Tears of the Renegade by Linda Howard Page B

see if you get mussed up when you’re having sex. I doubt it, though. You’re probably starched all the way through.”
    Susan curled her fingers into her palms, and only then did she notice how cold her hands were. “I’m offering you the lease on the ridges.”
    He straightened, his hard mouth curving in amusement. “Let me remind you that that was my original offer. But I’ve thought about it since then, and I’ve changed my mind. And didn’t you tell me yesterday that you couldn’t be blackmailed into selling me the lease?”
    She stepped closer, to get nearer the fire as much as to read his eyes better. “I’m not offering to sell you the lease—I’ll give you the lease, as restitution for the amount owed to you by Preston and Imogene.”
    He laughed, throwing back his dark head on the rich sound. “Do you have any idea how much money you’re talking about?”
    Preston had asked her the same thing, and her answer was still the same. “More than what they owe you. I realize that. I’m asking you to accept the lease as restitution.”
    He stopped laughing, and his eyes narrowed on her. “Why should you pay their debts? Why should I let them off scot-free?”
    â€œThey’re my family,” was all she could offer by way of explanation.
    â€œFamily, hell! They’re pit vipers, sugar, and I should know better than anyone else. I don’t want you to pay; I want them to pay.”
    â€œLike you said last night, you want them to squirm.”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œYou’re turning down an oil lease worth a fortune just for your petty sense of revenge?” she cried.
    Anger darkened his face. “Easy there, lady,” he said softly. “You’re pushing me.”
    Susan swept an agitated hand across her brow. “You need pushing! How can you be so stubborn?” He wasn’t going to agree, and desperation clawed through her stomach. “Why won’t you take the lease as payment?”
    He grinned, but it wasn’t from amusement; his grin was one of grinding rage and grim anticipation. “Because if I accept the lease under those conditions, then I no longer have a case against them, as you well know. Did Preston talk you into this? Well, it won’t work. I’ll pay you for the lease, and I’ll pay you well, but I won’t let Preston hide behind your skirt. It’s no deal.”
    Tears stung her eyes as he turned away from her to kick the burning logs into better position. She clutched at his arm, feeling his warm flesh, the steeliness of the muscles underneath. “Please!” she begged.
    He swung around, looming over her, the red flames of the fire reflected in his pale eyes and making them glow like a devil’s. “Damn you!” he spat from between his clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare beg for them!”
    Wildly she reached out with her other hand and grasped the fabric of his T-shirt, trying to shake him, but unable to budge him. She had to make him understand! How could he destroy his own family, his own blood? The thought was so horrible that she couldn’t stand it. She had to do something, anything, to convince him how wrong and futile revenge was. “Don’t do this, please!” she cried frantically. “I am begging you—”
    â€œStop it!” he ordered, his deeper, darker voice completely overriding hers. He jerked her hands off him and held her, his long fingers wrapped around her upper arms. Anger made his fingers bite into her soft flesh, and she gasped, twisting in an effort to free herself. Immediately his grip relaxed, and she jerked away. In the silence that fell between them, her breathing was swift and audible as she gulped in air, her breasts rising and falling. His eyes dropped to the soft mounds as they moved, lingered for a long, heart-stopping moment, and when he finally looked back up to her face,