The Marine's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

leaned over and kissed her, then pulled back, as surprised as she was. “Sorry. Just seemed like the right thing to do somehow.” He chuckled at her expression. She looked half-shocked, half-pleased. He had been about to say it wouldn’t happen again, but he thought better of it. It just might.
    “Beer or wine?” he asked to smooth things over.
    “Wine,” she said slowly, “although a cold beer on a hot day when you’re exhausted from a long bike ride is pretty sweet.”
    “I prefer beer no matter what the occasion.” They were back on solid ground and he took a few bites of his curry before he asked another question. “Zombies or vampires?”
    “Neither.” She made a face. “Surfing or skateboarding?”
    “I’ve never tried either one. Have you?”
    “I’m terrific at surfing. Not so great on a skateboard.”
    He filed that information away. “How about ice cream? Chocolate or vanilla?”
    “Chocolate, of course.”
    “Me, too,” he said, glad they were back to common ground. Her silence caught his attention after a moment and when he glanced her way he found her watching him. Was she… waiting for another kiss? He didn’t stop to think about it. He leaned over and snatched one before the moment was lost. “Mm, you taste like curry.”
    “You, too.”
    “Your turn.”
    “My turn?”
    “To ask a question.”
    She took a bite, as if she wasn’t fazed by this game at all, but her cheeks were pink and he could tell she was trying to think of a good one. “House or condo?”
    He snorted. “House, of course. Wait until you see mine. You’ll love it.” She would. Everyone loved the Hall. “Shower or bath?”
    She choked on the bite she’d just taken and he pounded her back while she struggled to sip water from her cup. “That’s pretty personal, don’t you think?”
    “We’re going to be married in six short weeks,” he reminded her. “I need to know these things.”
    Her color deepened. “Shower for getting clean, bath for relaxing.”
    “Same.” He waited for her to turn his way again. This time as he bent to kiss her, he took his time, tilting her chin up with his fingers so she met him halfway. He lingered over the kiss, his lips sliding over hers, then deepened the connection, tracing his tongue over hers, tasting her. When he pulled back she bit her lip and played with her fork, not meeting his gaze.
    “In the bath or in the shower?” he asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    From the way the flush spread over her cheeks he was pretty sure she knew exactly what he meant. “Where do you prefer to make love?”
    Her eyes widened, then she quickly looked away. For a moment he thought he’d gone too far and he wanted to kick himself for spoiling the game before they’d hardly begun to play, but when he opened his mouth to apologize, she whispered, “Shower.”
    Heat rushed through him at the thought of taking her that way. He’d be able to see all of her—to feel all of her as he lifted her against the bathroom wall and thrust inside her, the steam from the hot water swirling around them.
    He forced himself back to the present. He couldn’t leave her hanging while he fantasized, not after she’d been brave enough to answer him. “Me, too.” He set his fork down and cupped her chin with both hands as he bent for another kiss. Somehow he found himself on his feet, Storm rising with him and he pulled her into an embrace, no longer holding back at all. Storm felt good in his arms. So good.
    “Tongue or no tongue?” he asked, brushing kisses down her neck.
    “Tongue.”
    He rose up to capture her mouth again, cupping the back of her neck with one palm, sliding the other hand down her back. She kissed him back hungrily, twining her fingers behind his neck.
    “Behind the ear or along the collarbone?” he asked.
    “Collarbone.”
    He obliged, loving the taste of her. On fire with the knowledge that this game was approaching a line of no return. “Buttoned or unbuttoned?” he