Sooner or Later Read Online Free PDF Page A

you don’t mind, I’d like to brush my teeth.”
    He hesitated, then shrugged. “Fine, but sooner or later you’re going to have to make good on your promise.” While he waited, he sat on the edge of the mattress and unlaced his boots.
    She took a long white nightgown into the bathroom with her. Her steps were slow, as if she were royalty walking to the guillotine.
    “Let your hair down,” he instructed.
    She hesitated, then nodded.
    By the time she returned, Murphy had stripped out of his fatigues and was under the sheets, his back braced against the headboard. He locked his hands behind his head, his elbows jutting out on either side.
    “Nice,” he said, studying her, and he meant it. She resembled Little Bo Peep in her long white gown. All she lacked to complete the picture was a long wooden staff and a few lambs traipsing behind her.
    Her dark brown hair flowed halfway down the middle of her back in gentle waves. Her feet were bare. If she was hoping the portrayal of a fairy-tale character would persuade him not to touch her, she was wrong.
    “Move closer to the bed,” he instructed.
    “Are you nude?” Her eyes shifted away from his torso.
    He grinned slowly. “What do you think?”
    She dragged in a deep breath, stiffened, and closed her eyes.
    “Are you ready to abandon your brother already?”
    “No,” she insisted shakily. “A deal’s a deal. You can do with me whatever you want.”
    “I intend to,” he said, leaving no room for doubt.
    “You’re a bastard.”
    He laughed. “So I’ve been told.”
    She glanced over her shoulder. “Would you mind if I turned off the light first?”
    “Leave it on.”
    A look of panic came over her, and she dashed from the bedroom. Murphy resisted the urge to laugh outright. He hadn’t so much as touched her and alreadyshe was racing for the hills. He loved it. The poor, dowdy virgin was deathly afraid of a naked man.
    To his surprise, she returned a moment later with the wine. She drank directly from the bottle herself, dipping her head back and liberally downing the alcohol. Amazed, Murphy watched.
    “Getting drunk won’t help,” he told her.
    “Don’t be so sure.” She pressed the back of her hand against her lips and wiped away the moisture. “Is there anything you want me to do?”
    “Plenty,” he assured her, “but we’ll get to that soon enough.”
    She crumpled onto the edge of the bed as if her legs would no longer hold her. The gown shifted in the front, exposing the swell of her breasts. Murphy was intrigued. She had beautiful breasts, lush and full.
    Keller was right: he had been too long without a woman. Letty Madden was beginning to look damn good.
    “Kiss me,” he ordered.
    Her eyes appeared enormous as her gaze settled on his mouth. She hesitated, gulped down another swallow of wine, and shifted toward him.
    He took the bottle from her hand and set it on the nightstand. “I promise not to bite.” He clasped her firmly about the waist and dragged her across the top of the mattress until her torso was pressed against his. Her eyes were huge, her face deathly pale, and she held his look, waiting. Worrying.
    He eased forward slightly and touched her mouth with his. He wasn’t a cruel man, and despite himself, he almost felt sorry for her.
    She didn’t resist, but she was as stiff as cardboard.
    “Relax,” he ordered impatiently.
    “I’m trying.”
    “Try harder.” Then, because he was angry with himself for being gentle with her, he captured her head between his hands and yanked her mouth to his. The least she owed him for all his trouble was a decent kiss, although he strongly suspected he’d need to tutor her.
    Again she held herself stiff and unyielding. Repeatedly he moved his mouth over hers, less gently this time, molding her lips, shaping them with his own. He felt the peaks of her breasts and battled the growing excitement that threatened to overtake him. Giving himself over to the sensation, he hungrily claimed her