Free The Rancher and the Redhead by Suzannah Davis Page A

like I am.”
    â€œWondering what?”
    â€œIf that kiss was really as good as we both thought it was.”
    â€œYou’re imagining things.” She licked her lips. “I—my bathwater’s getting cold.”
    Light flared behind his eyes and his voice was thick. “The hell with it.”
    Catching her chin between his fingers, he tipped her face up and settled his mouth over hers. His lips were warm and sweet and wild, and Roni melted. But even that surrender wasn’t enough for Sam. He turned her to face him, his hands pushing her shoulders against the wall, his mouth never leaving hers. He insinuated a knee between her legs, pressing her skirts in a most intimate and erotic glide of satin and lace.
    Roni moaned, feeling the urgency building in him, helpless to stop it, not certain that she even wanted to. Grasping her sagging gown to her breasts, she could do nothing but hold on as sensation washed over her in waves. Overwhelmed, she parted her lips at his demand, gasping as his tongue found hers and performed nimble and intoxicating tricks, sweeping the cavern of her mouth, striking her dumb and blind at the burgeoning power of her own need.
    He raised his head, peppering tiny kisses at the corner of her mouth, the curve of her jawbone. Her chest heaved with the effort to find enough oxygen to survive. “Sam, I can’t...breathe.”
    â€œGood.” His voice was muffled as he nibbled at the tender curve of her neck, riffling goose bumps down every extremity. “Neither can I.”
    â€œIt’s too soon,” she gasped in growing panic. “Oh, stop! I can’t think.”
    â€œThen don’t.”
    His low chuckle was almost a growl, pleased and infinitely male and utterly alarming, for Roni knew instinctively it was the sound of a man claiming his mate. When he bent to possess her lips again, she latched desperately on to a handful of the hair curling at his nape and tugged hard to gain his attention.
    â€œSam! You’re scaring me.”
    He poised a mere hairbreath from her lips, his gaze dark and murky with passion. In the blink of an eye, the clouds retreated, and he looked at her, clear-eyed, with pression.
    â€œMy God, Curly, I’m sorry!”
    He let her go so quickly, she almost sagged to the floor, and would have if his hands hadn’t come up to steady her elbows. For an endless moment, they stared into each other’s eyes, shocked and shaken by the volatility of the brief encounter.
    There was nothing to say. Nothing that could be said. The sound of a small girl’s sleepy fretting finally penetrated their bubble of bewilderment.
    â€œYou—you’d better go to her,” Roni said huskily.
    â€œYes.” Slowly, as if his hands were having trouble obeying his brain’s commands, Sam released her and took a step back.
    â€œI—I’ll finish my bath.”
    â€œUh, sure.” He rubbed the back of his neck, consternation and embarrassment making his features stiff. “What we both, uh, need is a good night’s rest.”
    â€œRight.” She backed toward the bathroom, holding the dress to keep it from falling off her shoulders. The lace felt scratchy to her sensitized palms, her breasts full and itchy. “See you in the morning, then.”
    â€œYeah. Good night.”
    Roni turned the lock on the bathroom door, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. She let her wedding dress drop, unhooked her bra, then stepped into the bathtub. The bubbles had melted into nothing but an oil slick on the surface and the water was cool, but she scarcely noticed, for her bemused brain was too busy working on a new and most startling revelation.
    If truth be told, she had been wondering about a repeat of her wedding kiss, just as Sam said. Well, it had happened, and now she didn’t have to wonder any longer. The second kiss wasn’t as good as the first. No, to the detriment of any peace of mind she ever