TWICE VICTORIOUS Read Online Free Page A

their taste. His body burned wherever she touched it, all down
his chest, across his belly, around his thigh. He groaned with the ache of burgeoning
arousal as he took the mouth he'd wanted to kiss since forever.
    He tasted, he devoured. He drank of her delicious mouth, nibbled at her ripe lips.
He left her mouth, to trail biting kisses along her velvety cheek, to explore the delicate
shell of her ear with a tongue hungry for more.
    Her hands were tangled in his hair, and her body was pliant in his arms.
Responsive, as if she would follow wherever he led, willingly cooperate in whatever he
suggested. Her eyes were closed, her head was drooping like an elegant flower over his
encircling arm. Her lips were half-parted, inviting, tempting, promising.
    Adam's mind returned from whatever void it had wandered into when instinct and
lust took command. What an idiot he'd been. Here she was, all but disabled, and he'd
mistaken her inescapable clumsiness for a come-on.
    "I'm sorry," he said, hearing how inadequate it sounded. He slipped an arm around
her waist as she sagged against him, involuntarily aware of how supple it was, and how
slim.
    Her chin was lowered and her face turned away from him. "So am I," she
half-whispered. But she didn't try to escape his grasp and she didn't reach for the crutches that
had fallen on either side of her when he took her into his arms. "The living room." She
gestured with her hand. "I need to sit down."
    So did he. The emotions he'd just experienced had drained him, left him as
emotionally limp as the proverbial dishrag.
    "Can you hand me my crutches?"
    "I'll do better than that." Without waiting for her to object, he swung her up
against his chest. She was heavier than she looked, and he did his best not to grunt. If he
was going to act like a swashbuckler, he'd damn well play the role. He couldn't imagine
Sinbad or d'Artagnan grunting and groaning as they carried their ladies fair off into the
sunset.
    He managed to stride into the living room and place her carefully on the sofa
before he collapsed. He even managed to resist the need to take deep, gasping breaths until
he was out of her sight, fetching her crutches from the hall.
    It must be the cycling. She looked almost delicate in loose pants and sweatshirt,
but he knew, from holding her and running his hands over her delightful, slim body, that
she was all muscle. He'd expected a softly feminine burden, and he'd lifted a finely tuned
cycling machine.
    The residue of desire left him as if it had never existed. Each reminder that she
was a serious athlete brought him back to reality as effectively as a bucket of ice water in
the face.
    Stell let him carry her into the living room without protest. She wasn't sure she
could stand steady, anyway. Not on one foot, at least.
    Good grief! She hadn't been kissed like that since she was in college. If then.
    When Adam Vanderhook kissed a woman, he gave it his total attention, and it
showed. He hadn't been thinking of KIWANDA, or of the modeling job he'd wanted her
for. She didn't think he'd even been calculating his chances of getting her into bed, as many
men she'd dated would have been doing.
    She would bet he hadn't been thinking at all, except about the tastes and touches
and inner sensations inherent to the kiss. She'd never seen such total concentration devoted
to anything but winning.
    What a great competitor he'd make. He had the necessary drive. According to
Rick, he'd built KIWANDA OuterWear from a cottage industry into one of the Pacific
Northwest's major clothing manufacturers.
    He had the body. She'd rarely seen such natural grace, such carefully leashed
strength and coordination.
    He'd look great in cycling shorts, too.
    She looked up as he brought the crutches to her. "I hope you aren't taking that--"
she gestured vaguely toward the hallway, "seriously."
    His grin was sheepish, but still packed a wallop. "I won't if you won't."
    "I'm taking very little seriously these days." She shrugged,