Against the Rules by Linda Howard Page B

for tonight she had the wild joy of being in his arms.

CHAPTER 4
    When the sensual storm had passed he didn’t leave her, didn’t roll away to fall into isolated sleep; he kept her a willing captive beneath him, his long fingers threaded into her hair on each side of her head as he began a siege of kisses. He didn’t speak. His lips feathered kisses over her entire face, slowly, lightly, feeling the contours of her features with his mouth. His tongue teased at her skin, stealing tastes. She made no protest; she didn’t even try to resist the erotic appeal of his exploring mouth. She let herself be absorbed in his sexual magic, in the tremors that started anew, feeling them grow stronger as she tightened her hold on him. They were both prisoners, she of his confining, muscled weight, he of the strong, silky bonds of her arms and legs.
    When he freed a long, muscular arm and stretched it out to snap on the bedside lamp, she murmured an inarticulate protest at the intrusion of light. The silvery moon magic had wrapped them in a comforting aura of unreality, but the soft glow of the lamp created new shadows, illuminated things that had previously been hidden, and concealed expressions that had been brought out by the stark colorless light of the moon. One thing that couldn’t be concealed was the hard male triumph written on the dark face above her. Cathryn became aware of a blooming regret as she began to admit the folly of the night’s actions. There were a lot of things she didn’t understand, and Rule himself was the largest enigma, a complicated man turned in on himself, but she did know that the hot sensuality between them had only made their situation more complex.
    He trapped her face between his hands, his thumbs under her delicate chin as he gently forced her to look at him. “Well?” he growled, his raspy voice sinking into a rumble. He was so close that his warm breath touched her lips, and automatically she parted them in an effort to recapture his heady taste. A shudder of reaction rolled through her, eliciting an answering ripple in the strong body that pressed over her.
    She swallowed, trying to gather her thoughts into some sort of coherency, not certain what he was asking, or why. She wanted to give him a controlled, bland response, but there was no control to be found, only raw, unvarnished emotions and uncertainties. Her throat was tight with anxiety as she blurted, “Is this an effort to keep your job as ranch manager?”
    His shadowy eyes narrowed until only gleaming slits remained; he didn’t reply. His thumbs exerted just enough pressure to raise her chin and he settled more heavily against her, fitting his mouth to hers with sensual precision. Hot tingles twitched into life beneath her skin and she joined the kiss, meeting him with teeth and tongue and lips. Why not? she reasoned fuzzily. It was too late to even try to stifle her responses to him. Rule was an exciting lover on such a basic, primary level that responding to him was as compelling a need as breathing.
    At last he lifted his mouth enough to let an answer whisper between them. “This doesn’t concern the ranch,” he murmured, his lips so close to hers that they brushed hers lightly when he spoke. “This is between us, and nothing else even begins to matter.” Suddenly his voice thickened and he said harshly, “Damn you, Cat, when you married David Ashe I was so mad I could have torn him apart. But I knew it wasn’t over between us, so I let you go for then, and I waited. He died, and I waited. You’ve finally come home, and this time I won’t let you get away. This time you won’t run away to some other man.”
    Under the lashing fury in his voice she instantly retaliated, digging her fingers into the thick strands of his hair and holding him as he held her. “You make it sound as if there was a commitment between us!” she snapped. “There