Lover's Return Read Online Free Page A

carried her back into the house.
    “Where do you think you’re going?” He put her down in front of the couch, but kept his hand on her arm.
    “Away from you. I’ll walk home if I have to.” She shoved against his chest. “I don’t want to be anywhere that you are.”
    “Don’t push it, Charleigh. I promised myself I’d give you space and wouldn’t carry on the family tradition with you.” Jericho’s voice lowered in a distinct growl.

Chapter Three
     
    Charleigh lifted her chin. She wasn’t letting him intimidate her with that threat. So his family had a history of abduction marriages, they also had a tradition of loving marriages. He hadn’t cared enough before and would have stayed away if he’d failed to make a success of his trading business. His feelings for her were plain. She gritted her teeth and concentrated on the anger. If she didn’t, she might break down and cry. After all these years, it shouldn’t hurt so much to discover that his feelings for her weren’t as intense as hers were.
    “Right. Let me go, Jericho.” She jerked her arm, but his hand tightened.
    He tugged back. He leaned in until his breath feathered over her lips and they were almost touching. “No. Show me that you don’t want me. That your anger has burned out the desire for me. Maybe I’ll believe you enough to let you go home.”
    From the hard look in his brown eyes, she didn’t think so. “I don’t have to show you anything. As if I’d believe you’d make the kind of effort your grandfather, father and uncles did. I don’t matter enough.”
    “You don’t matter? You are the only reason I’m here, the only reason I came back.” Jericho grasped her shoulders.
    “Don’t even try that. Your family is here. Everyone knows how close you are to them.” She shook her head. He could run his business from anywhere, but he’d come back to his family. She was just a second thought. Hurt lanced through her. Damn him. Couldn’t he at least tell her the truth?
    He glowered at her. His expression tightened. “You’re here.”
    She lifted her head and refused to comment on it. They could argue about it for the rest of the day and it wouldn’t make any difference. She pressed her hands against his chest.
    “Totally unreasonable. I knew I should have started off with this.” His palm cupped the back of her head.
    He pulled her close in spite of her resistance. His lips brushed over hers. She clamped her lips shut, but her hands clenched on his shirt. His tongue probed at her lips. Torn between anger and desire, she froze. His hand remained at the back of her head while his other settled at the base of her spine, tugging her close.
    It had been so long since she’d been this close to him. In spite of the anger and hurt, the warmth of his hard, muscled body slowly relaxed her. She couldn’t resist opening her mouth for his kiss. He took full advantage before she could change her mind. His tongue swept into her mouth, taunting and teasing. She rose on tiptoes to get closer to him and deepen the kiss.
    His hand slid lower, cupping her buttocks and lifting her against the hard ridge of his cock. “Does that feel as though you don’t matter? You’re the only person who matters. Before we go home, you’re going to know it.”
    She moaned. Her mouth opened. She had to say something, show him that this wasn’t going to change her mind. She didn’t know how he did it. The moment he touched her, she began to burn. It didn’t matter if the touch was sexual or casual.
    His mouth closed over hers again. His hand slid down from the back of her head, but she didn’t take the opportunity to rip her mouth away. Her tongue stroked over his. His hand gripped her thigh, guiding it around his waist. His hips rocked, rubbing the hard ridge of his cock against her pussy.
    She tore her mouth away from his and dragged in a harsh breath. As much as she grabbed for a bit of sanity, she couldn’t reach it. For her, there had always