Runner's Moon Trilogy Megabook Series by Linda Mooney Page A

needed cheese and tomato sauce." She shrugged lightly. "I didn't think it would be wise to walk to the market. That's when I went to the office."
    "How did you know Mrs. Newburg was there?" He didn't remember telling her.
    "I watched you register us. I could see you through the rear window." Hannah shifted slightly, lifting her arms from where they had gone around his waist. Her hands slid up his back with slow, almost deliberate motions, as if she was seeing what he felt like.
    It was then Jeb realized he was holding her for the first time. Unlike the other time when he had carried her to the truck as she fought pain, she was now lengthwise against him.
    She was curved in places that notched her almost perfectly along his chest and abdomen. Curves he wanted to touch and explore. It was agony to keep his hands flat against her back and not let them roam. Because he knew that once he started to touch her, he would not be able to stop until he had melted into her body and taken her with his manpipe rapidly growing stiff against her belly.
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    Hannah moved again, and the feel of her warmth suddenly blanketing his engorged member as she held him tighter squeezed a soft moan from his chest. She lifted her face to look at him. Her eyes were innocent. Questioning. Expecting.
    He was not aware of lowering his face until he brought his mouth down over hers.
    The fire that raced through his blood frightened him. He had never kissed a woman before, but he had seen it done on their television. Ruinos didn't kiss, yet he had always wanted to try it. To experience it.
    Her lips caressed his, filling him with brighter heat.
    Instinctively he returned the movement, then sucked gently on their softness. She shivered in his arms, sending more sweet, lemony waves into the room.
    Her scent was in every molecule of air he drew into his lungs. He breathed her in, tasting her warmth and her essence in the roof of his mouth as though she were an intoxicating drink. A tongue tentatively probed between his teeth. Opening his mouth, he let her explore that part of him that had never before felt a woman's touch. There were tiny aftertastes in her saliva from when she had been nibbling as she fixed the salad. Her breath was a garden of deliciousness.
    Tongue met tongue, danced briefly, then touched. Stroked.
    Jeb was unaware he had pressed her closer against him until she moaned into his mouth, a sound nearly identical to the one he had made.
    He felt her slowly pulling away, but it was with reluctance.
    If they didn't stop, there would be no dinner. Instead, it 99

    would be the two of them dining on each other throughout the night.
    "Jeb." Her voice was deep and guttural. Her breathing was labored. "Thank God you're not gay."
    "On the contrary. I'm very happy right now," he argued as his hands slid down to her hips before releasing her. Opening his eyes, he noticed the expression on her face. Without warning, Hannah broke out laughing. "What? What did I do that was so funny?"
    The giggles wouldn't stop. "No. You didn't ... oh, Jeb.
    You..." She started laughing again, but this time she gave him another quick hug before completely releasing him and turning back to the tiny range.
    "What?" he persisted. Whatever he had done, it had obviously tickled her. In a way, that was a good sign. Still, it would be nice to know what he had done, in case he needed to do it again sometime in the future.
    They had spent the weekend in quiet companionship, either watching television or going for long walks in the forest where others wouldn't see Hannah's bruises and come to the wrong conclusion. Often they had held hands, and every time Jeb had felt a rush of absolute perfection flood his senses.
    Hannah was the one. He knew it as truth with every atom of his being.
    Then, at night, he had made certain she took the medicine with the sleeping agent in it. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for her to fall asleep before he shed his outer layer.
    Yes, he could