Sun Kissed Read Free Page A

Tucker forgot the whip handle. From out of nowhere it came at his face. He heard a loud pop, similar to that of a champagne cork ejecting under pressure; then a burst of pain surged up his nose and exploded through his brain.
    In a dizzying spin, the earth changed places with the sky. Tucker heard an odd sound, like air gushing from a balloon, and dimly realized the noise came from him. Stars, spots. He couldn’t see anything.
    Crossing his forearms over his face, he rolled onto his knees, ducked his head, and tried frantically to regain his senses so he might protect himself. Something sharp connected with his ribs, knocking the breath out of him, followed by another tearing pain, and then another. In some distant part of his mind, he realized the older man had regained his feet and was kicking him.
    “Stop it!” he heard Tinkerbell scream. “Stop it! Oh, God, oh, God, somebody help me! He’s going to kill him!”
    Tucker tensed for another blow. Sweet Christ . He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see. Where were his brothers when he needed them? This time the man’s boot caught Tucker in the abs. He had to get up. Somehow he had to clear his head, regain his feet, and fight back.
    Blinking, he managed to focus his vision enough to see splotches of sunlight and swirling expanses of sawdust. As he staggered erect, he realized he wasn’t thatbadly hurt— yet . All he needed was to get in one solid punch. Then it would all be over.
    In his spinning vision, Tucker saw Tinkerbell advancing on the other man. He wanted to yell at her to stay back, that he didn’t need a half-pint female to rescue him, but his tongue wouldn’t respond to the commands from his brain. To his horrified amazement, she lengthened her last three strides for momentum and followed through with the pointed toe of her riding boot, executing a drop-kick that would have done any kickboxer proud. Bull’s-eye. With a grunt of pain, the drunk crashed to his knees, cupped his hands over his crotch, and started retching.
    The lady—stupidly, Tucker took measure of her height and confirmed that the top of her raven head barely reached his shoulder—dusted her hands on the legs of her jeans. “I asked you to stop,” she told the drunk thinly. “It’s your own fault I had to kick you. Why wouldn’t you just stop ?”
    Dizziness sent Tucker staggering sideways. Small but surprisingly strong hands grasped his arm. He looked down. The pale oval of her face came clear and then went blurry again. Large, pretty brown eyes and a wild tangle of black curls swam in his vision.
    “Are you all right?”
    Tucker tried to answer, but his tongue still wouldn’t work. Damn. He’d been rescued by a pixie. Now he was glad his brothers weren’t there. They would never let him live this down. Oh, man. He wasn’t feeling so good. His head hurt like a son of a bitch, and his stomach was lurching.
    The horse chose that moment to wheel and run. Peoplescreamed, grabbed their children, and scattered to get out of the frightened animal’s way. As the sound of retreating hooves faded, an eerie quiet blanketed the area.
    “Are you okay?” the woman asked again.
    To Tucker, the question seemed to come from a great distance, and it wasn’t one he could readily answer. The whole front of his face throbbed, for one, and it felt as if his nose had been shoved into his brain.
    Soft fingertips plucked at his wrist. “Move your hand so I can see.”
    Tucker hadn’t realized he was holding his nose. He dropped his arm. She gently touched his cheek, making him wince.
    “It’s broken, I’m afraid. I am so sorry about this. I can’t even think what to say.”
    Tucker could think of plenty, but nothing fit for mixed company. He couldn’t believe this. His nose was broken? And even worse, a lady no bigger than a minute had felt it necessary to leap into the fray to save him. How humiliating was that? He stood six feet, four inches tall in his stocking feet, weighed in at