Tender Savage (Siren Publishing Allure) by Rosemary J. Anderson Page A

marks on her thighs where Abraham had held her. Zipping up, she collected her ruined panties from the ground and screwed them up into a ball, hiding them from his gaze behind her back.
    “Abraham?” she whispered, not sure why he was acting this way.
    “Enough!” he ground out, turning his back. “This was a mistake, Eleanor.”
    “Are you blaming me?” she asked, feeling hurt.
    “No, of course not. We were both to blame, but that doesn’t make it right.” He sighed, rubbing a hand across his neck. “You were hot for it, and I had an itch needing to be scratched. Just don’t go reading more into it than that—imagining yourself in love with me.” He shrugged. “It happened, end of story. However, this is neither the time nor the place to debate it. You’re very vulnerable at the moment, Eleanor, alone, frightened and in shock, and I…”
    He turned from her, raking a hand through his hair. “I should have known better. I need to get you home safely and get this package back to the authorities. I don’t need any distractions, and you, princess, are one hell of a distraction.” He looked back at her, standing by the tree, her dress in disarray, her hair a mess, eyes wide, lower lip trembling, and her fingers tearing at the already ragged panties.
    “Sit yourself down and have a drink. We need to move at early light, and you need some sleep.”
    Handing her the canteen, he commanded her to stay and, without a further word, strode off into the scrub.
    Eleanor, staring after him, felt shocked, and she sat down abruptly. Unmoving, she gazed absently into space, her mind blank and her heart heavy. Moments passed, the sounds of the jungle faded, and everything felt slightly surreal until, with a flick of lashes, she once again became focused. Closing her mind to what had happened between herself and Abraham, she calmly unscrewed the cap on the canteen and gulped some tepid water.
    Willing herself not to cry, she vowed to concentrate on getting back home and forget everything else, dismissing it as not important. Crawling under the makeshift canopy, she lay down, but her thoughts, refusing to cooperate, returned once again to Abraham. Why had she succumbed to his considerable attractions? What was it about this man that kept her coming back for more? She wasn’t a naive girl in awe of a manly physique, and this wasn’t her first encounter with sex, although, even though she hated to admit it, it had definitely been the best. She frowned in concentration. Why did he affect her so much? She couldn’t understand why his inadvertent assault on her senses was making her act so completely out of character. She remembered the way she’d crudely asked him to screw her and fuck her, and she squirmed in embarrassment, and she felt her hot face grow even hotter.
    Perhaps she had hit her head in the crash and it was shock that was making her act so irresponsibly, she excused herself. After all, they hadn’t used a condom, something she would never before have even considered. But, she thought as she pursed her lips, he’d been right about one thing. She had been hot for it, so hot in fact, that she’d not even thought about protection. She’d just been so eager to have him inside her, possessing her, making her come. Or maybe her lapse in self-preservation had been out of loneliness, or even just plain old hero worship. He had become her rescuer, after all. But perhaps it had been none of those things. Perhaps at the end of the day, she gave a hysterical chuckle, or she was just a floozy, a common-or-garden slut— a tart! The smile dying from her face, she closed her eyes. She was just so tired. Her limbs felt heavy, and her body ached in places she didn’t even know she had. Maybe she’d rest—just for a moment.

Chapter Nine
     
    Abraham was by the river, a sight that never failed to amaze him, as taking into account the size of the Amazon, wherever one stood one never appeared to be far from its magnificent