The Ruination of Essie Sparks (Wild Western Rogues Series, Book 2) by Barbara Ankrum

Author:Barbara Ankrum [Ankrum, Barbara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2016-06-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

His mouth crushed against hers without gentleness, as if trying to prove something about his own brutality. But what she felt, instead, was his wildness. His loneliness. Some aching need for connection. His tongue pillaged her mouth without invitation, but she had no desire to deny him. She wanted to feel his mouth against hers, inhale his breath and taste his kiss again. He could deny all he wanted that something good had sparked between them, but this kiss was all the proof she required that the opposite was true.

Dragging her hard against him until they fitted one another like blades of grass, he sank his fingers into the hair at the nape of her neck. A sound of need echoed against her mouth that only stirred the embers heating inside her.

The coil at the center of her tightened and every nerve ending came alive. His kisses were nothing like Nathan's had been—chaste, Presbyterian efforts of duty. And while this kiss had more passion than Nathan could ever have mustered, it was, she could tell, meant to end things between them. But if ending things was his intention, his plan backfired miserably. Dampness blossomed, unbidden, at the juncture of her legs and her nipples ached against the fabric of her shift. She felt herself melting against him as he punished her mouth with his kiss and the evidence of his own hunger pushed up hard against her belly.

Then, as if he'd only just realized how far out of bounds that kiss had gone, he tugged her head backward, breaking the kiss, his control wrecked and his expression more than a little lost. He took a step away from her, rubbing his palms on his thighs. "That..." he said, his breath coming hard, "is why we cannot be together. That can never happen again."

Outrage darkened her expression. "You kissed me!"

"And you kissed me back."

Clutching the tree behind her, she stiffened. Feeling dizzy and bruised by his kiss, his words cut her deeply. She was in no mood for rejection, especially when it came from the man who'd kidnapped her. Against her will, her eyes filled with tears. "What did you expect, then? A paper cut-out in your arms? A woman who couldn't, or wouldn't, kiss you back? Did you think to scare me off if I should dare try to? How very male of you!"

He loosed an oath and spun away from her. "You have no idea what you're playing with, Essie."

"If anyone is playing games here, it's you."

He turned back to her. "Do you think that kiss meant nothing to me? That you mean nothing to me?"

"I don't know. Do I?"

A sound of frustration vibrated in his throat and he took her by the shoulders and dragged her close to him. "You do not seem to grasp your situation."

"My situation?" She let out a bark of laughter. "You mean, mine alone? Yes, I'm quite sure the past few days of running for our lives across the dangerous mountains of

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