Lakota Renegade Read Online Free PDF Page B

back, then stumbled backward.
    Whirling around, he grabbed her by the arm to steady her. Then, remembering what she had asked, he let go of her and took a step backward. Stunned by her request, he could only stare down at her, wondering if he had heard her right.
    “Make love to me. Please, Creed.”
    “Jassy…” He took a deep breath. “Why, Jassy? Why would you want me to make love to you? We’re strangers.”
    “I love you.”
    Taken aback, he could only stare at her.
    Suddenly bold, she burrowed into his arms. “Don’t you want to?”
    “Jassy, you don’t even know what love is.”
    “Then show me.”
    She wrapped he arms around his neck, pressing herself against him, her eyes filled with silent entreaty.
    Creed swore under his breath. Maybe he’d been wrong about her from the first. Maybe she was more like her mother than he had realized. And maybe she was just feeling lost and confused.
    “Jassy…”
    “Rosie says no one but Milt or one of the other saloon owners will hire me. If that’s so, if I’m gonna have to work in that awful saloon and…and do what Rosie does, then I want to do it with you first.”
    She went up on her tiptoes, her hand slipping around his neck, pulling his head down to meet hers, and then she was kissing him.
    It was hard to remember she was young and innocent when she kissed him like that, her lips warm and sweet and softly yielding, her tongue a welcome invasion.
    Creed cussed himself then, because he knew he was the one who had taught her to kiss like that, and now it was coming back to haunt him. Her body was soft and supple where it pressed against his, her warmth beckoning to him, teasing him.
    His hands slid up and down her back, then settled on her hips, pulling her hard up against him, letting her feel the heat of his desire, hoping it would scare her off.
    But that backfired, too. She moaned low in her throat and strained against him, wanting to be closer, and he knew if he didn’t back off soon, it would be too late.
    Letting her go was the most difficult thing he’d ever done and he managed it only by reminding himself that she was just a kid. Just a kid who was vulnerable and unhappy and looking for love wherever she could find it.
    “Creed?” She blinked up at him, her eyes heavy-lidded, her voice uneven. “What’s wrong?”
    “It’s time to go, Jassy.” He stepped away from her and took a deep breath. “This isn’t the time, or the place.”
    “When?” she asked. “Where?”
    “In about four years,” he muttered, and resettling his hat on his head, he started walking, before lush pink lips and luminous brown eyes changed his mind.
     

 
    Chapter Four
     
    She was still following him. Creed let out a long sigh, bemused by his feelings for Jassy McCloud. On the one hand, it was kind of flattering, having her trail after him like a love-starved puppy. There was a sweetness about her, a vulnerability, that made him feel protective of her, especially now that her mother was dead.
    On the other hand, he spent far too much time thinking about her. He didn’t need a distraction like Jassy McCloud in his life, and one night, when he’d had a little too much to drink, he had told her so.
    Follow me all you want , he had said, his voice harsh and unrelenting, but it won’t do you any good. I’m not taking you with me. Now, get lost.
    She had nodded that she understood, but she had kept following him, hiding in doorways, watching when he left the hotel, waiting outside Jackson’s while he ate breakfast, trailing after him when he went to the saloon. Whenever he caught her at it, she just smiled, her eyes glowing with hope.
    It was time to leave town, he mused, before he started giving some serious thought to taking her with him. He had done a lot of fool things in his life, but getting mixed up with a little bit of a girl who wanted a home and a dozen kids would make all his other mistakes look like accomplishments. So he’d head out of town and that