Free Walker Bride by Bernadette Marie Page A

realized they’d left the pan cooking.
“The eggs,” she managed as his kiss swallowed up her voice.
    Tyson pulled back. “Damn it.” He broke from
her for a moment and removed the pan from the burner. The eggs were
burnt.
    Just as quickly, he turned off the stove and
moved back to her, gathering her up around him and carrying her
away from the kitchen.
    She pressed her lips to the throbbing vein on
his neck, and he moaned as he took her to the living room and
deposited her on the couch with a thud.
    “Ow,” she groaned.
    “Sorry,” he said as he lowered himself down
on her and she tangled herself around him again.
     
    Tyson didn’t know what was going to happen,
but dear God, he just didn’t care. Every part of him had stiffened
the moment he saw her in that thin T-shirt. He couldn’t be held
responsible for this.
    This wasn’t just his masculine needs taking
over. She was as fueled up as he was.
    They were mature adults. Something like this
was bound to happen anyway, right? They’d been skirting around it
for months at dinners and parties. After she’d felt him up while
she measured him, it had only added fuel to the fire that had been
simmering.
    She ran her hands over his chest, and he was
sure he’d growled an inhuman sound. Then she bit his lip, and that
only caused him to grind his body closer to her.
    With her hands flat against his chest, she
pushed him back, but her sapphire blue eyes remained locked on
his.
    He watched, with great appreciation, as she
lifted the T-shirt off her body, exposing her pale, soft skin for
him to feast on.
    His eyes moved directly to the tattoo she had
on her rib cage.
    “Chinese?” His breath could hardly carry the
words.
    She nodded. “Breath of life.”
    “Sexy,” he said as he ran his fingers over
the ink and she arched beneath him.
    God, he’d never wanted anyone as much as he
wanted her right that moment. He was so thankful his sister talked
him into driving to town to speak to her.
    Talk to her. He wasn’t supposed to be doing
this. There was supposed to be business going on.
    Pearl reached up and wrapped her arms around
his neck, pulling him back down atop of her. Business was going to
have to wait. They were working on another kind of partnership.

Chapter Ten
     
    It wasn’t Tyson’s style to act on impulse,
but something about Pearl Walker had him forgetting all about that.
If he were coherent enough, he’d be thinking that beneath him, half
dressed, was his brother’s cousin. He’d be damning himself for
letting a simple gesture escalate to this. He’d be fighting harder
so that his sister didn’t get hurt in the crossfire.
    But there was no stopping him. Her fingers
were working the snaps on his shirt and a moment later her hands
were on his skin.
    God was going to strike him down—and damn, it
would be worth it.
    Pearl’s chest heaved under his as she pushed
away his shirt. She nipped at his lip, and he was sure the
maddening pace of his heart meant it was going to explode.
    The rush of blood nearly deafened him. Then
there was the steady knocking of his heart in his ears. No—that
wasn’t his heart.
    Pearl pulled her lips from his. “Someone’s
here.”
    He kept still. “Do we just wait for them to
go away?”
    Her eyes fixed on his, and she nodded. But
the knocking continued. Then he heard the one voice that ripped the
moment from them.
    “Tyson, I see your car. I know you’re in
there. What are you two doing? Open the door,” Lydia’s plea
continued with more persistent knocking.
    In one fluid motion, they were both off the
couch and frantically dressing.
    “Did you know she was coming over?” he
asked.
    “No. Did you?”
    “No. She sent me. Why would she follow
me?”
    “Why did she send you?”
    He realized they never had talked about his
reason for being there. Lust seemed to have gotten in the way.
    “You need a partner.”
    “I have one,” she said quickly raking her
fingers through her hair and tying it back up on