Free Wild Is My Heart by Connie Mason Page B

subject. The sight of her in tight pants was provocatively distracting. He could imagine the attention and disapproval she would generate in a town like Karlsburg.
    “Certainly, but I prefer pants. I enjoy the freedom.”
    “I readily admit your round little bottom is enticin’, darlin’, but aren’t you afraid of attractin’ unwanted attention in town?”
    “Don’t be crude,” Sam scolded, “and don’t call me darling. The townspeople are accustomed to seeing me wearing pants.”
    She rose somewhat unsteadily to her feet. Her first hours out of bed were more exhausting than she would have thought. Now she needed some time alone to mourn the loss of the ranch and ponder her uncertain future. She must have been weaker than she thought, for her wobbly knees buckled and she swayed dangerously. Flexing his sleek muscles, Colt scooped her into his arms.
    “Christ, you’re a lot of trouble,” he muttered, his slight burden hampering him not at all as he made his way to her bedroom. “You weigh hardly nothin’ at all.”
    “I’m sorry,” she whispered as Colt held her suspended in his arms. “I usually don’t act like this, but you must admit I have sufficient reason.”
    “Can I help you undress, darlin’?” he teased mischievously.
    “I can manage. Put me down.”
    “I was sure you could.”
    They stared at one another for several tense minutes, sparks leaping between them and igniting some hidden place within Sam while a foreign emotion Colt never knew existed reached out to touch his heart. Neither recognized or acknowledged it.
    Sam was the first to break the spell. “Colt, please put me down, I’d like to rest.”
    “Sam, I’m damn sorry about the ranch,” he said after putting her on her feet.
    “I’ll bet.”
    “I mean it. I know it means a lot to you. But you have to understand the awkward position I’m in. You’ve committed a crime, I’m a lawman.”
    “You could forget it and let me go.”
    “Go where?”
    “I… don’t know. Anywhere. I don’t want to go to prison.”
    She looked so appealing, so vulnerable and so damn beautiful, prison was the last place Colt wished to see Samantha Howard. “Would you marry Logan if you were free to do so?”
    A thoughtful pause ensued. “I…don’t think so.”
    “If you weren’t such a damn innocent I’d—”
    “You’d what?”
    “Do this.” His head dipped to capture her lips.
    Her mouth was incredibly soft and sweet. He kissed the full lower lip, tasting, savoring, while his hand shaped the supple curve of her bottom. Slow pleasure replaced anger as the source of Sam’s passion and she experienced true arousal for the first time in her life.
    The tantalizing play of Colt’s mouth only heightened her desire. Now his lips were brushing wildfire over her eyelids, jawline, and throat, before returning to cling gently to her eager mouth. She was swallowing a moan when she felt his tongue touch her lower lip, then her teeth, until it grazed the tip of her tongue. Her mouth opened wider to allow him to plunder at will. Her heart beat furiously, and she wanted the kiss to go on forever. But it was not to be. Abruptly Colt broke contact.
    “What you need is a firm hand on the reins to tame and master you, a real man in the saddle,” Colt growled, placing her on the bed and lowering himself atop her quivering form.
    “You’re no different than any other woman in your position. Admit it, you’d do anythin’ to keep from goin’ to jail. Even beddin’ me. Are you really as innocent as you pretend? Have you bedded Vern Logan?”
    “Why you rotten, ornery, braying jackass!” Sam cried. “If and when I want a man it won’t be someone as arrogant and lowdown mean as you. Why don’t you just take me to jail and get it over with? I can’t stand this waiting. My ranch is gone, my brother forced to run away, nothing matters anymore.”
    “Darlin’, I could easily be persuaded to forget about the holdup,” Colt said, his voice a husky