Love Rules by Rita Hestand Read Free Book Online

would rather see me dead than paid for.” She almost laughed.
    He placed his hands on her shoulders and stared down into her somber face, wishing he could light a smile there. Wishing there was some way to protect her.
     

    “Look, I got a place in Texas. It isn’t much, but it’s better than this. You could go there, at least until I’m done with this war.”
    She moved out of his arms and started back toward the cabin, trudging through the tall grasses, her skirt hiked so she didn’t stumble.
    “Dammit!” He caught her to him and whirled her around to look into her face.
    “Honey, I care about you.” The endearment rolled off his tongue before he realized he spoke it, but the soft spot in his heart said he meant it.
    “Well, don’t!” she snapped. “I did what I had to do, that’s all,” she sputtered, her tears falling freely. Confusion crossed her lovely features. “Don’t worry about me. I know how to survive. Besides, you’ve only known me a short while. You can’t possibly care about me.”
    “Can’t I? Look at yourself. You’re barefoot, your house leaks, you have barely enough to keep you alive, Maggie. This isn’t living. It’s existing. You deserve better than this.”
    “How would you know? You don’t know anything about me.”
    The air stood still between them. Awareness drew them into each other’s arms.
    His heart banged in his chest as he stared at her. The fact that he liked her shocked him, and at that moment, he wanted her, too. It hit him like a hammer to the head. He wanted the Black Widow.
    Her sad eyes hit him, and he melted.
    “I’m part black…where am I going to go?”
    “You’re also part white.”
    He smiled and touched her cheek gently with the back of his hand. She rubbed her face against his fingers, and he drew her to him. His lips grazed the top of her head. He heard her draw breath. Slowly, he picked her up off the ground and held her high in his arms. Her hair splayed against her shoulders, her dress strained against her breasts.
    “You’ll bust that wound open.”
    “It’s worth the risk.”
    She relaxed a bit.
    He brought her down, slow and easy, feeling her curves against him as he did so. Then their lips met in a storm of emotions unspoken. His kisses were feather

    light at first, going over the delicate bridge of her nose, up across her eyelids, over her cheek and finally, at last to the softness of her lips. Her mouth opened to him, like a flower reaching for sudden sunlight. Eager, warm, soft….
    He picked her up in his arms again and carried her toward the house, their kiss never breaking. He kicked the door open with his boot and carried her inside. As he set her down in the middle of the room, he met her hot gaze. “Maggie.”
    He groaned. Breaking away from her took too much effort. She was his at that moment. She stood so still, staring as if wanting him as badly as he wanted her, and the knowledge of it made him swell with pride. The look in her eyes mixed with surprise and white-hot desire. Her defenses were down, laid bare.
    Heat curled between them like a soft sheet. He slowly reached for her again and took her back into his arms. Her head went back as he trailed demanding, wet kisses down her neck to her shoulder. Her hair splayed almost to the floor, and he ran his fingers gently through the strands, relishing the silk of it. “A man could die happy in your arms.” His lips moved to the shell of her ear. “Tell me if you don’t want this. I still know how to be a gentleman. Problem is, with you, I don’t want to be.”
    “Oh God…I should stop you. You know I should,” she cried out, shaking her head, but then her gaze dropped to his lips and she looked lost. “You don’t fight fair. I want this as much as you. I can’t hide what I feel. I truly wish I could. You know I want you to touch me…I see it in your eyes. It’s not in me to lie. From the first moment I saw you, I wanted you. It’s not right for a black woman to