[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
lie in response to them. He had little else to give her but honesty, in those areas where
he could answer at all.
Guess you re right. He shrugged, trying to appear unconcerned, to hide the
aching loneliness that rose in the pit of his soul.
She had every right to know the answer, and yet, he couldn t bring himself to say
the words, to explain to her the animal that found such satisfaction in the tight depths
of her rippling pussy.
And you think you re just going to walk out of here with no explanation? she
asked him, her voice rising with anger and an edge of hurt.
Taber stared back at her, steeling himself against her pain. She needed so much
more to hold onto than she was being given, and he knew it. Everything in her life had
been stripped away from her in one blow. Her home, her job, a chance to be free and
safe, and he couldn t even give her answers. There was no fairness in it, and yet neither
could he bring himself to fix it.
Let it go, Roni. He padded to the bathroom door, intending to pull a change of
clothes from the walk-in closet in the other room.
As he reached the bathroom door, with no warning whatsoever, the shattering of a
crystal bowl from the nightstand had him stopping in disbelief. The dim lights of the
room gleamed dully on the crystal shards, mocking him with his belief that she would
have allowed him to walk away so easily. If nothing else, his Roni could be a
tempestuous little spitfire. Had she been Feline, she would have made a perfect wildcat
mix.
You leave this room and I ll take your head off with the next one, she snarled.
94
The Man Within
His cock leapt to life. Taber glanced down at the heavy erection with a sense of
resigned amusement. It said a lot about a man who got a hard-on from such an event. It
said even less about him that his female s rage could trigger it. Damn. He wanted
nothing more than to turn around, go back to that bed and fuck her silly. His skin itched
with the need. In a single second every cell in his body was screaming for hard, driving
sex.
He turned back to her, watching her broodingly as he crossed his arms over his
chest. Her gaze flickered to his erection, and damned if she didn t blush again. That
added color only seemed to make him harder.
She had moved from the bed. In one hand she clutched the sheet to her chest, in the
other she held the matching bowl from his nightstand. Evidently the state of his arousal
held no bearing on her determination for answers. It figured.
You know, those came with the house, he sighed, nodding at the small,
decorative item. I imagine they cost quite a bit.
Who gives a damn? She was spitting mad now. I m sick of you running out on
me, Taber. I ll be damned if I ll be tied to you while you waltz on your merry way,
avoiding me whenever you feel like it.
He watched her in amazement. Emotion, thick and hot, colored her voice while her
eyes snapped with fury and stubbornness. Her slender body vibrated with emotion, her
frown darkening her brow, thinning her full, luscious lips. She was tempting him to
mount her there and then.
I have never run out on you, Roni& Her words finally sank past his lust-crazed
brain and in the next second, his eyes widened as he jumped out of the way of her next
flying missile. Son of a bitch, Roni.
He sprinted toward her, jerking her back from the heavy candlestick that sat on the
table as well. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her against him, restraining
the violence he could feel shuddering through her body.
What the hell s wrong with you? He released her as he tossed her to the bed, but
he didn t attempt to follow her. He was tired of this. Tired of the fury that filled her
the distrust, the shadows that haunted her eyes. I m sick to damned hell of you
accusing me of leaving you when it was your own decision to break off whatever
relationship was beginning.
She scrambled across the bed, landing on her feet on the other side. Better, he
thought. The further she was from him, the more of his common sense he seemed able
to maintain.
Oh, come on, Taber, I never took you for a liar, too, she yelled back, a sneer on
her lips. Something else he was tired of, that sneer. Condescending, offending. Stop
playing so innocent. You don t have to pretend with me. Not here while we re alone.
The only reason I m here is because of this damned mark you put on my neck.
Otherwise, I d still be sitting in Sandy Hook wondering why the hell you changed your
mind so quickly last year.
95
Lora Leigh
He stilled, his instincts kicking in as logic began to take over. What couldn t be
understood must be examined. Studied, stalked or hunted. And he sure as hell didn t
understand this.
Why I changed my mind? he asked her carefully, his chest tightening at the pain
that had been reflected in her voice and her expression. It came much too close to the
pain he had felt when he received her letter over a year ago, mere hours after he had
placed that mark on her neck.
And yet, by her own furious words, she believed he had broken off the relationship,
new as it had been, himself. Roni wasn t a liar. She didn t play games and she didn t
pass the blame on something she was responsible for herself.
