Riding Red Read Online Free PDF Page B

every sensuous curve beneath her white T-shirt and jeans. Her nipples were dark and pebbled against the translucent fabric, the clingy material taut across her rounded breasts.
    He had to force back a groan, his desire for her quickly outpacing his anger.
    “Why didn’t you call me?” he demanded, speaking to her for the first time since they’d left her home. Even on the drive back to Cottonmouth, he’d maintained his silence, breaking it for only a minute to call Jason and instruct his brother to grab BJ’s spare key and return to Teresa’s ranch to secure the place and finish boarding up those last two windows.
    For the moment, they were alone, and Jeff wanted answers, although he already knew the truth. And he noticed she didn’t rush to respond to him, undoubtedly because she was searching for a plausible lie. The storm had hit three hours ago, and instead of calling him before she’d lost power, or before her phone had died, she’d stubbornly decided to wait it out—a decision that was both foolish and dangerous—all because she was afraid of him and what he wanted to do to her.
    Jeff stalked towards her until mere inches separated their wet bodies. As he towered over her trembling frame, he corrected his last thought. She wasn’t just afraid of him. Teresa was afraid of herself and the desires lurking within her that she refused to acknowledge.
    “I tried to call y—”
    “But you waited hours to do it,” he interrupted her. “Are you that afraid of what is happening between us that you would put yourself in danger before seeking my help?”
    Jeff almost winced as he said the words. He would never admit it, but the thought pained him deeply. When the storm had worsened, he’d turned on the news to learn there had already been fatalities. Immediately he’d called her, and when he’d been unable to get through, the fear and panic which had gripped him had been almost paralysing. Teresa was too stubborn to come to him for help, and as he’d raced over there, he’d feared he’d waited too long to go after her.
    He’d been relieved to discover she was fine, but as soon as his fear had passed, anger had filled its place. For a year, he’d done nothing but show this woman he was interested in her, that he desired only her, wanted only her. And for a year she’d insulted him, evaded him, ignored him. Was her attraction to him so reprehensible? Was the thought of him touching her, making love to her, such a distasteful notion that she would rather endanger herself than risk letting him near her?
    “Answer me, Teresa,” he demanded, and she must have caught the sharp edge to his quiet voice because her eyes rounded and her trembling grew more pronounced. But he had to know. All this time he’d assumed she’d kept him at arm’s length because she believed him to be a player…but what if she simply didn’t want him? What if she just couldn’t stomach the thought of him touching her—?
    “Yes.”
     
    The word came out before she could stop herself, before she realised what she was saying, what she was admitting. It was only when she glimpsed a fleeting glimmer of pain in Jeff’s eyes that she reasoned he’d mistaken her words, but she never got the chance to set him straight.
    “I would never hurt you.”
    The air within her chest seemed to turn to ice right there inside her lungs. She could hardly breathe, let alone speak. Teresa wondered for a moment if he knew the truth, but as she studied his face, he did not stare at her with knowing eyes. Besides, only a few were aware of the truth, and while BJ and Jackson were among them, she knew they would never betray her confidence.
    She turned away from his intense stare, but before she could retreat, his next words stilled her.
    “You don’t believe me.”
    Teresa faced him again. “I don’t trust you.”
    His eyes narrowed, and before she realised his intent, he snaked his arm around her waist, bringing her flush against his body.
    Hard