[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
tone. "I'll take good care of you."
"Will you sleep with me?" she murmured, resting her head on his shoulder.
"If you want me to."
She smiled and closed her eyes with a long sigh. "That would be lovely," she whispered. And it was
the last thing she said.
Morning came with blinding light and some confounded bird twittering his feathered head off outside
the window.
"Oh, go away!" she whispered, and held her head. "An axe," she groaned. "There's an axe between
my eyes. Bird, shut up!"
Soft laughter rustled her hair. She opened her eyes. Laughter?
Her head turned on the pillow and Everett's eyes looked back into her own. She gasped and tried to
sit up, then groaned with the pain and fell back down again.
' 'Head hurt? Poor baby.''
"You slept with me?" she burst out. She turned her head slowly to look at him. He was fully dressed,
except for his shoes and jacket. He even had his shirt on. He was lying on top of the coverlet, and she
was under it.
Slowly, carefully, she lifted the cover and looked. Her face flamed scarlet. She was dressed in
nothing but a tiny pair of briefs. The rest of her was pink and tingling.
"Rett!" she burst out, horrified.
"I only undressed you," he said, leaning on an elbow to watch her. "Be reasonable, honey. You
couldn't sleep in your evening gown. And," he added with a faint grin, "it wasn't my fault that you
didn't have anything on under it. You can't imagine how shocked I was."
"That's right, I can't," she agreed, and her eyes accused him.
"I confess I did stare a little," he murmured. His hand brushed the unruly blond hair out of her eyes.
"A lot," he corrected. "My God, Jenny," he said on a slow breath,
"you are the most glorious sight undressed that I ever saw in my life. I nearly fainted."
"Shame on you!" she said, trying to feel outraged. It was difficult, because she was still tingling from
the compliment.
"For what? For appreciating something beautiful?" He touched her nose with a long, lean finger.
"Shame on you, for being embarrassed. I was a perfect gentleman. I didn't even touch you, except to
put you under the covers."
"Oh."
"I thought I'd wait until you woke up, and do it then," he added with a grin.
Her fingers grabbed the covers tightly. "Oh, no, you don't!"
He moved closer, his fingers tangling in her blond hair as he loomed above her.
"You had a lot to say about that brunette. Or don't you remember?"
She blinked. Brunette? Vaguely she remembered saying something insulting about the woman's body.
Then she remembered vividly. Her face flamed.
"Something about how little she was, if I recall," he murmured dryly.
She bit her lower lip and her eyes met his uneasily. "Did I? How strange. Was she short?"
"That wasn't what you meant," he said. One lean hand moved down her shoulder and over the covers
below her collarbone. "You meant, here, she was small."
If she looked Up, she'd be finished. But she couldn't help it. Her eyes met his and the world seemed to
narrow down to the two of them. She loved him so. Would it be wrong to kiss him just once more, to
feel that hard, wonderful mouth on her own?
He seemed to read that thought, because his jaw tautened and his breathing became suddenly ragged.
"The hell with being patient," he growled, reaching for the covers.
"Come here."
He stripped them away and jerked her into his arms, rolling over with her, so that she was lying on
him. Where his shirt was undone, her body pressed nakedly into his hairy chest.
His eyes were blazing as they looked up into hers. He deliberately reached down to yank his shirt
away, his eyes on the point where her soft breasts were crushed against his body. Dark and light, she
thought shakily, looking at the contrast between his dark skin and her pale flesh.
But still he didn't touch her. His hands moved up into her hair, oddly tender, at variance with the
tension she could feel in his body.
"Don't you want...to touch me?" she whispered nervously.
"More than my own life," he confessed. "But I'm not going to. Come down here and kiss me."
"Why not?" she whispered, bending to give him her mouth.
"Because Consuelo's on her way up the stairs with coffee and toast," he breathed.
"And she never knocks."
She sat up with a gasp. "Why didn't you say so!"
He laughed softly, triumphantly, his eyes eating her soft body as she climbed out of the bed and
searched wildly for a robe.
"Here," he murmured, throwing his long legs over the bed. He reached under her pillow and got her
nightgown. "Come here and I'll stuff you in it."
She didn't even question the impulse that made her obey him instantly. She lifted her arms as he held
the nightgown over her head and gasped as he bent first and kissed her rosy breasts briefly, but with a
tangible hunger. While she was getting over the shock, he tugged the long cotton gown over her head,
lifted her, tossed her into the bed, and pul ed the covers over her with a knowing smile.
And Consuelo opened the door before she could get out a word.
"Good morning!" The older woman laughed, handing the tray to Everett. "Also is hair of the dog, in
the glass," she added with a wry glance at Jennifer. "To make the senorita's head a little better."
And she was gone as quickly as she'd come. Everett put the tray down beside Jennifer on the bed and
poured cream into her coffee.
"Why did you do that?" she whispered, still shaking from the wild little caress.
"I couldn't help myself," he murmured, smiling at her. "I've wanted to, for a long time."
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]