Free Dancing in the Moonlight by RaeAnne Thayne

deepen the kiss.

Chapter Five
    S he couldn’t seem to make her brain work, other than one stunned moment of disbelief that he would have the audacity to kiss her out of the blue without any kind of advance warning.
    Wasn’t that like a Dalton, to just take what he wanted without asking permission?
    Before she could manage to work through her shock enough to actually do something about it—like jerk away or, better yet, give him a swift knee to the privates, her initial astonishment began to give way to something else, something terribly dangerous.
    A slow, sultry ache fluttered to life inside her, and before she fully realized what she was doing, her hands slid into the thin fabric of his T-shirt, holding him fast.
    He made a low sound and deepened the kiss, his mouth firm and purposeful on hers, and she forgot about the pain below her knee, forgot about the frustration she had been fighting the entire day over her own limitations, forgot the man who held her was Jake Dalton, son of the bastard who had destroyed her father.
    For one glorious moment he was only a man—a strong, gorgeous male who smelled of leather and horses and a few lingering traces of that sexy aftershave he used; a solid, strong wall of muscle against her, around her.
    The man was one incredible kisser, she had to admit. She shivered as his mouth explored hers, caressed it. He used exactly the right pressure for maximum impact—not too hard, not too soft. Just right to turn her bones to liquid, her insides to mush.
    Oh, it felt good to be in a man’s arms. For one brief, selfish moment she allowed herself to enjoy it, to savor the sensation of being held and cherished and protected, her blood surging through her, her nerve endings buzzing with desire.
    She wasn’t sure at exactly what moment she shifted from passive recipient to ardent participant. Maybe at the first slight exploring brush of his tongue along the seam of her lips.
    The next thing she knew, her arms had somehow found their way around his neck, she found herself pressing against him tightly, and she was returning his kiss with an enthusiasm that took her completely by surprise.
    She jerked her eyes open and saw him gazing back at her, an unreadable expression in the pure, stunning blue of his eyes.
    The sight of those Dalton eyes looking back at her seemed to shock her back to her senses as if she’d just fallen into the creek.
    What in heaven’s name was she doing?
    She jerked away, nearly stumbling in her haste to put space between them. He steadied her so she wouldn’t fall off the mounting block, then dropped his hand.
    She stared at him, horribly aware of how hard her lungs had to work to draw air, of the tremble of her stomach and how she had to fist her hands together to keep from reaching for him again.
    How mortifying that she would react to his uninvited touch with such eagerness, even a subtle hint of desperation she hoped he couldn’t taste. This was Jake Dalton, the last man on earth she should want to tangle tongues with.
    But she did. Oh, did she!
    Emotions raged through her, and she wanted to yell and curse and rip into him. At the very least, she wanted to ask him what the hell he thought he was doing.
    She took a deep, steadying breath. She refused to let him know how much he affected her.
    “Was that really necessary?” she asked coolly. “A helping hand would have been sufficient.”
    A muscle quirked in his cheek as if he was amused, though she could see his chest rise and fall rapidly as he tried to catch his breath.
    “I don’t know about you, but I certainly needed it.”
    What kind of game was he playing? she wondered. A pity kiss for poor Stump Girl?
    “Next time I’ll dismount on my own if you’re going to paw me,” she snapped.
    “Is that what you’d call what just happened?”
    She didn’t know what to call it. She only knew she couldn’t get away from him fast enough.
    “Don’t let it happen again,” she ordered.
    He studied her for a