Sacrifice by Lora Leigh Read Free Book Online Page B

“I’ll tell you the same thing I tell my boss—they make
salves for that sort of thing.”
    A surprised chuckle escaped his lips.
She was daring and sharp as hell. He loved that about her. He had missed her
blistering little retorts, her teasing laughter. He hadn’t realized how much
until now.
    She moved closer to him, the scent
of her, clean and fresh, with just a hint of peaches enveloped him, making him
hunger to taste her again. He wanted to spread her legs wide and lick up all
the sweet cream her body had to give. To gorge himself on her passion, her
cries and her sweet release.
    “Come here.” He pulled her into his
arms, ignoring her slight, indrawn breath at the intimacy of the act.
    It was one of her taboos, he knew.
No cuddling, no foreplay. Those rules he could and would break.
    He was surprised though, when after
a second’s stiffness, she relaxed against him, her hands settling cautiously at
his waist as he rested his cheek against the top of her head. His hands
smoothed down her back, fingers working at the muscles there, a smile tipping
his lips as they slowly eased.
    “I’m sorry,” she finally whispered.
“I don’t want to make this harder for either of us than it already is.”
    He smiled against her hair. If he
got any harder he would burst right out of his jeans.
    “Just let me hold you,” he finally
whispered deeply, responding to the need to feel her against him, the ache to
shelter her like a knife through his soul. “Just for a minute, Kimber. Let me
hold you.”
    The night wrapped around them, quiet, soothing. The sound of the frogs in
the pasture pond, the hoot of a faraway owl, a whippoorwill in a tree in the
backyard. The night enveloped them, hid their fears, their hungers, and for
those few precious minutes, brought a measure of peace to them both.

 
Chapter Seven
     
    He didn’t come to her bed that
night as she expected. Kimberly lay awake, long into the night, listening for
him, her body sensitized, ready, aching for him. She watched the connecting
door until her eyes finally closed in exhaustion and sleep claimed her as
restless dreams haunted her.
    The next morning she sat
bleary-eyed and irritable over a cup of coffee, listening to Matthews and Adams
as they discussed the reports from the previous day. No sign of intruders, not
a whisper of danger. Other than a deer munching the grass in the backyard,
there was nothing to report.
    “I’ll cover the inside today,”
Matthews said thoughtfully. “Adams will take the outside. I gather you’re stuck
with Mr. Dark and Gloomy Raddington,” he snickered at her.
    Kimberly lifted her brow mockingly.
“Dark and Gloomy?” she asked him curiously.
    “Yeah, he came down earlier for
breakfast looking like a thundercloud before retreating to his office. Barely
said two words to us.”
    At least he spoke to them.
    She lifted her shoulder as though
unconcerned. “Maybe he just doesn’t like company.”
    Tim Adams snorted. “Maybe we’re the
wrong company. From what I saw last night, he liked you pretty well.”
    She looked over at him slowly,
careful to keep her expression blank.
    “Excuse me?” she said carefully,
her body tensing at the implied insult in his voice.
    He stared back at her, his gaze
condemning.
    “I saw you on the porch with him
last night,” he sneered. “Getting a little close and personal weren’t you?”
    “Getting a little nosy aren’t you?”
she snapped back.
    “I would say too nosy.” Jared’s
voice was dangerously soft as he walked into the room. “Should you have an opinion
on how close I am or am not, with my stepsister?” he asked the bodyguard softly
as he moved to the table.
    Kimberly took one look at him and
came to her feet quickly.
    “Geez, is there enough testosterone
in this room?” she growled irritably. “What the hell is with you guys?” She
turned back to Tim Adams. “What I do is none of your damned business. And you,”
she poked a finger in Jared’s chest