Free Heart of Hurricane by Ginna Gray Page B

ardor and the kiss became more passionate, more demanding. Boldly he forced her lips apart and thrust his tongue into the sweet warmth of her mouth. His arms tightened around her, flattening her breasts against his massive chest. Althea felt as though her bones were melting.
    Incapable of rational thought, Althea could only respond to the sensual impact of the embrace. Slowly, as though with a will of their own, her arms lifted, her hands clutching his arms convulsively before sliding up over his shoulders to twine in the thick, springy hair at his nape. The clean, masculine scent of him enveloped her senses. His hands, his mouth made her weak with desire. Her awareness of him was so complete, so overwhelming that at that moment nothing else existed.
    Caught up in the blaze of mindless passion, neither heard the door open. Martin's voice broke over them like a splash of cold water. "Althea, is Ward free? I . . ." His words halted abruptly at the sight of them locked together, his expression reflecting pure astonishment.
    Althea's face blanched, then flooded with color, but before she could tear herself out of Ward's arms he released her and turned toward Martin. As calmly and casually as though this sort of thing occurred daily, he strolled across to his office and motioned for Martin to follow.
    "Come on in. I've got a few minutes free. What's on your mind?"
    Struggling to recover his customary poise, Martin cast a quick glance at Althea, swallowed hard, and trailed after him.
    As Ward was about to close the door behind them, he looked back at Althea and said, "When you find that Litchfield file, bring it in."
    Althea sagged weakly against the file cabinet and stared at the closed door, her eyes huge and disbelieving. That's it? That's all he had to say? One minute he's kissing me senseless and the next he's all business? Althea shook her head as though to clear it. How could he just turn his emotions on and off like that? And dear heaven! What was Martin thinking?
    Shaking like a leaf, Althea somehow managed to find the file, but instead of taking it in to Ward, she groped her way back to her desk and sank down onto her chair. No way was she going to set foot in that office until she calmed down.
    Gingerly the tip of her tongue slid over her lips. They were tender and slightly swollen, and Althea shivered as she realized that the taste of him still clung to her skin. Bewildered, she stared at the closed door. What had made him do it? Boredom? Impulse? Simple curiosity? Or, perish the thought, had he, for some reason, decided to add her to his long list of lady friends? A shiver rippled through Althea at the very idea, but her chin lifted belligerently and her narrowed, baleful glare lasered into the thick door. Oh, no. Not me, Althea vowed frantically. Not for anything in the world would she get involved with a man like Ward Kingman, no matter how attractive or irresistible he was, though no doubt the idiotic way she had responded to him had probably convinced him otherwise. Groaning, Althea dropped her head into her hands. What on earth was wrong with her? Why did she go all weak and warm when the man so much as touched her? Why, he's probably sitting in there right now laughing over what a pushover I was!
    Damn! That was a stupid stunt to pull, grabbing her like that. Face it, Kingman, you blew it. Leaning back in his chair, his eyes fixed on Martin, Ward pretended to listen to his attorney report on a piece of property he was considering purchasing, while mentally berating himself.
    Instinct had warned him not to rush her, and for weeks, though it went against the grain, he had carefully played a waiting game. Despite that cool facade, Althea was as skittish as a wild filly. It was there in her eyes, every time he got near her. She didn't want him in her life, that much was painfully obvious, and he hadn't the slightest idea what to do about it, except to be patient.
    But dammit all! Patience didn't come easy to him. A