Biding His Thyme: 4 by Shelley Munro

the planning.”
    “I promised I would carry out the plan we
concocted. I promised her,” she added.
    If there was one thing Jake understood it
was promises. Guilt slashed him at the thought. He’d promised Greg he’d get him
out, get him to medical help.
    “I said I’d help you and I will,” he said
tersely. “But you need to trust me.”
    “I don’t know you.”
    Her words stung, even though they were
true. She was taking a big leap of faith trusting him as much as she had
already. “I’m all you have. You have to trust me.” Urgency throbbed in his
words. “Brother John, at least I think it’s Brother John, is following us.
We’re going to give him a show so he can go back to Brother Rick and report.”
    She stiffened. “What sort of a show?”
    Jake glanced around and spotted a small
clearing. Perfect for what he had in mind. He drew her toward it, tugging
lightly on her hand while resuming his slow, tortured limp. When they reached
the grassy area, he urged her down. She flinched when he loomed over her, her
eyes widening.
    “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
    “Why? You frightened because you’re
starting to like it?” Ignoring her building scowl, he dipped his head, snaring
her lips before she could voice another objection. For a few taut seconds, her
lips remained stiff. Unyielding. Irked by her lack of response he put his heart
into the kiss, pushing his tongue deep, thrusting them both into a world where
sensation ruled and thoughts steered to the sexual.
    A grunt of satisfaction escaped him when
she relaxed and curled her arms around his neck.
    “I’m going to touch your breasts,” he
whispered on lifting his head. “Or what I can feel beneath that padding. The
next time we’re alone together in a safe place you’re going to answer my
questions, sweetheart.”
    “I’m not your sweetheart,” she muttered and
nipped his bottom lip.
    Her sharp teeth should have hurt, but
instead a knife of pleasure arced to his cock. Damn, what was it about this
woman? She was filling his thoughts when he should be concentrating on sneaking
around and catching Brother Rick and his cohorts stealing cattle.
    Because they were stealing. If not
cattle, then they were up to other types of mischief. His soldier’s senses told
him so.
    He rolled on top of her, holding her in
place with his weight.
    Sorrel let out a gasp, her entire body
feeling as if she were squashed beneath a hard rock.
    “Don’t fight me,” he said in a low voice.
“Brother John is spying on us. You don’t want him to report back to Brother
Rick about something amiss between us. And you don’t want rumors to fly around
the compound about our relationship being a pretense.”
    Her fingernails dug into his biceps, a
pointed reminder she wasn’t entirely with his program. After a harsh breath,
she went limp beneath him. Hiding his satisfaction, he took the opportunity to
kiss her again, one of his hands slipping under the neckline of her robe.
    She froze. “What are you doing?”
    Ah, as he suspected. No padding in this
area, but instead a tightly bound strip of fabric. The knowledge brought
curiosity, and his dick lengthened. The only reason he could think of for a
woman to make herself look ugly and unobtrusive was if she were worried about
attracting too much attention.
    He lifted his head, shot a swift glance in
the vicinity where he’d last spotted Brother John and saw he’d either gone or
relocated. Fine. It wasn’t a hardship to feel up Sorrel Thyme. Jake settled in
to do a decent job of kissing her. His hands wandered while his lips mapped her
face, her lips and her neck. He breathed in her scent, mostly masked by the
stench of whatever substance she’d put in her hair, and went with the flow of
arousal.
    He took his time, even though darkness was
falling.
    “What is that digging me in the stomach?”
    “Have you had sex before?”
    She hesitated. “Once, a long time ago.”
    “Then surely you recognize the thrust