank God she wasn't awake to witness his vulnerability.
    She moaned when his hard knuckles came into contact with her skin, and she arched slightly in her sleep.
    His lips parted on a rough breath. Her skin was like silk, warm and sensuous. He gritted his teeth and caught the last button. Then he scooped her up in his arms and stood holding her propped on one knee while he tore the covers loose and
    stripped back the colorful pink patterned top sheet over the soft blue fitted one.
    Her eyes blinked and opened lazily. She searched his hard face, smiling faintly. "I'm asleep," she whispered, nuzzling close. Her sweet scent and the feel of her soft body in his arms overwhelmed him.
    "Are you?" he asked, his voice deeper, huskier than he wanted it to be. He laid her down on the sheet, cupping the back of her head in his hand while he drew a pillow under it, his mouth just above hers.
    Her hands were around his neck. He drew them down and pulled the covers up over her with a feeling of relief.
    "I never had anybody tuck me in before," she mumbled drowsily.
    "Don't expect a bedtime story," he murmured, his deep voice lazy with forced humor. "You're too young for the only ones I know."
    "I guess I am. Too young for everything. Much too young." She sighed heavily, as her eyes closed. "Oh, Calhoun, I wish I was blond...."
    "Now what brought that on?" he asked, but she was asleep again. He looked down at her softly flushed sleeping face, his eyes narrow and dark and thoughtful. After a minute he turned