Surrender by Brenda Jackson Read Free Book Online

kissing. He was tempting her mindless with the very thought. Tension gripped her entire body as she watched him slowly walk over to her. He must have felt her anxiety and reached out and bracketed her face in the palms of his hands. He probed her eyes for a moment before saying, “We’ll work through whatever is keeping us apart, Netherland,” he said simply, easily.
    Netherland shook her head. “There isn’t a middle ground, Ashton. I refuse to become involved with someone who’s in the military.”
    His smile was slow, endearing, determined. “You are involved, Netherland. And now that I’ve tasted you, you’re a craving I can’t do without, so don’t ask me to. There is a middle ground and we will find it. Together.” He took her back into his arms and placeda gentle yet possessive kiss on her lips. Once again her body automatically responded to his.
    He then brought his lips to her ear and whispered, “Surrender, Netherland. Surrender your fears about us to me, and I promise to make things right for us.”
    Netherland wanted to believe it would be that easy but knew he was promising the impossible. “I can’t, Ashton. I’ve got to have stability and that’s something you can’t give me as long as you are in the military.”
    Without waiting for his response, she opened the door and walked out of her office.
     
    Later that night after Netherland had gotten into bed, she lay there and remembered the kiss—or should she say kisses?—that she and Ashton had shared in her office. A part of her wanted to regret what they had done, but another part of her continued to rejoice and forbid her to worry about the consequences of her actions.
    She tossed around in the bed a few times before finally finding a comfortable spot. As much as she tried not to, her mind reflected to that day almost three years ago when she and Ashton had first met. Maybe if she had known from the first that he was military, her attraction to him would not have been so great, so overpowering, so downright unnatural. But it had been. The first sight of him had been like a magnet, pulling her in, and it was a day she would never forget.
    As Netherland watched the blades of the ceiling fanswirling overhead, cooling off her overheated body, her mind became occupied with memories of that day…
     
    “Nettie?”
    Nettie lifted her head from the document she was reading. “Yes?”
    “I hate to disturb you but Trevor Grant and Clayton Madaris are here,” Rainey said, smiling. “They brought some other gentlemen with them and would like to introduce you to them.”
    Netherland smiled. Trevor and Clayton were two of her biggest clients, and as single men they patronized her establishment at least three to four times a week, claiming the restaurant’s good food was the big draw. She knew their interest in her place also went beyond food. Their frequent visits were designed to check out the single women there, as well. “Do you know who these other men are?”
    Rainey smiled dreamily. “One I recognize as Clayton’s brother Dex Madaris. I remember him from the last time he came in and had all the women drooling. The other one I think is Clayton’s other brother. He favors Clayton and is handsome as sin. The other man I believe is a friend of Trevor’s—and he’s a total knockout. His hair is longer than mine. He seems to be part Indian or something. All I know is that the man is to die for, three times over.”
    Netherland chuckled as she placed the papers she’d been reading aside. “He’s that good-looking?”
    “Judge for yourself, Nettie.”
    And she did.
    While only a few feet away from the table she had to agree with Rainey. The man who sat next to Trevor at the table was to die for. He’d had his head bent, chuckling at something Clayton had said, and suddenly it seemed he had heard her approach and turned his head sharply toward her.
    Their eyes met, and there was instant sexual awareness.
    Immediately, spontaneously,