His body had been a mess that day, he admitted. Arousal unlike anything he had
ever known, a hard-on damned near strong enough to split his jeans, and here came
Dayan with& he stopped. Dayan. Son of a bitch. He wiped his hand across his face,
staring over at her, fighting a betrayal he had prayed had been over with the death of
his brother.
Dayan s determination to destroy the rest of them had nearly killed Merinus and
the child she now carried. His death was too well remembered. His betrayal burned too
deeply into Taber s brain to discount his senses. Dayan had lied. And Taber had fallen
for it.
Don t answer that. He hated the hoarse, tired sound of his own voice as he
stalked over to his dresser.
He opened the middle drawer, pushing back several thick envelopes and a few
mementos. In the back, near the corner, was a small wooden box. He removed it,
flipped it open and removed the folded square of paper.
I m quitting the garage and you, Taber. I ve realized, after that scene in the truck, how easily
you ll try to take me over. I won t be a puppet for you any longer. You re too blunt, too crude,
too rough. I need someone who touches me softly. Someone I don t have to be frightened of.
Someone closer to my own age. You ll be old while I m still young, and I just don t want to deal
with it. Please afford me the courtesy of staying the hell away from me. That s surely not too
much to ask! Roni
He had the letter memorized. He was barely eight years older than she was, but at
times, it felt like centuries.
Read this. He handed her the letter, watching her confused expression closely.
Taber kept his gaze locked with hers as she took the folded square, watching her
closer, his soul bleeding. Instinctively, he knew she hadn t written that letter now.
Knew that the past fifteen hellish months, needing her, aching for her until he thought
he would die from the need, had all been for nothing.
She unfolded the letter, her gaze moving to the words. Her eyes widened. Her lips
trembled. The pain that crossed her expression tore at his soul.
I thought I was respecting your wishes, Roni, he whispered, feeling wearier now
than he had in years. Dayan had been a trusted, much loved member of the family. I
96
The Man Within
will assume you received a letter as well, since I know Dayan s only true gift was that of
forgery.
She crumpled the note in her hand, tears shining in her eyes, spiking her lashes as
her gaze returned to his.
I didn t write this, she whispered bleakly, trembling. But I received one as well.
A fine shudder rippled over her body as she stared back at him. It was your
handwriting. She looked at the letter again, her breath hitching as she fought a sob,
realizing as Taber did, just how close to her handwriting that letter was. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
lie in response to them. He had little else to give her but honesty, in those areas where
he could answer at all.
Guess you re right. He shrugged, trying to appear unconcerned, to hide the
aching loneliness that rose in the pit of his soul.
She had every right to know the answer, and yet, he couldn t bring himself to say
the words, to explain to her the animal that found such satisfaction in the tight depths
of her rippling pussy.
And you think you re just going to walk out of here with no explanation? she
asked him, her voice rising with anger and an edge of hurt.
Taber stared back at her, steeling himself against her pain. She needed so much
more to hold onto than she was being given, and he knew it. Everything in her life had
been stripped away from her in one blow. Her home, her job, a chance to be free and
safe, and he couldn t even give her answers. There was no fairness in it, and yet neither
could he bring himself to fix it.
Let it go, Roni. He padded to the bathroom door, intending to pull a change of
clothes from the walk-in closet in the other room.
As he reached the bathroom door, with no warning whatsoever, the shattering of a
crystal bowl from the nightstand had him stopping in disbelief. The dim lights of the
room gleamed dully on the crystal shards, mocking him with his belief that she would
have allowed him to walk away so easily. If nothing else, his Roni could be a
tempestuous little spitfire. Had she been Feline, she would have made a perfect wildcat
mix.
You leave this room and I ll take your head off with the next one, she snarled.
94
The Man Within
His cock leapt to life. Taber glanced down at the heavy erection with a sense of
resigned amusement. It said a lot about a man who got a hard-on from such an event. It
said even less about him that his female s rage could trigger it. Damn. He wanted
nothing more than to turn around, go back to that bed and fuck her silly. His skin itched
with the need. In a single second every cell in his body was screaming for hard, driving
sex.
He turned back to her, watching her broodingly as he crossed his arms over his
chest. Her gaze flickered to his erection, and damned if she didn t blush again. That
added color only seemed to make him harder.
She had moved from the bed. In one hand she clutched the sheet to her chest, in the
other she held the matching bowl from his nightstand. Evidently the state of his arousal
held no bearing on her determination for answers. It figured.
You know, those came with the house, he sighed, nodding at the small,
decorative item. I imagine they cost quite a bit.
