Free Harm's Hunger by Patrice Michelle Page A

managed to climb to the rafter and crawl across it until she reached the light in the center of the barn.
    Since the light bulb was underneath the rafter, replacing it from above took some finesse. Dangling her legs on either side of the beam, Jena used the thick rounded bolt jutting out from the side of the beam to support herself as she leaned over to unscrew the dead bulb, then tossed it below. Screwing the new bulb in turned into a different challenge. She couldn’t quite get the right angle to seat it properly in the socket. Hooking her thigh around the beam for support, she edged over slightly and rested her belly against the bolt until she could finally settle the bulb in the socket. As it glowed bright with the final turn, she smiled, but her triumph quickly faded as her anchoring leg slipped and she went over the edge of the rafter.
     Heart juddering, she fell so fast Jena didn’t have time to grab onto the beam. Just as her leg cleared the rafter, she was quickly jerked to a stop. One of the belt loops on her overalls had caught on the bolt she’d been leaning against for leverage, hanging her like a piñata twelve feet above the floor.
    Jena tried to free herself, but her own weight and the odd angle she hung made unhooking herself impossible. Then again, she glanced at the ground below and grimaced. If she did manage to free herself, her hands could slip as she attempted to climb her way back around to the top of the rafter. She didn’t want to find out what a fall from this height felt like.
    “How did you even manage that?”
    Harm’s voice coming from directly underneath her made her cringe. Why’d he have to decide to show up late today? She chanced a quick glance his way, moving as little as possible. How long would the belt loop hold? Harm stood looking up at her with the dead light bulb in his hand. “Can you just help me out here, please?”
    She heard the big ladder being lifted and felt the metal land against the rafter a few feet away from her head. A few seconds later, Harm sat on the rafter, his legs dangling down the other side as he peered at her belt loop, scowling. Turning hard eyes her way, he grated, “You could’ve broken your damned neck.”
    “Think how much easier your life would be if I had.” She let the sarcasm flow, because she hated how attractive he looked in a chambray button down shirt, the edges of his hair, still damp from his shower, peeking from underneath his Stetson. Even upside down and staring at her with a disapproving frown, he was sexy as hell. She refused to inhale his clean, masculine scent. Why torture herself?
    “Seriously, Jena.” His tone settled to an even one. “What were you thinking?”
    “Just shut up and free me already.”
    Harm pressed his mouth together, then leaned over her. “As you wish.” With the flick of his wrist, he popped the straining threads on her belt loop.
    Jena screamed all the way down. She landed on her back in the thick pile of hay she’d mucked from the stalls but had yet to move. As the foul smell of manure and urine quickly seeped through the overalls’ denim, it took her a few seconds to process the shock slamming through her.
    Ignoring Harm’s outstretched hand to help her up, she pushed herself to her feet from the pile of stench-filled hay. “That was just shitty!” she hissed through clenched teeth. “There was a million other ways you could’ve helped me down.”
    While she shuddered, then swiped off the shit and piss-soaked hay caking her backside from head to toe, Harm didn’t bother to hide his amusement; his dark eyes sparked with mirth. “You told me to free you already, so I did. I knew you wouldn’t get hurt.”
    Jena’s chest heaved with pent up fury, but instead of yelling at him, she decided she’d get her own revenge. Pulling the rubber band from her ponytail, she shook the sticky bits of hay from her hair, then unhooked the straps of the overalls. Stepping out of the wet, soiled material