Temptation in Texas: A Christmas Special Read Free Page A

between
gritted teeth, his pissed-off tone in disparity with the fingers
that caressed her skin.
    “It’s hot outside . . . it’s hot up here . . . I
don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the humidity,” she mumbled,
feeling tongue-tied as arousal slid down her spine.
    His mouth twisted angrily. “It’s November.”
    “What’s that got to do with anything?” It was still
autumn on the Texas coast, for Christ’s sake.
    With one hand on her naked butt, he brought the other
around and lifted her chin until his eyes were on hers. “Could you
not, at least, have put on some damn clothes?”
    She stiffened in his arms even as her torso swayed
toward his of its own volition. “What are you accusing me of,
exactly?”
    “It really never occurs to you exactly how fucking
hot you are, does it? You look in a mirror lately, babe? Have you
noticed those legs?”
    Her heart beat loudly in her ears. Her husband had
this crazy idea. Just because he thought she was all that, he
assumed every other man did, as well. “I know you like the way I
look, Logan,” she said softly, trying to calm him down.
    “Every goddamn man who sees you likes the way you
look, get it?”
    She exhaled on a sigh. “I didn’t wear them on
purpose.”
    Though his expression was held in severe lines of
anger, his eyes suddenly held a glimmer of pardon. “I know that,
babe.” His hand ran from her chin and speared into her hair,
fisting it in a captive grip at her scalp. “If I didn’t believe
that, this conversation would be going in a very different
direction.”
    “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?” she asked,
her body going rigid.
    Retaliating to her question, his fingers speared
higher into her shorts, gripping her entire left buttock and
squeezing it in warning, just short of pain. His jaw tensed but he
remained silent, only staring at her with a darkening frown.
    She attempted to wriggle out of his arms. “If that
was a threat of some kind, have the balls to say it directly.”
    His steely strength seemed to multiply, his grasp
becoming stronger as he pushed his rigid length against her
stomach. “You think this is a good time to question my balls,
sweetheart?”
    As she felt his erection pushing against her in
almost maddened restraint, Lauren opened her mouth and then snapped
it closed. Why was she fighting with him? He said crap to her all
the time, but that didn’t mean he’d ever carry through with his
veiled threats. He’d certainly never hurt her, physically or
emotionally. She felt completely safe with him; she was completely safe with him. She was as sure of that as she was that
he loved her to distraction. She knew what this was all about; he’d
been seriously scared for her safety and when Logan became worried
about her, he also became pissed at whatever had worried him in the
first place. Did he go a little ape-shit crazy sometimes? Yeah, he
did. But he was right; she’d known exactly who and what she was
marrying: Logan Crenshaw, twenty-first century Neanderthal man.
    Could he act like a douche sometimes when he didn’t
get his exact way? Yeah, he could. But she loved her douche-bag to
distraction . . . if only he wasn’t about to rage and yell and get
all worked up over nothing.
    She sighed and blew out a breath. Best just to get it
over with in one fell swoop. If anything, she’d learned how to
handle him after all these years together. She always told it like
it was, and when he didn’t like something and his primal instincts
came roaring to life, she let him blow off steam by dominating her
in the bedroom. It was the only thing that seemed to calm the fires
raging in his system, and as a consolation to her, she loved him
doing it.
    She had to admit, she’d been tempted to piss him off
a time or two just for his reaction, but she never did. She didn’t
want to upset him needlessly and besides, according to him, she
screwed up enough without any playacting on her part. Now, as he
held her in a grip that