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Rescue Me
By Jaci Burton Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Copyright © 2006 Jaci Burton
All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-59998-094-2
Chapter One
"I'd be more than happy to invest more funds in the ranch." She still had plenty of money. And right now it was doing nothing but sitting at the bank. Earning interest, yes, but Sabrina thought it would be of more use invested in the ranch.
Kyle stood there with saddle in hand, determination on his handsome face. "I told you, I don't want any more of your money. You've done enough."
"I don't mind, really, and the money I have-"
Determination turned to anger. "No more. Do you understand? I can do this myself. You've already done more than I wanted you to."
Why did that sound like an accusation rather than a thank you for saving the ranch? For a brief second the timid woman who let her ex-husband browbeat her at every turn surfaced, and she was silent. But irritation drove her. She wasn't the same woman she used to be. She wouldn't allow herself to be. "What does that mean?"
He muttered a curse and dropped the saddle, quickly bridging the distance between them. "It's pretty clear don't you think? It means I didn't want you to rescue this ranch in the first place. I didn't want any outsiders here. It's bad enough I had to take the money you did invest. I certainly don't want to owe you any more."
Boy, his moods sure turned sharply. He was angry. At her, but not for something she did. This was about his pride. Why did men let pride stand in the way of common sense? Mark had done it all the time.
"That's ridiculous. It's good business sense to take investment money when it's offered."
An angry tic formed at the side of Kyle's mouth. His face was grim, his ire barely controlled. And yet Sabrina didn't feel an ounce of trepidation. Fleetingly she wondered why she'd feel safe with a man she barely knew, when an expression like that on her ex-husband's face would have sent her into hiding.
Kyle grabbed her arms and pulled her toward him, his hands rough but controlled. "Let me say this as clearly as I can. One last time. I don't want any more of your money. Got it?"
Wrenching her arms away from his hold, she held her ground and looked him in the eye. No one was going to treat her like she was stupid. Never again. "I'm not a child you know. I do understand simple English, so don't treat me like an idiot. I was only trying to help."
"Don't help me. I don't need you." He turned and headed toward the tack room, grabbing the previously discarded saddle on the way.
Sabrina followed him in. She stepped in front of him, forcing him to look at her. "You need me now just like you needed me when I made my original investment. You could show a little appreciation instead of making me feel like I've done something wrong for helping you out. Why don't you act like a man instead of a spoiled little boy who didn't get his own way?"
His emerald eyes darkened. "Be careful, Sabrina."
She glared right back at him, her confidence soaring with every angry word. She was angry, she was letting it show, and Kyle wasn't doing anything to harm her. She didn't know whether she wanted to slap him or kiss him right now.
Probably both.
"I don't have to be careful. I'm right, you're wrong, and you know it as well as I do. You're just not man enough to admit that you needed a woman's help to bail your ass out of financial trouble."
"I don't need a woman's help with anything. And your sex has nothing to do with investing in this ranch. Maybe if you weren't so hung up on being a woman trying to enter a man's world it wouldn't be an issue to you. Because it sure isn't to me."
Her heart raced with anger and frustration as she poked a finger at his chest. "My being a woman has nothing to do with this. You're the only one hung up on the fact that I'm a woman."
He laughed at her. "I hardly noticed."
She laughed back at him. "Right. That's why you were all over me in the office, why you put your arms around me here in the barn. Because you didn't notice I was a woman."
His eyebrows lifted. "I was all over you in the office? Honey, you were breathing so heavily in there you steamed up the computer monitor. I think it's you that wants me."
"Who said anything about wanting you? I don't want you at all." Her voice was high, higher than normal as she shouted her denial loud enough to maybe convince herself.
He stepped closer, his eyes darkening, a sardonic, self-righteous sneer plastered to his face. "Right. Well I'm glad you cleared that up. I don't want you either."
She didn't move away, but stood nose to nose with him, hands on her hips. "Good. I don't want you to want me."
They glared at each other, her heart beating powerfully with an adrenaline rush fueled by their passionate argument. Neither moved, neither spoke. Finally, the corners of Kyle's mouth lifted in a slight smile.
"Liar," he said softly as he took one step closer and pulled her in to his chest. "We're both liars." He slipped his hand under her hair, holding it gently against her neck as he tilted her head up and claimed her mouth.
The kiss was devastating. Gentle at first, he slid his lips across hers, barely grazing her trembling mouth. Sabrina parted her lips in a sigh as his tongue slid inside, searching for hers. A delightful warmth spread through her as Kyle wove a magical spell around her senses.
This is what she wanted, what she'd been dreaming of since the first moment she saw him. She couldn't recall ever wanting anything more in her life as much as she wanted Kyle's lips on hers.
His other hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her even closer to his hard, muscled body. She moaned as he molded against her. Their earlier rush of anger was forgotten as they moved against each other, so close not even air could slide between.
It was all she could do to breathe in shallow gasps as his mouth continued its tormenting attack. Kyle's tongue probed incessantly and she met it with hers, the contact electric, providing dizzying heights of sensation she'd never felt before.
This was what it was like to be kissed by someone you truly desired. It was a heady feeling, like too many turns on a rapidly spinning carnival ride. She felt giddy and nauseous at the same time. Overwhelmed, but unwilling to stop lest the incredible feelings stop.
His hands roamed over her as he continued to ravage her mouth with his kisses. Incapable of clear thought, she could only gasp as he massaged her shoulders, her back, kneading her hips and pressing his hands against her ass to draw her closer. He brushed against her thighs, his cock hard and insistent, and she could have wept at the sheer pleasure of the sensation.
She was completely lost in him.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Rescue Me by Jaci Burton Copyright © 2006 by Jaci Burton. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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