Free Border Bride by Arnette Lamb

tighter than a spinster's hope chest. Friends, eh? He'd see about that.
    He kissed her softly at first, but when she remained stalwartly unwilling, he used the cheapest trick of seduction he knew. "You kissed better as a child."
    She chuckled, her breasts nudging his chest, her hips undulating against his groin. "So did you. Only now you don't have dirt on your face and innocence in your heart."
    Somehow she'd taken his dare and turned it back on him. "Neither of us is innocent, Alpin. We've outgrown that." Summoning resolve, he tried to ignore the lust racing through his veins and settling in his groin. "A truce?"
    As serious as sin on Sunday, she said, "I think you mean a tryst, Malcolm."
    "You like me," he insisted. "In your heart you always have. Why else would you want to make a home here now?" If she accepted that lie, he'd make certain she paid a heavy price for it.
    "You're very important to me, Malcolm."
    He noted the equivocation and decided to play on it. "Then prove it, Alpin. Give me a kiss of peace."
    Now that the moment was upon her, Alpin froze. She had lured him here to flirt with him, to sow the seeds of seduction. The come-to-me potion wasn't ready, but she couldn't back down. She had nowhere else to go. The theme of her life hadn't changed, only now she lay belly to belly with a man she couldn't afford to alienate. Temporarily resigned, she reached up and, with as much tenderness as she could muster, raked an errant strand of hair off his forehead. "If it will ease your mind."
    It didn't ease hers, for when Malcolm Kerr began kissing her in earnest, Alpin received her first lesson in the real art of seduction. He oozed finesse, and with a gentle roaming of hands and soft words of encouragement he inspired her to play the eager student. Too proud to back down and too preoccupied to think of an alternative, she followed his lead and kissed him back.
    No childish groping as in days gone by, this embrace spoke vividly of adult need and mature passion. Her breathing grew shallow and her head light, but her body stayed firmly rooted to his. Because he was as large as she was small, he seemed a generous and comfy pillow beneath her. On the heels of that thought, she became aware of subtle changes, of limbs adjusting for a better fit, of his swelling hardness where she'd grown soft, of his languid hands turned possessive in their touch. When his tongue stroked the seam of her lips and prodded them to part, she pulled back and stared, aghast, at him.
    His eyes drifted open, the brown irises dark, his expression dangerously provocative. He gave her a lazy smile and murmured, "You're not trying to make peace." Then he pulled her back into the kiss. "You also lied about having had affairs."
    After that taunt, she ceased cataloging his every move and made a few of her own. She threaded her fingers into his hair and felt the thick texture of every strand. Her tongue sought his, twirling and exploring, while her mind took note of the slick spiral of wanting that curled around her backbone and sapped the strength from her legs and arms. Like currents under the surf, strong emotions pulled her toward him, promising some mysterious reward.
    When his hands caressed her bottom and his hips surged beneath her, she became shockingly aware of the prize he offered. As effective as a slap in the face, the knowledge that she'd excited him chased away her desire. But if he suspected the true nature of her feelings, he would only challenge her again. She must let him think he'd succeeded in his quest to prove that their friendship not only still thrived but that it had deepened into passion. She also had to get away from him. Now.
    "I think," she said, drawing back to catch her breath, "that your peaceful intentions have sparked off a war."
    "I yield, then." He spread out his arms. "And I propose a treaty of mutual satisfaction. We've already laid the pound-work."
    Baffled by his husky whisper and startled at the acquiescence she