My Forbidden Mentor by Laura Mills Page B

that so?” he said, leaning closer with his mouth inches away from her ear. “Care to share your knowledge with me?”
    Melissa started to shake. She kept telling herself it was the brisk breeze coming in from the open lookout and not from his fingers playing with her hair. “Are we talking about women’s rights?” she quietly challenged.
    His voice remained deep, possessing a silken tone. “I don’t know, are we?”
    Her eyes shut to endure the heat from his heavy breathing, which was blistering the side of her face. Her voice came out breathless, “I assumed we were, but you seemed to indicate something else?”
    “Did I?” he breathed into her ear.
    She turned to look over her shoulder when she realized how close he remained. His fingers let go of her hair to comb through his own loose mane. Melissa’s breath caught in her throat. He was concentrating solely on her and it was a look of true interest and something forbidden. His examination included every part of her face and then settling on her trembling lips. It couldn’t be helped that her eyes did their own analyzing. He’s so handsome, she thought, knowing she was wrong for wanting to feel his mouth on hers. Being together frightened her and tempted her at the same time. Her focus hesitated on his perfect, full lips. Will he kiss me?
    But he didn’t make a move, and in the next moment their eyes caught and time stood still.
     

Chapter Nine
     
     
    A cool breeze whipped across their faces, swirling down over them. Melissa’s hands went to her chilled arms, rubbing them briskly in response to the cold that raced over her.
    Aware of her motions, John reclined into the bale of hay. “Lean back,” he commanded.
    She leaned forward to think about it. What would happen if he touched her? Twisting to look at him, his hands were supporting his head, which was tilted against a bale of hay, and his eyes, well, you couldn’t ignore his half-closed, glistening eyes. He waited in silence and she faced forward again. Am I reading too much into this? But his lingering stare was different this time, there was genuine hunger in those gray eyes of his. How could she mistake the look in his eyes? Her eyes found his again. “What are we talking about here, John?”
    His lips curved into a lazy grin. His hands came free from behind his head, allowing his fingers to motion her toward him. “You’re cold. Let me warm you,” he suggested.
    “Answer me first,” she said while running her hands up and down her chilled arms.
    “After you come here. You’ve got goose bumps, for heaven’s sake,” he responded with an impatient tone.
    Her eyes narrowed in response while scooting closer to him. Her back slid into his bare, muscular chest with a snug cozy fit. The heat from his body radiated into hers and still she shook.
    “Would you relax?” he told her, taking her hands in his and placing them on his buckskin-covered thighs.
    Her fingers dug into the material, her eyes shutting when absorbing the texture. A light gust whipped around her again, filling her nostrils with the scent of his masculine sweat. Initially her body jerked and her eyes flashed open when his hands touched her arms, but then her body eased into the slow motion stroking that he applied to her arms.
    “I’m not going to do anything you don’t want to do,” he said in a quiet voice behind her ear.
    She stiffened while his hands completely embodied her arms. Those long fingers of his extended down to reach her clutching hands, then in slowing progress they would trail back up to her shoulders.
    This is too much, Melissa thought, watching the sliding motion of his fingers, knowing it would be too easy for him to warm the rest of her body if she let him. “What does that mean exactly?” she asked, wishing he’d give her a straight answer once and for all. As if reading her mind, a dense heat developed against her buttocks. Her naivety wasn’t so much not to know that his body was having a