Summer Mahogany Read Online Free PDF

hadn't improved the chiseled harshness of his impenetrable mask.
    Ignoring him as best she could, Gina walked to where her towel lay. Exhausted, she wanted nothing more than to collapse on the sand, but it would reveal a weakness that she would rather Rhyder didn't see. She picked up the towel and began briskly rubbing her arms, aware that Rhyder hadn't moved, only half turned to watch her.
    "You can leave now." Bitterness caused her voice to tremble slightly. "As you can see, I survived the solitary swim. And I would have whether you had been on watch or not!"
    "At least I know you're safe," he snapped.
    "No one appointed you my guardian, certainly not me." Gina glared, her eyes flashing a stormy green. "There isn't any more reason for you to stay, so why don't you go?"
    He came striding toward her. "You're the rudest little brat I've ever met! What you need is a good spanking to teach you some manners and some respect for your elders!"
    Gina stiffened. "Don't you dare touch me!"
    She couldn't have provoked him more if she had waved a red cape in front of him. In the next second, he was swinging her off her feet and carrying her to a rocky boulder farther along the shore, oblivious to her swinging hands and kicking feet.
    Gina struggled and cursed, calling him every name she could think of as he swung her over his knee. After a half-dozen well-aimed and hard blows had been administered, Rhyder let her go.
    Tears streamed down Gina's cheeks, partly from pain but mostly from the ultimate humiliation. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth to hurl abuse at him, she would start crying. She sent him a baleful look and spun away, running and stumbling to where she had dropped her towel in the initial scuffle. She fell to her knees beside it, sobbing her heart out.
    A shadow fell across her, long at first, then shortening as Rhyder knelt beside her, but she couldn't stop crying, the sobs hiccuping from her chest. His hand touched the curve of her shoulder.
    "I'm sorry, Gina," he murmured in a low voice.
    "Leave me alone," she demanded through gritted teeth, and drew away from his hand.
    "Dammit, Gina, I don't blame you for hating me because of what I did." His hand settled again on her shoulder, but this time in a grip she couldn't elude. Rhyder turned her around and drew her against his chest. She was too physically and mentally exhausted to struggle as he smoothed her wet hair with his fingers, nestling her head near the curve of his throat. "I'm sorry, Gina. I'm sorry." His mouth moved against her hair.
    Even though she hated him, Gina sought the soothing comfort of his embrace. The racking sobs stopped inside the circle of his arms, reduced to sighing gasps. She lifted her head slightly as his mouth touched her temples, his breath warm against her skin. His lips encountered the first trace of tears along her cheekbone and Rhyder began kissing them away.
    His hand curved along her slender throat, turning her face toward him. She seemed to stop breathing, not needing air as long as he continued exploring every inch of her face. When his mouth closed over her parted lips, she could taste the saltiness of her own tears in his kiss. The pressure of his hand near the small of her back arched her toward him.
    Through the wetness of her swimsuit she could feel the solid beat of his heart. The mahogany hardness of his chest flattened her breasts. Where once there had been only the coldness of humiliation, a warmth began to spread.
    Gina stopped passively accepting his kiss and began to return it. Her response deepened the kiss and the pressure of his mouth hardened in demanding possession. Gina answered as much as her limited experience allowed.
    Rhyder lifted his head a fraction of an inch, their breaths mingling. "Open your lips, Gina," he instructed huskily.
    She did, and his hard male lips claimed hers again, showing her the sensual fullness of a kiss between a man and a woman. Wildfire raced through her veins at his