Paperback Romance

Selena Kitt

Chapter One

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and Jessica Sweet scrambled to mount her horse, hopping up and swinging her long leg over his back. She leaned in close as she urged him toward home, knowing she was racing against the coming storm. She always rode him bareback, the wind whipping through both her long auburn mane and the horse's chestnut one.

She whooped and dug her heels in, sensing that they weren't going to make it. The rain came down in sudden, slashing sheets, soaking them both to the skin. The horse broke into a full out run, heading toward the shelter of the big barn, neighing and nickering and shaking his big head from side to side as he entered it.

"Good boy,” Jessica murmured, patting his neck. She got him settled in a stall and made a run for the house, bursting into the front door and slamming it behind her with a sigh.

She stood there catching her breath, her breasts heaving in the white blouse now plastered to her wet skin. When she opened her eyes, she saw him, a big hulk of a man looking even larger in the small rocking chair next to her fireplace.

"Jake!” she gasped, her eyes narrowing. “Get out of my house."

The man advanced toward her, grabbing her around her tiny waist and pulling her hard against his chest. “Not until I claim what's mine!"

His kiss burned her mouth, her throat, and even as she struggled against him, she could feel herself giving into him, as she always did…

“Maya!”

The voice startled her and she knocked the ladle into the steaming vat, splashing her apron with tomato soup. She sighed at the mess, glanced over at Alex and shrugged, looking sheepish.

“Sorry,” she mumbled to her boss, continuing to dish out soup, smiling an apology to the girl over the counter. She grabbed some napkins out of the receptacle behind her and wiped at her apron.