This Calder Sky by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page B

toward him. “How do you know that?”
    The penetrating darkness of his gaze disturbed her in an excitingly curious way that seemed to heighten all her senses. She couldn’t answer him, too captured by the wild certainty that he was going to kiss her and she was going to find out for herself if it was true that a man’s kiss was different.

Chapter IV
    Slowly bending his head toward her, Chase exerted a slight pressure on her neck to pull her forward. She didn’t try to draw away or resist him. Before his mouth touched her lips, he inhaled the fresh, clean smell of her—like the air after a summer rain. Its simple earthiness filled him. When his mouth settled onto her unparted lips, they remained motionless with innocence. He moved over their softness, seeking a response, and was dissatisfied when he didn’t get it. Her uncertainty about what was expected from her was somehow transmitted to him.
    Chase lifted his head a scant inch from her lips. “Don’t hold your mouth so stiffly. Relax,” he urged in a soothing murmur. “Let your lips move against mine.”
    â€œAll right.” Her sweet breath fanned him, stirring him.
    This time Maggie offered a tentative response to the pressure of his mouth. She liked that funny little curling sensation it created inside her. Under his guidance, her confidence grew and was rewarded with pleasure.
    His thumb began drawing lazy circles in the sensitive hollow below her ear, arousing more senses. There was so much warmth tingling through her body that Maggie found it hard to believe that only minutes ago she’d been shivering from the cold. She was trembling, but for an entirely different reason.
    When Chase ended the second kiss, her lips clung to his for a brief second. She was glad when he stayed close and didn’t draw away. She stared at the masculine line of the mouth that had produced those wonderfully new sensations flooding through her. Her gaze wandered over the flaring width of his nose and the angular points of his cheekbones before being caught by the intensity of his eyes. Except for the burning vitality in his eyes, he could have been carved out of stone. Maggie was unaware that his extreme wants were holding him motionless. She became faintly puzzled by the luscious way she was feeling, wondering if it was normal.
    The long, shaky breath she released was almost a sigh. “Are you supposed to feel all quivery inside when a man kisses you?” It was an artless question, prompted by a curiosity she couldn’t contain.
    â€œNot with every man—just one or two.” His voice vibrated from someplace deep within him.
    By slow degrees, Maggie began moving her lips closer to the line of his mouth. The hesitation was caused by an inner sense, warning her that this was an experiment that could get out of hand, but her natural boldness carried her past the point of caution. Chase didn’t make her come all the way—meeting her at a spot in between.
    This time when his mouth closed over hers, she knew exactly what to do. The eagerness of her returning kiss brought an instant, and demanding, response from him. She felt she was being eaten up, consumed whole by the ravishing hunger of his kiss. The subsequentweakness made her sway, but his free arm moved, his hand catching her shoulder to hold her steady.
    He shifted his position so she didn’t have to lean to reach him. The softness of her seemed boundless. Her lips yielded to the probing intrusion of his hard tongue, but her white teeth presented an irritating barrier. He withdrew. There was no need for force when instruction had already shown she was an apt pupil when properly coached.
    â€œOpen your mouth, Maggie,” he murmured against the corner of her lips.
    This time there was no resistance and his tongue penetrated into the dark, secret recesses of her mouth. At first, she kept her tongue pressed tightly to the bottom of her mouth, avoiding