Affair of Honor Read Online Free PDF

you…”
    He lifted the hand with which he drew the bowstring and put it under her chin. The silvery eyes looked deeply into hers, trapping her momentarily in their glittering depths. “Oh, yes, Brenna Llewellyn. You’re definitely part of my life.”
    “Only…only for the summer,” she whispered hoarsely, wishing desperately that she could find the willpower to move away from him. What was she letting him do to her? Was she crazy?
    He shrugged dismissingly. “That’s long enough, I imagine.”
    Brenna saw the sudden intention in his gaze and made a belated movement to escape. But she was much too slow. The hand under her chin reached around to anchor her gently by the nape of the neck. Bracing his left hand on the back of the chair on which she was sitting, Ryder leaned down to kiss her.
    Summing up the situation immediately, Brenna held herself passively still. She sensed the curiosity in him, the exploratory approach. She was a woman he would be living next door to for several weeks and he was testing the waters. The logical response for her to make was polite, bland disinterest. A struggle might provoke a man like this who believed in action and force. So Brenna sat unmoving as his mouth came down on hers.
    His lips were warm, firm and questioning. She had been right, she told herself. He was curious about her. She kept her eyes open although his own dark tawny lashes flickered against his cheeks when his mouth made contact. The fingers at the back of her neck moved with a massaging sensuality while his lips explored hers.
    Brenna’s fingers tightened on the edge of the table as she held herself stiff and unresponsive. There was more in this slow, questioning embrace than mere curiosity, she realized abruptly. There was a hunger lying in wait. It was held in check and it was, at the moment, unthreatening. In spite of her resolve, she found herself wondering what it would take to unleash it.
    Ryder didn’t pursue the kiss long. He brushed her lips one last time with his own and then lifted his head an inch or two and opened his eyes There was a cloudy veil concealing the truth in the gray depths of his gaze, but there was a whimsical tilt to his mouth.
    “No?” he asked very gently.
    “No.” Brenna’s voice was very assured and she met his eyes in a straight look.
    “Is there someone else?” He didn’t move, retaining his hold on the nape of her neck.
    Brenna drew in her breath. “Someone else; something else. A lot of reasons.”
    The tilt of his mouth widened into the rakish grin for an instant and the silvery eyes gleamed. “Reasons that vague I can handle,” he told her with an amused arrogance.
    Perhaps it was time to take a firmer stand. “I’m not here for a summer affair, Ryder.”
    He straightened. “Why are you here?”
    “To work. To sort out some things in my life. To make some decisions.”
    “More vagueness. Does philosophy teach you to be vague in the face of a direct question?”
    “Sometimes,” she retorted, deliberately being vague again. But humor lightened her tone now.
    “Amazing. No wonder they keep your sort locked up on college campuses. You’d flounder to death if you had to stay very long in the real world!”
    “Your prejudice against the academic world is showing.”
    “Your prejudice against my world has already surfaced,” he shot back dryly. “Come outside with me and let’s see if we can find a common interest.”
    “How?” she asked.
    “I’ll teach you to use the bow. When you use it properly, you can think of it as an application and illustration of the philosophic principle of harmony in the universe.” He chuckled, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet.
    “While you’ll be thinking of it as a lethal weapon for one of your heroes!”
    “So? Just because it’s your nature to look for something intellectually elevating in the exercise, don’t condemn me for looking for something practical.”
    “I wouldn’t dream of condemning you for