Who gives a damn? She was spitting mad now. I m sick of you running out on
me, Taber. I ll be damned if I ll be tied to you while you waltz on your merry way,
avoiding me whenever you feel like it.
He watched her in amazement. Emotion, thick and hot, colored her voice while her
eyes snapped with fury and stubbornness. Her slender body vibrated with emotion, her
frown darkening her brow, thinning her full, luscious lips. She was tempting him to
mount her there and then.
I have never run out on you, Roni& Her words finally sank past his lust-crazed
brain and in the next second, his eyes widened as he jumped out of the way of her next
flying missile. Son of a bitch, Roni.
He sprinted toward her, jerking her back from the heavy candlestick that sat on the
table as well. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her against him, restraining
the violence he could feel shuddering through her body.
What the hell s wrong with you? He released her as he tossed her to the bed, but
he didn t attempt to follow her. He was tired of this. Tired of the fury that filled her
the distrust, the shadows that haunted her eyes. I m sick to damned hell of you
accusing me of leaving you when it was your own decision to break off whatever
relationship was beginning.
She scrambled across the bed, landing on her feet on the other side. Better, he
thought. The further she was from him, the more of his common sense he seemed able
to maintain.
Oh, come on, Taber, I never took you for a liar, too, she yelled back, a sneer on
her lips. Something else he was tired of, that sneer. Condescending, offending. Stop
playing so innocent. You don t have to pretend with me. Not here while we re alone.
The only reason I m here is because of this damned mark you put on my neck.
Otherwise, I d still be sitting in Sandy Hook wondering why the hell you changed your
mind so quickly last year.
95
Lora Leigh
He stilled, his instincts kicking in as logic began to take over. What couldn t be
understood must be examined. Studied, stalked or hunted. And he sure as hell didn t
understand this.
Why I changed my mind? he asked her carefully, his chest tightening at the pain
that had been reflected in her voice and her expression. It came much too close to the
pain he had felt when he received her letter over a year ago, mere hours after he had
placed that mark on her neck.
And yet, by her own furious words, she believed he had broken off the relationship,
new as it had been, himself. Roni wasn t a liar. She didn t play games and she didn t
pass the blame on something she was responsible for herself.
His body had been a mess that day, he admitted. Arousal unlike anything he had
ever known, a hard-on damned near strong enough to split his jeans, and here came
Dayan with& he stopped. Dayan. Son of a bitch. He wiped his hand across his face,
staring over at her, fighting a betrayal he had prayed had been over with the death of
his brother.
Dayan s determination to destroy the rest of them had nearly killed Merinus and
the child she now carried. His death was too well remembered. His betrayal burned too
deeply into Taber s brain to discount his senses. Dayan had lied. And Taber had fallen
for it.
Don t answer that. He hated the hoarse, tired sound of his own voice as he
stalked over to his dresser.
He opened the middle drawer, pushing back several thick envelopes and a few
mementos. In the back, near the corner, was a small wooden box. He removed it,
flipped it open and removed the folded square of paper.
I m quitting the garage and you, Taber. I ve realized, after that scene in the truck, how easily
you ll try to take me over. I won t be a puppet for you any longer. You re too blunt, too crude,
too rough. I need someone who touches me softly. Someone I don t have to be frightened of.
Someone closer to my own age. You ll be old while I m still young, and I just don t want to deal
with it. Please afford me the courtesy of staying the hell away from me. That s surely not too
much to ask! Roni
He had the letter memorized. He was barely eight years older than she was, but at
times, it felt like centuries.
Read this. He handed her the letter, watching her confused expression closely.
Taber kept his gaze locked with hers as she took the folded square, watching her
closer, his soul bleeding. Instinctively, he knew she hadn t written that letter now.
Knew that the past fifteen hellish months, needing her, aching for her until he thought
he would die from the need, had all been for nothing.
She unfolded the letter, her gaze moving to the words. Her eyes widened. Her lips
trembled. The pain that crossed her expression tore at his soul.
I thought I was respecting your wishes, Roni, he whispered, feeling wearier now
than he had in years. Dayan had been a trusted, much loved member of the family. I
96
The Man Within
will assume you received a letter as well, since I know Dayan s only true gift was that of
forgery.
She crumpled the note in her hand, tears shining in her eyes, spiking her lashes as
her gaze returned to his.
I didn t write this, she whispered bleakly, trembling. But I received one as well.
A fine shudder rippled over her body as she stared back at him. It was your
handwriting. She looked at the letter again, her breath hitching as she fought a sob,
realizing as Taber did, just how close to her handwriting that letter was. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]