Something Wild by Patti Berg Read Free Book Online Page B

naked women. And he certainly knew how to stimulate a woman’s libido with just a smile, with the simple touch of his hands on her flesh.
    Hmmm
. Maybe he wasn’t a minister in the real sense of the word. Maybe he’d gotten a certificate through the mail that gave him the right to marry people, but nothing more. Suddenly she began to wonder if he ministered to some strange cult, where the female parishioners gave their hearts, their minds, and their bodies to a man—their pastor—who claimed he had special ways to save a woman’s soul.
    Heaven knows she’d run into numerous men like that in Vegas.
    She really didn’t think her soul needed saving, by any man, not at the moment anyway, so she pulled her leg loose from Mike’s strong and callused hands, drew her knee close to her chest, and massaged the ankle herself.
    As if it had just dawned on him that his hands had gotten a tad over familiar with her leg, as if his conscience was at war with his lustful nature, he plowed his fingers through his hair and rose from the bed.
    Wouldn’t you know it, that thick lock of hair she’d imagined falling over his brow tumbled forward, shiny, black, and . . . and . . . good heavens, Pastor Flynn was the sexiest man she’d ever set eyes on. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from him while he shrugged into his heavy lambs wool coat and pulled his hat low on his brow.
    She didn’t know what had come over her. As a rule, men didn’t get her all hot and bothered. She didn’t have room for a man in her life, because all her passion was concentrated on her work. But Mike bothered her.
    And that annoyed her because he was all wrong for her. Not only was he a man of God who’d frown at her profession, but he lived far from Vegas, the place where her dreams resided. Pull in your feelings, she told herself. Get a hold on your emotions.
    She took a deep breath. There. She was fully in control now.
    “Thanks for coming to my rescue.”
    “Not a problem.” He tugged on his gloves, and she refused to look at his long, strong, soothing fingers. “You ought to stay off your ankle for a couple of days.”
    “I’ve never been one for sitting still, and you already know I don’t follow orders, even when they’re in my best interest.”
    He hit her with a crooked smile, then took a step toward her, his legs brushing the comforter on the bed as he reached out a gloved hand. For a moment she thought he was going to cup her cheek, that he was going to say something endearing that would make her rethink her plans to keep her emotions under lock and key. But he didn’t caress her cheek. Instead, his hand dropped down to his side.
    “It’s late, and I’ve got a sermon to work on.”
    “Can’t that wait till morning?”
    “I’ve got two mares and a wild stallion to hunt in the morning.”
    “Won’t you be too tired?”
    “You don’t sit still; I don’t sleep.”
    Her father had always told her that sleepless nights were caused by worried minds. The good pastor looked like a man who shouldn’t have a care in the world, but still she asked, “Something troubling you?”
    “Wayward horses. Nothing more.”
    It wasn’t the truth, but she had the feeling he didn’t talk about his problems. He controlled them as much as he controlled the rest of his emotions and everything else around him.
    “Do you have any idea where you might find Satan?” she asked.
    “I can think of a few places, but Satan’s got a bad habit of staying one step ahead of me.”
    “What will you do when you find him?”
    “Drag him back to the ranch again and tame him.”
    She didn’t like the sound of that. “You won’t be able to.”
    “What makes you so sure?”
    “He’s wild and doesn’t know anything but running free. He’ll probably die if you try to break his spirit.”
    “There you go again, thinking you know all about horses.”
    “I don’t know much at all about horses, but I do know what it’s like to have someone force their will