Wild Hearts

Wild Hearts by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online

Book: Wild Hearts by Susan Mallery Read Free Book Online
Authors: Susan Mallery
that last inch and kissed her. A soft, gentle brush of his mouth on hers. She felt the contact all the way down to her toes. Every part of her body surged toward him, and without knowing what she was doing, she wrapped her arms around his neck and parted her lips.
    He obliged her by deepening the kiss, even as he pulled her hard against him. Her breasts were flat against his chest, her belly rubbing his. Their legs touched. But none of that compared to the sweet dance of his tongue.
    Zeke kissed with the easy confidence of a man comfortable with a woman in his arms. There were no tentative stops and starts, no apologies. Just a heart-stirring, tingle-producing kiss.
    She wanted more, she thought hazily, giving herself up to the sensations flooding her. She wanted to know what it was like to be with him the way she’d been with…
    Alethea did not allow herself to complete the thought. Not only was it dangerous, it was foolish. She wrenched herself from the pleasure that was Zeke’s arms and stared at him.
    This man was not trying to win her. Quite the contrary. His carefully designed plan was to disgrace her so she would be forced to leave town. He wasn’t her friend or her lover. He was her adversary.
    How unfortunate, she thought as she turned and ran toward town. How unfortunate that she seemed to be falling for him.

Chapter Six
    Zeke shuffled the cards with familiar ease. He’d spent hours practicing every day as a kid, had learned to know which cards were most likely to come up next in a well-shuffled deck. He’d taught himself to read people’s eyes, their affectations, to understand when the bet was based on what his opponent had in his hand and when it was a bluff.
    Now as he waited for his friends to join him for a friendly game, he found himself wishing he were having dinner with Alethea rather than spending time with Billy, Big John and Evan. She would make him laugh with her views on everything from literature to the weather. She would challenge him and later, when he kissed her, he would feel the pull of an irresistible desire.
    There was something about her, he admitted to himself. Something…unique. He’d known a lot of women in his life—he enjoyed women. But none like her. Just thinking about her in his bed was enough to—
    His fingers slipped and the cards went flying. Conversation in the saloon stilled as everyone stared at him. He shrugged, then bent down to retrieve the cards.
    â€œDamned society,” one of the men muttered. “Soon the river will start flowing backward.”
    Zeke picked up the last card just as his friends approached the table. Billy settled next to him while John and Ethan moved toward the bar.
    â€œI almost didn’t make it,” Billy grumbled. “She wanted me to stay home and read to the children. Read to them!” He sounded outraged. “I told her that raisin’ our boys was woman’s work.” He lowered his voice and leaned toward Zeke. “You know what she said to me?”
    Zeke shook his head.
    â€œThat if I wanted them to grow into men, I’d better start payin’ attention to them.”
    â€œIs she wrong?”
    â€œWhat?” Billy’s eyebrows drew together. “What do you mean?”
    â€œCan your boys grow into men without your influence?”
    â€œHell if I know and that’s not the point. She’s talkin’ back to me, Zeke. Tellin’ me what she thinks all the time. Like she’s in charge. I’m the man. I’m in charge.”
    â€œWhy do men think they should be in charge?”
    Billy’s mouth dropped open. “It says so in the Bible.”
    â€œIt says a lot of things in the Bible you don’t pay any attention to.”
    â€œIs she gettin’ to you?” Billy asked warily. “Is she crawlin’ inside your head and changin’ who you are?”
    â€œNo, I’m just asking what’s so bad about your wife

Similar Books

The Participants

Brian Blose

Deadly Inheritance

Simon Beaufort

Torn in Two

Ryanne Hawk

Reversible Errors

Scott Turow

Waypoint: Cache Quest Oregon

Shauna Rice-Schober[thriller]

One False Step

Franklin W. Dixon

Pure

Jennifer L. Armentrout