A Season Beyond a Kiss Read Online Free PDF Page B

flew across her face, blinding her to his whereabouts. “You’d tear a lady’s clothes off her back with little regard for propriety. . . .”
    She came to an abrupt halt, meeting something very hard and masculine, to be exact her tall, firmly muscled husband. Her mouth flew open in surprise, and hardly a pause of a heartbeat later she found long arms encircling her naked form. A large hand slipped down her back until it reached her buttock. Encompassing its fullness, he lifted her up snugly against him, making her vividly aware of his unyielding passion.
    “Oh . . . oh!” Hardly aware that she had issued the muted gasps, Raelynn stared up at him, awed by the waves of sensual warmth radiating upward from the cloth-bound firmness upon which her womanly softness was now nestled. Suddenly, it was as if she had been caught in a vortex of whirling flames, for her whole body became warm and flushed with excitement. Her soft nipples throbbed against his furred chest, and behind her back she could feel his hand bridging the crevice between her buttocks, pressing her womanly loins against his. Her breath quickened, and she banished her second alternative completely from mind as she slid her arms behind his neck and locked them in a fierce embrace. How could she think of withholding herself any longer from a man who set her whole being ablaze?
    “The French doors are open,” she breathed shakily, casting a glance toward them. It didn’t bolster any admirable impression of an unfaltering will when Raelynn realized that her concern centered primarily on a fear that they could be interrupted again, this time by unwary servants. As for her paltry resolutions, she had ceased to care, at least for the moment. Jeffrey was her husband, after all, and she desired his attention perhaps as much as he yearned to bestow them upon her. “Anyone who passes on the porch will see us.”
    “Our privacy is secure, madam,” Jeff murmured huskily, lowering his head until his lips hovered above hers. “None of the servants would dare venture past our rooms when there’s a possibility that we might be occupying them, especially mine. That rule has long been established, so rest at ease. We’re quite alone, madam. Trust me.”
    Claiming her mouth, he ravaged its honeyed depths with rapacious greed, searching, demanding, devouring all that was within reach of his tongue. His hand came up to encompass the back of her head as his face slanted across hers, and it became an intoxicating exchange of lips and tongues as he found himself drinking in the sweet nectar of her passionate response.
    By the time Jeff lifted his head and set her to her feet again, most of the strength had drained from Raelynn’s knees. His sturdy chest provided support until her world settled back into place. Finally she leaned back within his encompassing arms and found his smoldering gaze devouring her breasts. Appeasing an earlier desire, she swept her hands across the width of his tautly muscled shoulders and, in a languid caress, brushed slender fingers across male nipples all but hidden by the dark hair covering his chest. The knotted sinews of his waist were steely hard, and for a moment her fingertips traced across them admiringly before venturing to the top of his trousers. Her voice was a warm, husky whisper as she began plucking open a side placket. “It’s not fair that I should be the only one naked, Jeffrey.”
    “Banish the thought, madam,” he murmured huskily and grinned as he stepped back slightly, allowing her freedom to continue. His own hands moved over her pale body, eliciting a quickening excitement that left her eagerly anticipating his provocative advancements. When the last closures of his trousers came free, his waistband sagged away from his taut waist, causing her to cast a hesitant glance upward. Her timidity was obvious as her teeth tugged nervously at a bottom lip.
    “Help me,” Jeff urged huskily, banishing her doubts.
    With a