The Lioness Read Free Page B

hair
gave off a shine after showering. They had both been pretty grungy after their
trip, covered with miles of dust and sweat.
    “Come
on, sit down, I’ve got a treat. I have some hot cocoa and there’s a thermos
here with hot water. We can have a cup and play some scrabble or maybe strip
scrabble.” She looked at him impishly and smiled.
    “I’ll
take that hot cocoa, since we don’t have anything stronger.” He sat and watched
as she got out two mugs and made up the cocoa and added some marshmallows.
Coming over, she handed him the mug. “I wish I had more to offer but my stores
are small. I keep stuff like this just for special occasions or to have with
friends.”
    Ty
watched her as she sat down again. She sat further up, next to the wall, legs
tucked up. He caught her looking at him over the mug. He felt a current running
between them.
    Trying
to sound offhand after her comment on the strip Scrabble, he looked over to the
floor and saw the small travel scrabble she had. It was amazing, they had so
much in common. She was addicted to the word, loved to read, loved crossword
puzzles and word searches. She loved the New York Times crossword
puzzle. Her folks scanned her one a week, knowing she probably didn’t have that
much down time to work on it. She passed one on to him. The thing that cracked
him up the most was they kept an ongoing Scrabble game going. If they left,
they left off where they had stopped. They were now needing to start a new one.
    “So
what about a game, of Scrabble?
    **********
    They
were laying there facing each other and he had put down a word. She was dozing
and he cleared his throat. Watching her come to, she looked at the word and
snorted.
    “That’s
not a word. Where in the world did you get that made up word?’
    “A.B.E.L
B.E.T.H.M.A.A.C.H.A.H is a word in the Old Testament.”
    She
snorted and looked at him to see if she could tell if he was pulling her leg. He
actually looked serious. “So tell me what Abel beth maachah is and how in the
world did you learn that?”
    “It
was just something I remembered from my father and his Bible studies, don’t ask
me why. He was a pastor outside Savannah. Died at his desk, studying.” He
looked down, swallowed and fiddled with the letter tiles. “You know that was
what he was studying when he died so I guess that’s why it stuck with me, house
of oppression. That’s what Beth means, house. It was north of Palestine.”
    Rose
scooted closer and touched Ty’s cheek. He looked up and she felt swallowed up
by the warmth of his deep brown eyes. “God your eyes are beautiful. Just like
deep, dark chocolate. You’re warm all over.” She felt a thrill in the pit of
her stomach. He was so handsome and so sweet, not the playboy she had thought
him as. He was so down to earth.
    He
took her hand and held it as he held her eyes. He wanted to reach out and pull
her to him, kiss her. Her lips were so pink, her skin so white, just like
cream. He felt a strong tugging, a need to touch her and more. She was watching
him as he held her hand. He started to gently squeeze it.  Then he took it and
kissed her knuckles, letting his lips linger on each one, keeping his eyes on
her, seeing her breathing come quicker, in gentle puffs. Then he took one
finger and took the tip to his lips and gently kissed it.  He heard an “Oh.”escape
her lips. Taking all of her finger in his mouth and sucking on it, he let his
tongue play with it, enjoying the site of her as she closed her eyes, making
soft whimpering sounds. It was now or never.
    He
leaned over and took her lips, softly at first, and kissed her. Enjoying the
first thrill of the touch, the velvet touch, and her response. He looked down
and she had taken and entwined her fingers in his hand, squeezing to the tempo
of his kiss. Like a knitting cat. She was aroused and so was he. He went in closer,
puller her in and she brought her hand up around his neck, holding, caressing,
sighing as he let his lips