Free Line of Fire by Cindy Dees

him.
    She couldn’t get enough of it. She pressed even closer to him, dying for more. His jaw was as hard as a rock as she explored it. Tension rolled off of him in thick waves that made her giddy with anticipation.
    He lurched and somehow she was abruptly on her back with him looming above her, his hands pinning her arms to the ground. “Enough,” he growled. “No more games.”
    She stared up in the darkness at the black, unreadable shadows enveloping his face. His breathing was ragged, like he’d just run a race. So much for him claiming to be able to resist her. Triumph coursed through her.
    The way he collapsed back onto the ground beside her with an arm thrown over his eyes was solid evidence that he knew he’d given himself away. He might not have admitted out loud that he wanted her, but he didn’t need to. She’d felt his heart racing, his body’s reaction to her, the tension in his jaw.
    She settled down beside him, snuggling against his warmth. After all, she could be patient. She knew off balance when she saw it, and she had Tex Monroe reeling. He blew first hot then cold, and went from nice to nasty in the blink of an eye. He obviously didn’t know whether to clobber her or kiss her senseless. No doubt about it. He wanted her. As much as she reluctantly wanted him.
    He’d eventually admit that he couldn’t resist her. And when he did, she’d bring him to his knees!
    “Is everything about power with you?” Tex asked her abruptly.
    She started at the uncanny accuracy of the question. Had he read her thoughts? “Isn’t everybody ultimately chasing after power of one kind or another?” she retorted.
    He rolled on his side to face her. “That’s where you and I are different. I see the world in black and white, and you see nothing but shades of gray.”
    She frowned. “That’s not true.”
    “Sure it is. I know your type. You think nobody’s a good guy just for the sake of being a good guy. Everyone’s working an angle of some kind. You see a world where everybody’s out to feed their own greed and lust for power.”
    “Try living in Washington, D.C., for a while,” she replied. “It’ll make a cynic out of you in no time.”
    “Maybe you need to get out of D.C. more often,” he murmured.
    “I’m sure as heck out of there right now.”
    His slow-as-molasses smile unfolded, warming her all the way to her toes. “You are at that. Maybe I should readjust your outlook on life while you’re out of the asylum.”
    “My outlook’s just fine, thank you very much,” she said tartly.
    “I dunno. You’re wound about as tight as a bronc with his bucking strap cinched too hard. From where I sit, you could use a little unwinding.”
    “And you think you’re the man to do it?” she challenged.
    His eyes gleamed like black diamonds. “I’ve tamed wilder fillies than you, Princess.”
    And with that he rolled on to his back and promptly went unconscious.
    Fillies? Fillies! He’d compared her to a horse? He was the one who resembled a horse. Or at least the hind end of one. In a huff, she turned her back to him. Tame her, indeed. She’d show him.

Chapter 5
    K imberly eased out of a deep slumber to the tantalizing sensation of Tex’s lips moving against her ear. Mmm, that was nice.
    He breathed, “Someone’s out there. Don’t move and don’t make any noise. Understand?”
    She jolted wide-awake. Adrenaline slammed through her bloodstream. She nodded fearfully, holding her breath and listening hard. A hundred completely unfamiliar sounds disturbed the night air. There was a low, loud buzzing noise, like a cricket on steroids. Something clicked rhythmically. Probably another insect of some kind. A bird, or maybe a monkey, screeched in the distance.
    And then she heard it. A swishing noise, just like the one she’d made all afternoon as the leaves and branches rubbed against her.
    It was close. Really close.
    Oh, God. What if whoever was out there found the guy that Tex had tied up? As