The Cowboy's Gamble: Destined For Love Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

hands. “Seth?” He decided he liked the way his name sounded on her lips. “Seth, are you okay?”
    He wanted to groan at the exquisite feel of her bottom tucked so intimately against his groin but found he couldn’t utter a sound. Six times eight is forty-eight.
    Her fingers quickly unbuttoned his shirt and her palm slid inside, right over his heart. “You’re not breathing!”
    He wasn’t? Then why was he so aware of that intense heat pooling low in his belly, and his body’s embarrassing reaction to Josie’s position? He concentrated on his math. Six times nine is fifty-four.
    “I didn’t really mean to kill you.” She moved off him, her tone frantic. “I swear I didn’t!” Tilting his head back, she pinched his nose closed and pressed her mouth to his.
    He felt her soft lips on his and believed he’d died and gone to heaven. Air whooshed into his lungs, her very breath , and he began to cough and gulp more air. Finally, wheezing in a breath, his eyes opened.
    “Oh, Seth,” she cried in obvious relief. “You’re okay!”
    It took him a moment to realize what had happened and re-orient himself. “I think you just knocked the breath out of me.”
    And there, in the woods, it happened . . . a spark of awareness Seth decided to nurture, with her cooperation, of course. He’d gently cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth back to his and kissed her like he’d been wanting to since he’d bumped into her in the hall. Her lips parted beneath the subtle pressure of his, and she moaned deep in her throat, but the sound wasn’t one of alarm. No, she didn’t fear him. She sank against his chest, closed her eyes, and let his tongue explore her mouth and tempt her to join in the slow, drugging kiss.
    At nearly eighteen, he was two years older than her, had been on plenty of dates and kissed a lot of girls. But none of them tasted as sweet as Josie. He couldn’t get enough of her, and it seemed she was just as needy.
    From that day on he met her after school, anxious to be with her. Because neither of them wanted their families to know they were seeing one another for fear of repercussions, he met her at the edge of the woods and spent as much time with her as possible until they had to head home.
    Eventually kisses weren’t enough, and all that heated foreplay eventually led to them making love. They’d been good together, her uninhibited response to his touch driving him wild with desire for her. He’d been careful about protecting her, but three months later she tearfully informed him she was pregnant.
    He’d been scared, certain his father would flay him alive, that’s how much David O’Connor loathed the McAllisters. So, instead, he’d confided in his brother.
    “How do you know it’s your baby?” Robert had asked him.
    His brother’s question had made him wary. “What the hell are you talking about?” he demanded to know.
    Robert smirked. “Considering she’s slept with half the senior class, there’s no telling whose brat it is.”
    He’d been so furious with his brother’s claim he’d given Robert a black eye. A few days later the rumors started circulating around school, and he heard bragging in the locker room about Josie and other boys. Considering he’d used protection every time they’d slept together, he found the truth difficult to ignore.
    Josie, it seemed, had manipulated him for her own purposes.
    If she’d meant to dupe an O’Connor, she’d nearly succeeded. She’d put on a flawless act, making him believe he was the first and only one to know her intimately. The thought had filled him with a white hot fury, and made him plan a fitting retribution.
    He saw her one last time. She’d expected him to marry her, to give her bastard child the O’Connor name. Instead of the proposal she anticipated, he’d coldly informed her that he’d deliberately seduced her to gain revenge on the McAllisters, and she’d fallen for the ruse. And since at least a dozen