The Widow and the Wastrel Read Online Free Page B

you meet to win your favors?" Jed inquired with biting softness. "Or are you afraid that some man will show you how very inadequate Jeremy was?" His gaze slid to her mouth as if to evoke the memory of his kiss.
    Elizabeth pivoted sharply away from the table, walking to the counter to set her cup down. "Jeremy was very adequate and I have a daughter to prove it. Your questions are becoming much too personal and bordering on insolence."
    "The ability to procreate is not indicative of a man's prowess to arouse a woman's desires," he laughed arrogantly. "Was his respect and gentleness as satisfying as you thought it would be?"
    "Yes!" she flashed angrily.
    "Honestly?" Jed prodded softly, and she realized he had come quietly up behind her.
    "Yes, honestly," Elizabeth declared firmly. A bitter anger rose in her throat. "You haven't changed, Jed. I thought you were insulting and arrogant the first time I met you, and the years in between haven't altered that. You tried to turn me against Jeremy then and you're still doing it now when he isn't here to defend himself. I think that's disgusting and contemptible!"
    "Seeing you again has brought back the memory of our first and only meeting, too," he answered with serious thoughtfulness. "You were an extraordinarily bewitching young creature, tantalizingly innocent and desirable. My mind tells me that you're mature and no longer innocent, but my eyes insist that you're still inexperienced. As a woman," his voice became husky and caressing, "you are even more desirable than you were as a girl."
    "Stop it!" She wanted to close her ears to his voice, but it was impossible.
    "Looking back, part of the reason I left was you. That night I couldn't stop myself from kissing you, even though I knew I'd frightened you. I frighten you now, too." His hands closed over the soft flesh of her upper arms. "You're trembling."
    She closed her eyes to stop the quivering response at his touch. "From disgust," she murmured wildly, needing to explain the reason for her disturbance.
    "At least give me credit for leaving." There was a smile in his voice. "Had I stayed I probably wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to make love to you, even if you were my brother's wife. Now—" Jed slid his hands down her arms, letting his fingers close around her slender wrists. Crossing her arms in front of her, he drew her shoulders back against his chest, "Now I can hold you like this, bury my face in your silken black hair." Elizabeth gasped in shock as he proceeded to let his action follow his words. "And—"
    "Let me go!" She tried to twist away from the sensuous nuzzling near her ear.
    There was silent laughter in the warm breath that caressed her cheek and throat. Elizabeth discovered that Jed found her struggles amusing, aware that his superior strength would counter any attempt to be free.
    "Elizabeth!" The startled and censorious voice came from the hallway door.
    Flames of red burned her cheeks as Jed slowly released her, his tawny eyes laughing at her embarrassment as Elizabeth turned to face her mother-in-law. Jed did not turn immediately, keeping his back to his mother.
    "Rebecca—" Elizabeth began, fighting to regain her composure and rid herself of the absurd sensation that she had done something to feel guilty about.
    But she wasn't allowed the opportunity of identifying Jed as Rebecca Carrel broke in with haughty indignation, "What were you thinking, carrying on like that, Elizabeth? What if Amy had come running here and seen you in the arms of this stranger? Who is this—"
    "Hello, Mother." Jed turned and spoke before she finished her slashing barrage of questions.
    Rebecca's mouth snapped shut grimly, a finely drawn, charcoal eyebrow arching in something considerably less than overwhelming joy at her son's return.
    "Your brother and your father have been in their graves for quite a while, Jed. Why have you bothered to come back now?" she asked shortly.
    The firm line of his mouth thinned into