TheCharmer Read Online Free PDF Page B

chest.
    "No," she whispered. "I don't think so." Distracted, she realized that she seemed to be embracing him as well. Her arms were looped under his and her hands clasped the back of his broad shoulders. Broad
naked
shoulders.
    His muscles flexed beneath her hands. Momentarily charmed, still dazed, Rose dug her fingertips lightly in response.
He's so strong. Holding me so close, as if I were as dear as dear could be
.
    Breathing still wasn't easy. In fact, it was becoming more difficult by the moment. He covered her like a lover, with her breasts crushed against his broad chest and his knee pressed between her thighs. The firm pressure against her sensitive center made hot jolts of want shoot across her body.
    When he shifted that knee slightly, she nearly whimpered at the sensation. Her thoughts faded for a moment as she merely
felt
. She felt her skin shimmer as the heat of his body penetrated her. In a moment she would puddle like melted wax beneath him. He smelled so good—man and sandalwood and just a hint of clean sweat.
    Deep inside her a tiny voice sighed in pleasure.
Don't move
.
    Collis couldn't move. Wouldn't move. His senses were full of sweet aromas, warm sensations, and tiny breathless sighs. His arms were full of supple female.
    She was lithe and strong beneath him, not limp and compliant. Firm and lively and very, very arousing. His arms tightened. For a moment he forgot everything but his arousal and the feel of her hands spread on his bare skin.
    His breath mingled with hers as their lips hovered, not an inch apart. He could have her. He felt it in the way she lay open to him, the way the vee between her thighs was heating where his knee pressed. He could have her and it would be fast and hard and hurried and so very good.
    They were already alone, already lying down, already in darkness…
    She made a small noise. She writhed a bit in his arms. The squirm of her hips beneath him fired his erection further. He forgot his impairment, forgot that he couldn't feel how tight he was—
    "Squeezing me!" Her voice reached a squeak. His arms loosened instantly. With horror he realized that he was as hard as stone.
    Over
Rose Lacey
!
    Quickly he scrambled backward, his feet scuffling in the scattered straw. He stood slowly, his hands fisting and releasing.
Think of cold water, man. Damp and snowy days when the fire only reaches so far and the water in the washbowl is like ice
.
    His towering erection began to subside. Thank God the room was dark, although he suddenly realized it wasn't as dark as it had been. He blinked.
    Rose was standing. "I can see you now. A candle must have survived, or perhaps a—" She stopped with a gasp. "Fire!"
    Collis whirled to gaze at the wreckage in horror. She was right. The wax-soaked straw had smoldered under their inattention. Even as he watched, the tiny tongues of flame licked farther along the ruined mat as thickening smoke began to rise.
    "Oh, God," he breathed. Not a curse. A prayer.
    There was no time to run three flights of stairs to wake the other students—no time to run for help at all. The desiccated straw would burn like—like straw.
    They ran to the flames and began to stomp them, but they spread too fast.
    "The kitchen," Rose said. "Quickly—the pump!"
    The school kitchen lay directly behind the arena. In a breath Rose and Collis were inside, fumbling in the dark. She pushed him to the left. "There, by the sink."
    He felt around frantically. He'd never stepped foot into this kitchen. Kitchens were for servants and—at Etheridge House—for stealing a late-night bite from the larder. Right now he was wishing mightily that he had lowered himself to step foot into the school kitchen.
    He found the rigid metal handle of the pump. He knew how to use a pump, thank God. It was like the one in the stables, and he knew how to care for his own horse.
    Below the spout he found a small pot full of water that likely always remained there, just as in the stables. He primed the