The Rancher And The Runaway Bride: Part 3 Read Online Free PDF Page A

you.”
    Well, why the hell not?
    For a moment she didn’t breathe. Dear Lord, had she said that or merely thought it?
     By the look on Brady’s face, the calm, if slightly self-deprecating expression, she’d
     only thought the words.
    “Stop looking at me like that,” he said.
    “Like what?”
    “As if you want me to do something we’re both going to regret.”
    Hunger descended with the speed and power of a tornado springing unexpectedly from
     the heavens. Need and desire caught her up in a vortex she could neither explain nor
     control. She could only hang on and endure.
    She told herself it was just the danger and the circumstances. She would be attracted
     to anyone who happened to be with her right now. Yet, even as she thought the words,
     she knew they weren’t true. She’d admired Brady from the first moment she’d met him.
     Time had turned admiration into liking and then into love. Love, true heart-deep affection.
     That was the reason she wanted to be with him. Even if they couldn’t ever share a
     life together, she wanted to know what it was like to join fully with the man of her
     dreams.
    “You have no idea what you’re asking,” he said, inching away from her.
    “Don’t I?”
    “Randi, I can’t play this game.”
    Tears filled her eyes. “If you knew how much it wasn’t a game. If you knew how much
     I care about you.”
    “Don’t cry.” He slid forward, gathering her against him. “Please. I’ll do anything.”
    “Really?”
    He chuckled. “Brat.”
    She brushed the tears away and looked at him. “I’m not a child. I’m a woman.”
    His expression tightened as if he were in pain. “Believe me, I know.”
    “Good. Just so we understand each other.”
    Their gazes locked. It was like their very first hug, on the stairs in front of his
     house. She wasn’t sure who moved forward first. She didn’t know if she reached for
     him, or if he gathered her closer still. She only knew that suddenly he was holding
     on to her as if he would never let her go. His mouth dropped to hers as she surged
     toward him.
    The kiss was like coming home. Familiar, welcoming, yet lighting a fire that burned
     so hot, every cell in her body glowed. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried
     her fingers in his thick, short hair. His head tilted. She parted her lips, anticipating
     the moment he would brand her with his tongue.
    But he didn’t plunge inside right away. Instead, he circled her mouth, carefully seducing
     every inch of sensitive skin, dipping in slightly, then withdrawing in a dance designed
     to leave her trembling uncontrollably.
    He supported her back with one hand and moved the other down her side to her hip,
     then lower to the curve of her derriere. He squeezed gently, making her arch against
     him. Long fingers kneaded sensitive flesh. Through the layers of her jeans and panties,
     she felt his touch, the sweep of his thumb across the back of her thigh.
    His tongue dipped into her mouth, distracting her momentarily. He tasted of masculine
     temptation and incited the kind of passion that made lovers willing to risk everything.
    The kiss was endless as he discovered her, then withdrew, inviting her to explore
     him, to learn the secrets of what made him moan or stiffen or retaliate with a moist,
     sweeping caress.
    His hand moved up to her belly, then higher toward her breasts. She stilled, anticipating
     those strong, skilled fingers touching sensitive skin.
    He did not disappoint. First he stroked the underside of her curve, then he circled,
     as if encroaching on sacred ground. Her breasts swelled with his touch, her nipples
     tightened into twin points of aching sensation. When his thumb brushed against one
     peak, she whimpered.
    He broke the kiss. “If you knew how long I’ve wanted to do that.”
    “If you knew how long I’ve been waiting for you to do that.”
    His gaze met hers. Bright fire danced in his dilated pupils. “You could have said