MM02 - Until Morning Comes Read Online Free PDF

what?”
    “A snake.”
    She turned her head. Her open mouth grazed against his upper arm. He drew the stallion to a halt.
    She rested briefly against Colter's chest, panting.
    “Don't be afraid, Jo Beth. I have you.”
    “That's what I'm afraid of.”
    He felt the flutter of her heart. Excitement had accelerated her pulse. It was only natural, he thought. But so was the feel of her in his arms.
    She twisted around so she could see his face.
    “How did you know I was there?”
    “I was stalking you.”
    “Why?”
    “For this.”
    He lowered his mouth to hers.

 
     
    Chapter Three
    Jo Beth didn't even consider resisting. Colter's kiss was as inevitable as the rising of the sun. She submitted to him, expecting a brief pleasure. She'd kissed men before, lots of men. And it was obvious that he was not without experience. But what happened there in the heat of the desert was far more than two people sharing a kiss, far more than a brief pleasure. Together they became a miracle.
    When the kiss ended, she pulled back and looked at him.
    “There's bound to be some logical, scientific explanation for that.”
    “For what, Jo Beth?”
    “For feeling as if I'm riding on a roller coaster, not wanting to get off.”
    “Let's take another ride.”
    He slid off the horse, then caught her around the waist and swung her down. Her arms went automatically around his neck, and her face lifted toward his like a flower seeking the sun.
    He took her lips again, tenderly at first, and then with an intensity that was almost obsession. This time she neither submitted nor yielded: she gave.
    They felt naked in each other's arms, stripped bare of everything except their need. But there was more, more than tenderness, more than obsession, more than need. There was fire and passion between them. It bloomed so fiercely and grew so quickly that they were both caught off guard.
    Colter eased his hold, and Jo Beth took a step backward.
    “You tempt me, Colter.”
    “And you, me.” He reached toward his horse and began to stroke the soft muzzle, more to have something to do with his hands than anything else.
    “Were you really stalking me?”
    “I didn't intend to. I intended to ride free and wild over the desert, to feel the wind in my face and the sun at my back. But that changed.”
    “Why?”
    “It's the Apache way of courtship, Jo Beth. In the first stage, the man follows his chosen woman at a distance.”
    “Am I your chosen woman, Colter?”
    He was silent for a long time, studying her as he pondered the question. She felt like a trapped bird, poised for flight but unable and unwilling to take off. She heard the rush of her own blood in her ears. It was the only sound in the desert... until Colter spoke.
    “That's what I have to find out.”
    Her modern ideas bent and almost broke under the reality of Colter Gray Wolf. Still, she didn't have time to be anybody's chosen woman.
    “I think you skipped a few stages.” She kept her voice light and teasing.
    He chuckled. “Are you disappointed?”
    “I won't know until you tell me what I missed.”
    “There are three stages. In the second, I bring you presents.”
    “I adore presents... Cracker Jacks and cheese grits and goo goo clusters and those tacky bumper stickers that say things like, 'Beware of San Francisco doctors bearing gifts.' “
    “I don't think my ancestors knew about goo goo clusters. What is a goo goo cluster, Jo Beth?”
    “It's a Southern delicacy. A sticky chocolate candy with a marshmallow-and-peanut center. You should try them sometime.”
    He went so still, she had the odd feeling she was looking at a bronze sculpture. Except for the eyes. Those dark, intense eyes gave him away. They made her hot. The way he was watching her made her feel as if she had climbed on that roller coaster again.
    “I intend to try many things with you.”
    Jo Beth's dog bounded out of the scrubby bushes and rubbed against her leg, but for the first time since she’d had him, Zar