With Family In Mind (Saddle Falls Book 1) by Sharon de Vita Page A

effort not to cry.
    Jake looked at her lips and an ache began inside, an ache he’d been fighting since the moment he’d laid eyes on her. He was a man who was used to getting what he wanted, to taking what he needed, and what he needed right now was to know if she tasted as sweet as she looked.
    “Jake.” Eyes wide, Rebecca lifted a trembling hand to his chest, her heart pounding like a trapped, wounded bird. His intentions, his desire, were clear.
    He was going to kiss her.
    The thought almost stilled her heart with fear.
    His intentions were in his eyes, which were dark with something primitive and slightly dangerous. She’d heard about the male desire to possess, to mate, but had never experienced it, let alone been the object of it before.
    “Jake.” She knew she couldn’t allow this to happen. But all she could think of at the moment was that his eyes were so unbearably blue, so unbearably beautiful a woman could quite easily get lost in them.
    Rebecca let out her breath slowly, carefully, then unconsciously licked her lips, which had become dry.
    “Rebecca,” he whispered back. His eyes were watchful as he slowly lowered his mouth to hers.
    Just a taste, he assured himself.
    Just one to appease his curiosity.
    Certainly no harm could come of it.
    Then he could forget this itch, this craving for herthat had been annoying him since she’d walked through his front door.
    Slowly, with deliberate care, he angled his head, lowered his mouth and watched Rebecca’s eyes flutter closed as she sighed.
    He felt as if his breath had been yanked from his lungs. The world seemed to tilt and spin as his lips touched hers, and he felt the punch echo all the way to his soul.
    A mere taste was not enough, he realized immediately, ignoring the warnings that were clanging loudly in his ears. He reached for her with both arms, pulling her tightly against him until she was all but plastered against him as his mouth took more, craved more.
    Her lips were like wine, sweet, drugging, making his head swim, his body ache. He ran his hands up and down her back, across the silk of her blouse, feeling the warmth of her body beneath, the swell of her breasts, the hardness of her nipples pressing against him.
    He wanted her naked and warm under him, arching, wanting him, needing him, wrapped around him as they took that slow, sensuous ride into pleasure. A pleasure that would leave them mindless, spent, sated.
    Lifting a hand, he cupped her neck, needing to feel skin against skin. He felt her pulse thudding wildly in time to his own, and found it only increased his own need, his own desire. His breath quickened, until it thundered out of his lungs, a painful reminder of what his body needed, craved.
    Rebecca.
    He wanted to be patient, gentle, but he couldn’t. Hehadn’t expected this, not from her. She’d been so cool, so distant. But he’d glimpsed the passion, the heat in her, and wondered if she’d use that heat and passion for something other than her work.
    Now he knew.
    Her passion, this frenzied need to touch and be touched, was as fierce in her as it was in him. It pleased him to know that he could arouse her to this level with just one kiss.
    But it wasn’t going to be enough, he realized, deepening the kiss, pulling her even closer until he couldn’t tell his heartbeat from hers.
    As he gathered her even nearer, Rebecca moaned again, her hands clutching the front of his shirt like a lifeline. She’d been absolutely certain she was going to push him away, to stop him. To stop the madness that she was sure would ensue.
    But the moment his lips touched her, the moment she got her first potent taste of Jake Ryan, every thought in her head melted in the heat.
    She’d never experienced anything like this: a kiss, a simple kiss that left her head swimming, her heart pounding, her body aching with need, desire.
    Feelings.
    My God, why hadn’t she realized there were so many feelings possible? Because until this moment, she’d