With Just Cause Read Online Free PDF Page B

widened as he felt the stir of it. His groin.
He had to look up and somehow swallow the groan at holding it back
as even that part of life got gifted back to him.
    By her. His mate.
    “So... hey. Can I open my eyes now?”
    The whiff of breath attached to her question
slithered over where he should have fastened the top button of his
shirt. And worn a kerchief. Anything to prevent contact that
sensitized the skin beneath his jaw. Farther. Over his chest.
Spreading in ripples resembling waterfalls down his belly to where
he was studiously doing his best to control. And failing. All of it
transferred to a tremor that rocked his frame, and then her. Grimm
actually had to swallow.
Swallow?
    “Yeah.”
    The word was rasped, but intelligible. He
glanced down and quickly jerked away from the contact. Better to
look down into the valley. At the plethora of buildings. The hum of
activity. The yard lights. Dim hints of light in barn windows, even
now in the middle of the night, as someone checked prized
livestock. He felt so out-of-sorts and foolish. He didn’t dare look
at her. He was barely handling the sensations fate sent him
already. Connecting with her gaze could be his undoing. Flickers of
heat and want and craving, and all of it combined with absolute
need, had been tendered just by the feel of her in his arms.
    It didn’t matter much. He felt her unwavering
gaze on him. Steady. Unblinking. Easily discernible in the
combination of illumination from the quarter moon and what light
the Bradley Ranch exuded. That gaze of hers sent kindled passions
right past the smoke stage...pretty close to catching pure fire.
And he didn’t know what might happen then. He’d never felt it, and
hadn’t any experience on handling it.
    Grimm tightened everything in an effort to
tamp it. Or, at least control it. His abdomen. Shoulders. Calves.
Thighs. Buttocks. Groin.
    Damn it!
    That was stupid. His arms clenched
instantaneously, lifting her body higher into his chest, and adding
to the affliction. This was pure madness. And complete wonder.
    “Wow.”
    More of her breath touched his chin, starting
the chain of events all over again. Ramping it higher, extending
the range of each separate sensation. Heat. Craving. Excitement.
Anticipation. All of it with increasing intensity. Grimm nearly
groaned.
    “I mean... double wow. Do you live
there?”
    She was speaking of the ranch.
    Disappointment invaded, dulling the edge of
what promised to be uncontrollable. Deflating. Reducing.
Diminishing. It was akin to shoving his head in the horse trough.
Dribbling water into a hot skillet to test for temperature. Shoving
wet wood onto a bonfire.
    His arms loosened, dropping her weight
slightly. He wondered if she noticed.
    “That’s the Bradley Ranch,” he finally told
her.
    “Bradley Ranch. Hmm. That’s probably listed
in a guidebook about Texas, isn’t it?”
    “Maybe.”
    “Lot of acres?”
    “Yeah. Sections.”
    “Sounds... rich. Real rich. Any of those
barns look bigger than the Special Events Complex back home. Are
you one of those cattle baron millionaire guys? Maybe an oil
tycoon?”
    “Not me.”
    “Sure looks like it. Maybe you’re the heir?
Or one of them?”
    The awe staining her voice was worrisome. As
was the excited tone that looking over the Bradley riches imbued
into her voice. The combination started a twist deep in his gut. He
shouldn’t have stopped. He could have had her deep into the mine
with him. In his rooms. On his bed. But some bit of steel deep
within him made this happen, creating this conversation. Forcing
the secrets into the open. And he knew why. She was his mate. She
existed. And he’d found her. Mating with her on that bed was going
to be pure perfection. No lies. No secrets. No darkness. He
wouldn’t allow it.
    “Well?”
    The breath from her query chilled and muted
this time, altering the forces he’d been barely keeping at bay with
something else. It wasn’t disappointment. It went a lot deeper.
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