Hopelessly Broken by Tawny Taylor Page A

snowballs. She laughed when hers made contact with their targets, and yelped when she was hit.
    She felt so energized. Laughing. Breathing. Playing. Jumping. This was what life once was. It was what life should be. She grabbed her brother’s coat and caught him in her arms, giving him a big bear hug. He wriggled away, scooped up some snow and flung it at her.
    “You little twirp. You’ll pay for that!” She armed herself and sprinted toward him. Just as she was about to lob her ammo, Aeron stepped in the way. The snow struck him just before her body did. Her feet slid and she toppled forward. They both fell. He landed on his back, and she lay on top, winded and laughing.
    She felt something hit her back, and then the hood of her coat flipped up over her head. Icy wetness contacted her neck. “Logan!” she squealed, squirming on top of Aeron’s bulky body. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
    “He didn’t.” Aeron said, his lips curling into a wicked smile. “I did.”
    Her gaze jumped from that bone-melting smile to his hand then back again. “Oh, really?” She hooked her hand, gathered as much snow as she could—which wasn’t hardly any, thanks to their footsteps having trampled most of it, and rubbed it in his hair . Then, fearing retribution, she tried to climb off before he armed himself.
    He laughed, clamped his arms around her, and rolled her onto her back. Now she was pinned to the ground, dizzy, cold, hot, and staring into his dark eyes. His face was pink, his eyes gleaming. His mouth was close enough to kiss. Trying not to think about kissing him, she reached out with her hands, blindly rooting for some ammunition.
    He grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the ground. “There, now I’ve got you.”
    He did. Literally. Figuratively. In every way imaginable. “And what are you going to do with me now that you have me?” she asked, gasping.
    His brows scrunched. His gaze locked on her mouth, and a wave of heat blazed through her body. Would he kiss her? Please, please!
    She wriggled her hands. “What are you going to do?” she whispered.
    He angled lower. “Didn’t anyone tell you it’s dangerous playing with fire?”
    “Sure, but I’m not afraid.”
    He inched lower still. “You should be.”
    Her heart thumped against her breastbone. “Maybe you should be afraid, not me.”
    His lips curled, and a deep chuckle rumbled in his chest. She literally felt the vibrations. They echoed through her body like the deep, pounding throb of a heavy bass beat at a rock concert. “If I kiss you again, Jenn, I’m not going to stop. I’ll tear your clothes off and take you. Right here. In front of everyone.”
    Her heart literally skipped a beat. His threat thrilled her. Did she want him to make love to her in the middle of her front yard? In front of her little brother? No. But still, he looked and sounded just like her Zagan. So strong and sexy and alpha.
    His crooked smile turned wicked. He dropped lower yet. His face was now so close she couldn’t see anything else. It was so close that his sweet breath warmed her skin. “That shut you up, didn’t it? See? You’re afraid.”
    She jerked her chin up. Afraid? Hell no. “No, I’m not. It isn’t me who’s been saying we can’t do this. It isn’t me begging you to stop. You’re the one who keeps leaving.”
    “That’s because I care, dammit. I care about you and your brother.” Moving suddenly, he jerked backward. He turned left, right. “Where’s Logan?” He pushed himself upright then stood.
    Suddenly feeling very self-conscious, not to mention shaky, Jenn did the same. Her knees had never felt so squishy before. “He probably went inside.” She slipped and wobbled to the house, opened the door, and shouted, “Logan?”
    “I’m in here,” he responded.
    Jenn gave Aeron a relieved nod over her shoulder.
    “I should be going,” Aeron said.
    Logan came galloping to the door, holding a coffee mug. “I made you hot