Passionate Tides Read Online Free PDF Page A

him easier access to her mouth, she parted her lips for his probing tongue and welcomed his kiss. Releasing her lips he began teasing her with small kisses to her jaw and throat. His hands traveled to her shoulders then fisted in her hair.  She could feel the passion wash over them like the oceans tides. His need was evident by his throbbing erection against her leg. Her mind was racing, the mix of lust and confusion warring inside of her. She wanted him. Her body wanted him. But she came with baggage and she didn’t want to weigh him down with the demons of her past.
    “We need to get home. I had a good time tonight. Thank you for…everything”
    The mood swing was sudden and she could see confusion written on his face, his eyes searching hers for a clue, but he didn’t seem hurt by her stopping his actions. She continued their journey back to civilization, the street lights coming into view like a beacon to her good senses. She wanted him so badly that her body ached for him and knew by the gentle touches and looks they shared he was willing to give her everything she wanted, but in a few short weeks she would be back on the road, headed to her empty home, remembering the summer fling and reliving his kiss and the feel of his body in her dreams while he would be here lying on the beach.
    She wouldn’t risk her heart again. Never again would she be used and thrown away like yesterday’s news. Turning her back on him so that he couldn’t see the silent tears fall from her eyes, she hurried her steps to put distance between them.
    “Jake, I can’t. I’m just not ready for whatever this is between us to go any farther, I’m sorry.” With each step that she put between them, she knew that she was going to not only remember his kiss, but she was going to regret her choices. Her fear was thicker than any passion she was feeling, and her first response was to protect her heart. They walked back toward the truck, and this time the silence was thick with the words they left unspoken and the distance between them grew greater with each footprint they left in the sand.
    * * *
    Time had flown by and the summer was coming to a quick end. The work on the house had started and Jake knew that the men would finish ahead of schedule. The thought that Paisley might leave early tore at him. After that night on the beach, he had apologized for moving too fast and asked if they could start over as friends. She had agreed on certain terms. It was to stay strictly platonic and there was to be no more earth shattering kisses or naked play.
    He had agreed against his better judgment. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her full mouth and touch her smooth skin. Instead of making out like newlyweds, they had spent several evenings curled up on the couch, eating popcorn and laughing at old movies or sitting on the deck, watching the waves crashing across the sand as the ghost crabs bobbed for safety from the coming tide.
    She would sit with her laptop on the table but never open it, her eyes locking on some far off object over the ocean. She never spoke of her life before coming to the beach except to mention Tiffany and James. He had tried to get her to open up more about her parents and the asshole of a husband she had only spoken of once. They had been sitting on the back deck, watching the shrimp boats coming in from their morning runs when the doorbell interrupted. It was a certified letter letting her know that the sale of her house was nearing its close. She mourned its loss but it was the last thread connecting her to Vince. It signified the end to ten years of degradation and abuse. She had locked herself in her bedroom for hours. He had wanted to console her, but she kept pushing at the distance between them, making it harder and harder to get close to her.
    He wanted desperately to know this woman and he found that his mind wandered back to her even when they were apart. It was rough having her body so close and her mind so far