don’t have to listen to your crude remarks. After this I’ll change my own bandage. In any event, I’m healing nicely and need no more of your vile attentions.”
“I fear you’re right,” Colt sighed with a hint of regret. “I’m a better doctor than I gave myself credit for. You’re comin’ along fine.”
Mesmerized, he watched as Sam shoved her arms into her nightgown and primly retied the drawstring beneath her chin. Slowly his eyes slid upwards to linger on her lips, struggling to resist an emotion completely foreign to him. Suddenly some force stronger than the life coursing through him made him want to kiss her, the need so urgent it bordered on pain.
Sam saw the look in Colt’s tawny eyes change from teasing interest to hot, molten desire, and could not turn away from it, nor did she want to. She felt the soft fullness of his mouth cover hers, moving slowly and sensuously, his tongue gently probing to part her lips. The feeling was so exquisite Sam was too stunned to resist. Against her will her mouth opened and his bold tongue slipped easily inside, teasing, cajoling, taking, until she threw caution to the wind and kissed him back, with all thought, all reason, falling away. He continued to kiss her in ways she could never have imagined.
When his hands moved to her breasts, stroking the soft mounds and stimulating her nipples through her nightgown with his thumbs, Sam suddenly came to her senses. With a start she realized something was happening between them that shouldn’t be. She might be a prisoner, but that didn’t give him the right to use her for his own pleasure. Breathless from his kiss, reeling from shock over her unprecedented response, Sam pulled free and struggled within the circle of Colt’s arms.
Regaining his wits, Colt reared back, staring at Sam with something akin to horror. What in the hell was the matter with him? He had no business involving himself in a situation that could adversely affect his performance in the line of duty. He had no experience with women like Samantha Howard. For all her daring and courage, she was innocent of the type of games he usually played with the opposite sex. Sex and gratification with no commitments was the code he lived by. His kind abhorred permanence and involvements that tied them down and interfered with their wild ways. Not once did Colt delve deeply into his reasons for buying the Circle H Ranch. He assumed it was to keep skunks like Vern Logan and his rather from taking what they wanted no matter who the victim. Had he bothered to examine his conscience, Colt would have been astounded to find it went far beyond anything so simple.
Chapter Four
Y ou’re a strange and complicated man, Colt Andrews,” Sam mused as Colt stared at her warily. You’re hard as nails, yet I’ve never felt a more tender touch when you dressed my wound. First you shoot me, then save my life just so you can send me to prison. Everything about you is a contradiction.
“Who are you really? Are you a hardbitten Texas Ranger or a caring man beneath that rough exterior? I sense in you a loneliness, a yearning, a need for…for…”
“Don’t try to analyze me, darlin’,” Colt drawled lazily, stunned by Sam’s astute summation of his character, “for you’ll find me lackin’.” How could this mere slip of a girl he hardly knew strip away the layers of carefully built reserve and unbare his soul so thoroughly? No man or woman alive had ventured past his tough veneer, and he wasn’t certain he liked the feeling.
Sam accepted Colt’s statement at face value. Besides, it mattered little what made Colt tick. What concerned her were his plans for her future—if she had one.
“Get some sleep,” Colt said gruffly. “Tomorrow you can get out of bed and move around some. I’m takin’ you into town real soon. My assignment is to rid the town of the Crowders, and I can’t do it playin’ nursemaid to a lady outlaw with no more sense than a rabbit
“I fear you’re right,” Colt sighed with a hint of regret. “I’m a better doctor than I gave myself credit for. You’re comin’ along fine.”
Mesmerized, he watched as Sam shoved her arms into her nightgown and primly retied the drawstring beneath her chin. Slowly his eyes slid upwards to linger on her lips, struggling to resist an emotion completely foreign to him. Suddenly some force stronger than the life coursing through him made him want to kiss her, the need so urgent it bordered on pain.
Sam saw the look in Colt’s tawny eyes change from teasing interest to hot, molten desire, and could not turn away from it, nor did she want to. She felt the soft fullness of his mouth cover hers, moving slowly and sensuously, his tongue gently probing to part her lips. The feeling was so exquisite Sam was too stunned to resist. Against her will her mouth opened and his bold tongue slipped easily inside, teasing, cajoling, taking, until she threw caution to the wind and kissed him back, with all thought, all reason, falling away. He continued to kiss her in ways she could never have imagined.
When his hands moved to her breasts, stroking the soft mounds and stimulating her nipples through her nightgown with his thumbs, Sam suddenly came to her senses. With a start she realized something was happening between them that shouldn’t be. She might be a prisoner, but that didn’t give him the right to use her for his own pleasure. Breathless from his kiss, reeling from shock over her unprecedented response, Sam pulled free and struggled within the circle of Colt’s arms.
Regaining his wits, Colt reared back, staring at Sam with something akin to horror. What in the hell was the matter with him? He had no business involving himself in a situation that could adversely affect his performance in the line of duty. He had no experience with women like Samantha Howard. For all her daring and courage, she was innocent of the type of games he usually played with the opposite sex. Sex and gratification with no commitments was the code he lived by. His kind abhorred permanence and involvements that tied them down and interfered with their wild ways. Not once did Colt delve deeply into his reasons for buying the Circle H Ranch. He assumed it was to keep skunks like Vern Logan and his rather from taking what they wanted no matter who the victim. Had he bothered to examine his conscience, Colt would have been astounded to find it went far beyond anything so simple.
Chapter Four
Y ou’re a strange and complicated man, Colt Andrews,” Sam mused as Colt stared at her warily. You’re hard as nails, yet I’ve never felt a more tender touch when you dressed my wound. First you shoot me, then save my life just so you can send me to prison. Everything about you is a contradiction.
“Who are you really? Are you a hardbitten Texas Ranger or a caring man beneath that rough exterior? I sense in you a loneliness, a yearning, a need for…for…”
“Don’t try to analyze me, darlin’,” Colt drawled lazily, stunned by Sam’s astute summation of his character, “for you’ll find me lackin’.” How could this mere slip of a girl he hardly knew strip away the layers of carefully built reserve and unbare his soul so thoroughly? No man or woman alive had ventured past his tough veneer, and he wasn’t certain he liked the feeling.
Sam accepted Colt’s statement at face value. Besides, it mattered little what made Colt tick. What concerned her were his plans for her future—if she had one.
“Get some sleep,” Colt said gruffly. “Tomorrow you can get out of bed and move around some. I’m takin’ you into town real soon. My assignment is to rid the town of the Crowders, and I can’t do it playin’ nursemaid to a lady outlaw with no more sense than a rabbit
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