Primal Obsession by Susan Vaughan Read Free Book Online Page A

stuck there. She tried to wrench away, but hard arms surrounded her.
    “Whoa, whoa, princess! It’s me.” The instant Sam grabbed her he knew he’d made a mistake. She stomped on his insole. She twisted around. Before her knee could score on his most vulnerable area, he held her at arm’s length.
    “ Sam! ” Gasping for breath, she wrenched free and swung her towel at him. “You scared the bejesus out of me. I broke another nail. Dumb jocks, everything has to be physical with you. What were you doing grabbing me?” She tossed the towel across her shoulder.
    Damn, she was beautiful breathing fire and whaling at him. Her wet hair was slicked back and brushed her shoulders. Her cheeks flamed bright pink to match her swimsuit, and her breasts heaved. Round and high, full enough to fill his palms.
    His eyes were glued to her chest until he noticed the way her top played peek-a-boo with her navel. His hands started to sweat. Oh man, he’d been alone too long if he got this excited about a woman’s bellybutton.
    He dragged his gaze to hers. “If I’d taken the time to be cerebral about it, you’d have tripped over that rock and sent that baby computer to cyber heaven.”
    She shot a glance at the tuft of grass that concealed a jutting stone. “Why’d you sneak up on me in the first place?”
    He pointed toward the path. “I was coming to get you. Fire’s ready to cook the lobsters.”
    She narrowed her eyes. “And you thought you’d scare me first by tromping like a bear through the raspberries?”
    “Not me. I was just walking along the path. I saw you about to trip. I yelled, but you didn’t hear me.” He examined the purpling bruise on his foot. “You got some good moves. Your knee came awful close to crunching the family jewels.”
    Her mouth twitched into a small, smug smile. “Living in New York, a woman learns to take care of herself.”
    Ah, here was his chance. “Now you live in Portland, Maine. A nice little city, but no Big Apple to a hotshot reporter. Why’d you leave?”
    She shrugged and wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Oh, I needed a change. The Messenger offered me a by-line. It’ll look good on my résumé when I go back.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “What? You don’t believe me? As if I care.”
    She bent over to pry a stone from her sandal. The movement opened a gap in her swimsuit top and afforded him a peek at one shadowed nipple.
    He swallowed. Hard.
    “As compulsive as you are about your work?” he choked out. “No, you had more reason than needing a change.”
    “How would you know I’m compulsive about work?” She folded her arms. Her gray eyes flashed storm clouds at him. “Supposing I am, that is.”
    “One, it looks like stress forced you to take a time out.”
    She hitched her shoulders at that. “So you say.”
    A swing and a hit. “Two, you brought your tablet. What’s the hot story you can’t let go?”
    “None of your business.”
    Correction—stand-up double. He was on a streak. “Top secret, huh?”
    She started toward the lake. “I have lobsters to cook.”
    “Take it easy. I didn’t mean anything.” He clasped her hand to halt her.
    To his relief, she turned back to him, set down the case. “That really wasn’t you in the bushes back there?”
    He traced an X on his chest. “Cross my heart.”
    Her cheeks paled. “Could it have been a bear?”
    She hadn’t tugged her hand away, so he stepped close enough to inhale her freshly shampooed hair and feminine scent. His breath hitched. “Doubtful. Maybe a porcupine. These campsites smell too much of humans. Bears stay away.”
    “So I’m safe?”
    “From bears, yes.” He sent her a lazy grin, flicked a finger at the towel over her shoulders, let his hand drift down her bare arm. Soft, smoother than the wood of a new ash bat. “But if you do see a bear, don’t run. You’d have more chance stealing home plate than escaping a charging black bear. Wave something, like this towel. Look big and scary.”
    She