Trail of Lust Read Free Page A

didn't care for her. Lately, she'd been receiving correspondence from a distant cousin in Wyoming, and she suspected her father was seeking a match between them.
    She also had a niggling feeling that the hired man, Jenkins, was interested in her. The way he looked at her made her hackles rise. She shared three square meals a day with him, but that didn't mean she liked him. And she certainly had no interest in him the way she did Graham Hollis.
    Pulled from her thoughts, she caught the footsteps behind her. Graham . He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and dragged her to a stop.
    She gasped, spinning and finding herself too close to him. She clamped her hands into fists and hid them in her skirts. Obviously she wasn't to be trusted around this man. She'd practically attacked him. He did things to her insides that she couldn't explain. His presence made her think about rumpled sheets and the salty taste of his skin.
    She met his forceful gaze and nearly shrank at his thunderous expression. “You have need of something, sir?” Her voice wobbled, all of her boldness suddenly nonexistent.
    "Yeah, I do. This.” He plucked her off her feet and pinned her against the side of an outbuilding. His broad chest was two of hers at least. He was so tall his head blocked out the sun when he leaned in.
    Trailing his lips back and forth over hers, he raised shivers with his gentle touch. Each pass lit another fire inside her until she blazed with need. When she could be teased no more, she jerked his head down at the moment she surged upward. He groaned, slanting his mouth over hers, drinking from her until she was boneless in his hold.
    He splayed a hand across her back, applying the perfect pressure. The knot in her lower belly tightened. He slipped his other hand around her, skimming her ribs.
    White heat ripped through her. This is how it's meant to be.
    Suddenly, male voices broke through to her. Her befuddled mind didn't process them immediately, but apparently Graham's did.
    He released her so swiftly her spine and the back of her head struck the wall behind her.
    "Damn, I'm sorry.” He slid a hand behind her skull, cradling it in one big palm as he glanced around. When he realized what she already suspected—that her father and the hired man weren't standing feet away, witnessing their carnal act—the lines around Graham's eyes eased.
    She stared up at him, wondering if he experienced the riotous emotions she did when they kissed. He ran the pad of his thumb over her lower lip, smearing the moisture there. Her breathing hitched.
    "In the hour I've been here with you, I've apologized more than I ever have in my life.” His tone was half angry, half amused. He leaned in closer. “You don't want to mess with a man like me, Miss Allen. I'm no good for you."
    A pang of regret struck her. While she hadn't meant to steal his kisses, she'd reveled in every tongue flick. Perhaps all kisses were this good, but she didn't think so. However, his words told her he had no intention of getting that close again.
    He moved back a few steps as if to solidify her thought and gave her one last grim look before twisting on a heel and striding off toward the barn. Kathleen remained where she was, leaning heavily against the wall of the outbuilding, allowing it to support her until her quivering legs decided to.
    What was she doing? She hadn't kissed Graham with the thought of ensnaring him as her husband, but now she could think of little else. Climbing into bed with any man besides that rough, rugged Hollis was unacceptable. She'd listened to her body when she'd thrown herself into his embrace. Should she listen to her mind? It was telling her to display her charms and see what came of it. Maybe she could convince him he wasn't bad for her after all.
    Gathering her skirts, she set off for the barn. Determination burned inside her, which was good because it tamped down the uncertainty in her soul. She was a maid, unsoiled and inexperienced. And