Surrender to the Fury Read Online Free PDF Page A

manage.” She didn’t want to be beholden to Nick Drummond for anything.
    Nick leaped to his feet, grasping her wrist when she picked up the buckets. “I’m trying to make things easier for you, you little fool.”
    “I don’t need your help.”
    “Dammit, Aimee Fortune, or Mrs. Trevor, or whatever you call yourself, what happened between us happened a long time ago.” Aimeeflushed and looked away. “It’s too late to deny we’ve met,” he continued, “or to forget the outcome of that poker game those long years ago. You owed me a debt and I collected. If my memory serves, you enjoyed the encounter as much as I did.” His knowing grin sent her temper soaring.
    “Let me go!”
    Ignoring her plea, Nick dragged her tightly against the rock hardness of his superbly fit body. “Do you know that I looked for you afterward? Many nights I lay awake wondering who you really were, if you were all right, and why I could find no trace of you when I returned to the area. That night was like an erotic dream, one I’ve relived many times over. I can perceive no good reason why you should hate me. I was merely collecting a debt of honor.”
    His gaze met hers. It was an unrelenting look, sparing her nothing as he cocked a questioning eyebrow, demanding an answer.
    “I don’t owe you an explanation, Nick Drummond.” Her body was molded to his, and she could feel every brass button on his dusty jacket. “Just being a damn Yankee is enough to earn my hatred.”
    “Perhaps, Aimee Trevor, but I have a feeling that fate has a plan for us. A plan set into motion on the night we met.” The timbre of his voice was deep and oddly compelling. Aimee knew he was going to kiss her before he lowered his lips to hers; the devil hiding in his green eyes leaped out to warn her.
    His kiss was a sensual exploration of taste and texture. Five years melted away as if they had never existed as she vividly recalled the touch ofhis mouth, the unique taste and smell of him. Five years of the same dream caused her memories to mingle with reality. This was the man she had reason to hate above all others. This was the man to whom she had surrendered her virginity, the man who had calmly walked out of her life the next morning. This was the man who never realized she had been untouched! This man was the father of the child she adored!
    Nick Drummond was a devil.
    Aimee felt herself being dragged backward toward the bed, felt rough hands slide around to fondle her breasts, felt the hard, unrelenting thrust of his sex against the softness between her legs. She recognized a profound terror.
    “No, let me go! I don’t want this; you have no right!”
    Nick was so aroused, Aimee’s words barely registered in his befuddled brain. He wanted her. He’d wanted her the first time he saw her and he still wanted her. But as her words registered, he realized he indeed had no right to assume she’d fall into his arms. He never deluded himself about the hatred she bore him for winning the wager, and the years had done little to change her feelings.
    “Why are you hurting my mama?”
    The tiny voice had the same effect on Nick as a dash of cold water. Abruptly he released Aimee and she stumbled out of his arms. Her breath was ragged, her eyes fraught with terror. Her hands flew to tidy the bun at her nape where long tendrils of blond hair had become loose and spilled down her back.
    Nick stared at the child who had burst into his room like a tiny whirlwind. He was suddenly at aloss for words, but knew he must somehow placate the boy or play the villain during his stay at Tall Oaks.
    “I’m not hurting your mama, son. I mean no harm to her or anyone in this house.”
    Wide hazel eyes stared back at Nick with an intensity far beyond his meager years. Tousled black hair the color of a raven’s wing framed a thin, serious face that seemed to pierce directly into Nick’s heart. The boy’s features were hauntingly familiar, almost as if Nick recognized him.