Free To Tempt a Wilde by Kimberly Kaye Terry Page B

top, long enough to form a slight curl, the strands so dark and silky-looking her fingers itched to reach out and touch them.
    His nose was strongly chiseled and dominated his angular face. A slight stubble covered his lean cheeks and strong squared chin, not enough to hurt…just enough to provide apleasurable sensation if he were to…kiss her.
    She forced her mind away from the thought of where she wanted to feel that scratchy kiss on her body.
    Although there was no smile on his face, strong linesscored either side of his sensual mouth, as though at one time he’d smiled, and smiled often.
    Althea wondered what…or who, had taken the smile away.
    With a sigh, she looked away.
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    Nate feltan odd apprehension settle in his gut as he walked Althea to the cottage, one that was foreign to him.
    The drive had taken only fifteen minutes, yet it felt as though it had been hours. He’d felt her gaze on him several times but had resisted the urge to return her look. It was hard enough for him driving with her so close to him, without pulling over and finishing what they’d started from thefirst moment they’d met.
    He’d had to rethink his opinion of her over the course of the evening. Truth told, he’d had a subtle shift in thinking regarding her over the last week.
    His reaction to her from the beginning should have clued him in. But he’d fought against it, fought like hell against the chemistry between them, fought to keep her at a distance both physically and mentally.
    For allthe good it had done. He’d never felt the pull he felt toward her with any other woman. No woman had ever taken him from red-hot anger and irritation to rock-hard excitement, all within minutes, like Althea did.
    Not even Angela, the woman he’d been engaged to.
    Yet there was something else about her that troubled him. Aspects of her didn’t jibe with who she presented herself to be; a nomad, awoman who called any place she hung up her hat home.
    He glanced down at her, the top of her head barely reaching him at chest level, again reaching out to take her hand, this time leaving the decision to her. He wanted her to be a willing participant this time, wanted her acceptance of what the day had been leading to. This time, Nate waited.
    When she placed her hand in his, his heart thumpedhard against his chest. There was a measure of trust in her placing her hand in his, he felt it. One that told him it wasn’t something she did easily.
    Together they walked the remaining distance, her small hand nestled within his much larger one. When they reached the front door, she fidgeted in one of the pockets and withdrew the house key.
    Before turning to unlock the door, she turned to him.
    This time her face was in full view, the light from the porch casting an amber glow across her beautiful, somber features.
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    â€œThank you for today,” she said, after her fumbling fingers managed to unlock the door. “I mean, for letting me help. That was one of the most amazing—”
    Althea turned to face Nate, her heart banging around so loudly in her chest she knew he had to hear it.
    She stoppedspeaking midsentence, her breath catching at the back of her throat.
    As she glanced up into his face, the lighting on the porch created an odd intimacy, one that seemed to shroud them in a world of their own.
    Shadowing his handsome face, the light fell at an angle that highlighted the piercing way he was lookingat her, the glint in his eyes one of raw masculine lust that was so palpable thatAlthea swallowed past the lump in her throat.
    The look in his eyes made her heart pound and caused a rush of liquid heat to trickle into her panties.
    â€œI…I think I’d better go. Than-thank you, uh, again,” she stammered, backing into the cottage.
    Before she could think to try and close the door, he had placed one big foot inside, pushing the door farther open.
    Advancing into the cottage,