Fabulous Beast Read Online Free PDF Page A

of his thoughts was doing to his body.
    Perhaps it was normal for a man to have a few fantasies when he woke up to find a woman, any woman, lying beside him! And when that woman was the same creature who had rescued him and comforted him, perhaps it was even more normal to do a little fantasizing.
    But regardless of the normalness of the situation, Dev had enough perception to know that throwing himself on top of Miss Tabitha Graham, even if he had been physically capable of the action this morning, would only result in unmitigated disaster. She’d flee and that was the last thing he wanted.
    Dev Colter was discovering that he was hungry for more of the gentle, soothing comfort he had received yesterday. In fact, he wanted a hell of a lot more of it. It was not a commodity which had been particularly abundant in his life. At forty he was suddenly aware that he was rather greedy for what he had missed. He had enough self-control not to jeopardize his present good luck by giving in to the urgings of his body. When Tabitha stirred slightly, he instantly closed his eyes. He’d trust his instincts in dealing with her.
    She awoke with a feeling of disorientation. For a moment Tabitha delayed opening her eyes, trying to assimilate the elements of strangeness which were impinging on her. The steady, throbbing feel of the ship’s engines was familiar enough, but nothing else seemed quite right. For one thing there was a solid, warm body next to hers on the bed. Tabitha’s eyes flew open in alarm as reality came back with a thud.
    For an agonizing instant she lay perfectly still, hardly daring to seek out Dev Colter’s face. What must he be thinking? How could she have fallen asleep like that last night? There was a distant recollection of easing herself down beside him so that she could rest a little while she massaged his temple and then nothing until now. How excruciatingly embarrassing for both of them!
    But when she found the nerve to raise her eyes to his face, she heaved a sigh of relief. He was still asleep. Her incipient embarrassment faded to be replaced by concern. Poor man. He must be exhausted.
    Thank heaven he had been able to get some rest.
    Carefully Tabitha eased herself out of the narrow bed, aware of a distinct feeling of purely feminine pleasure. What rest Dev had obtained was attributable, in part, to her. Hurriedly she collected her sandals, which had apparently fallen off during the night, and slipped out of the stateroom.
    A hasty glance up and down the corridor determined that no one was witnessing her early morning departure from a man’s room. Not that anyone on board would particularly care, she assured herself wryly as she made her way back to her own deck. Everyone on board was there to enjoy himself or herself to the fullest and certainly wouldn’t begrudge others doing the same!
    But Tabitha was not accustomed to making any kind of spectacle of herself and the thought of someone smirking over her departure from a man’s cabin was enough to bring a wave of warmth to her cheeks.
    She hated scenes of any kind and she was especially horrified at the thought of finding herself the center of speculative attention. She liked to think it was because she was sensitive, but the simple truth was that she lacked the self-confidence to carry off such a situation and she knew it.
    With a vast sense of relief she gained the privacy of her own stateroom. A nice, hot shower would restore her usual calm, she decided at once, stripping off the yellow cotton knit dress. Catching sight of her nude body just before she stepped into the bath, she gave a self-mocking smile. What would Dev Colter have thought if he’d awakened to find her lying next to him?
    Would he have found anything at all appealing in her gently rounded frame? Probably not. Tabitha sighed philosophically. She had learned long ago that while men sometimes admired full breasts and hips, she apparently lacked the sensual voluptuousness which made such