Riding the Thunder by Deborah MacGillivray Read Free Book Online

joining him on the rock wall, but deemed that would be
too
close.
    â€œI’m not your enemy, Asha.” His white teeth flashed in the night. “And I
am
a paying customer.”
    â€œTrue, you are a customer. Whether you prove to be the enemy or not, I shall reserve judgment.” The autumn night seemed to enfold around them, to cocoon them in an intimacy that left her breathless. It was the sheer force of this man. His radiant heat reached out and nearly overwhelmed her fragile sense of self-preservation. She needed to get away from him,
fast,
before it was too late. “Goodnight, Mr. Fitzgerald.”
    â€œâ€™Night, Asha Montgomerie.
Pleasant dreams
,” he wished in a low sexy voice that promised they’d be about him.
    Asha started to walk away, but those soft words made her turn around. Jago still sat, smoking. The sensual hint of cherry trailed after her, taunting her for being a coward. Yes, she was a coward. She ran when she wanted to step between those strong thighs, press her body against hischest, and see if that cherry smoke tasted as tantalizing as it smelled.
    Never in her whole life had she ever considered taking a stranger to her bed. While a modern woman, there was still a wee dram of old-fashioned morals within her. The only way a man would make it past all her carefully erected guards and to her bed would be through love.
    She had a feeling Jago Fitzgerald could be the exception.
    Yes, she craved to take those few steps to him, maybe shock him with her surrender. However, as she thought of doing that—was just a breath away from doing it—images of a balefire seared her mind’s eye, of two lovers coming together with a passion that would burn out all reason.
    Swallowing back her yearning for him, she turned on her heels. And fled.
    Yes, wanting was a dangerous thing.
    Jago watched Asha rush to her bungalow and unlock it. She reached inside, flipped on a light, and then with a glance over her shoulder, entered. Sliding the patio door shut, she turned and relocked it. Hesitating, she stared with haunting eyes out into the night. At him. The instant spun out, making it hard for him to breathe.
    It wouldn’t take much to push the hand of fate and knock down those barriers she was carefully constructing between them. She wanted him. Oh, how she wanted him. It probably terrified Miss Prim and Proper just how much she did. An intelligent woman, she recognized she was his for the taking, that had he reached out and kissed her, he’d be in her bed this night. No words, no promises, just her sweet surrender. The needy look from those tawny eyes set his brain on a slow burn. Made him nearly forget his best intentions.
    With a sharp yank, she pulled the cord on the heavy drapes, and shut him out of her contained little world. He didn’t like being shut out. Still, despite his annoyance, hesmiled, seeing that her bungalow was next to his. He figured she likely had a personal code about never dating customers. Picky women often made such rules.
    â€œAnd Asha is very particular, aren’t you, love?” He said the words as a challenge.
    Taking another drag on the Swisher Sweet, he relished the hint of cherry in the tobacco. Damn cheap-arse cigar, but one fine smoke. His brother Desmond always sniggered at his choice of cigars. Of course, Desmond did everything first class. Were he to smoke, only Havana’s best would be good enough for him. Jago didn’t indulge often, but at times a smoke was relaxing. It allowed him to savor the moment. Like now.
    He wanted nothing more than to go knock on that glass door with the drapes pulled against the night.
Against him
. See if Asha would let him in. He wanted to push past the line she’d drawn in the sand, see if she’d make an exception for him, test if she’d break those rules. There was a restlessness inside him. A queer, itchy feeling that had been creeping up on him for the past ten months.
    The