Read Online Deep in the Heart by Sharon Sala - Free Book Online

had once joined in love and passion overwhelmed her. She had the strongest urge to just lie back on the bed and hold out her arms to him. Instead, she waited for him to make the move.
    He came closer. She could smell the heat of his body and the faint, but lingering scent of soap from his bath. She closed her eyes, expecting everything but the cool dampness of the cloth that he wiped across her face.
    “Here, honey,” he said gently. “This will cool you off and maybe you can get back to sleep.”
    Not in this lifetime, she thought.
    “Bad night, huh?”
    “It was,” she said, and sighed, allowing him to minister to her as he would a child. “It’s not so bad now. In fact, it’s been a while since I had my face washed.” She smiled, knowing that her expression was hidden in the darkness.
    But John Thomas heard the smile in her voice and before he’d thought, leaned forward and kissed the edge of her forehead where tiny wisps of her hair, damp from the cloth, curled baby-soft against his lips.
    “And even longer since I had a good night kiss,” she added breathlessly.
    He heard the tenor of her voice change from tease to plea. It was one he couldn’t resist. He bent a bit farther, and this time when his lips touched flesh, they connected with purpose against the surprised pout of her mouth.
    He felt her gasp as the inward rush of air slipped past his lips and then that was the last thing he remembered until he felt her hands on his shoulders and her nails digging into his arms and heard her moan softly as their bodies aligned themselves on the bed.
    “Hell,” he said softly, and stopped, painfully conscious of the ache in his loins that had nothing to do with nightmares and everything to do with need. Here he was, on top of her in bed, hard and aching. This shouldn’t be happening.
    “No, Johnny.” Her soft, husky voice held him pinned to the bed and her body as firmly as if she’d tied him. “It wasn’t hell at all. In fact, it felt nice, very, very nice. I just don’t—”
    “Don’t say it, Sam.” His voice was rough. “I’m sorry I let this get out of hand, and I can promise you it won’t happen again. I don’t intend to get burned twice.”
    With a groan he rolled off her body and out of bed, trying manfully to ignore the throb between his legs and the emptiness of his arms now that he was apart from her.
    He walked out the door without looking back and Samantha wondered why he’d been the one with all the anger. She was the one who’d been abandoned.
    She thought she’d never sleep again. But when she closed her eyes, it came quickly, and with it came the memories of a man’s hands and his mouth, and the weight of his body, and the flash fire of heat that had burned between them.
    And in the morning, the texture of the air seemed different as an awareness between them began to grow. The days evened out, and Samantha forgot for minutes, and eventually even hours at a time, that someone wanted her dead. But she never, quite ever, let down her guard.

    John Thomas got up every morning, leaving Samantha at home to occupy herself with nothing more serious than deciding what to cook for supper. He went to work, and fumed about the red tape and paperwork that was holding up the arrival of his new deputy, and then went home each evening knowing that when he got there, Sam would be waiting.
    Complacency became the norm, and guard became lax, and because of it all, when panic struck, it came fresh and fast, as if, somehow, after all they’d been through, it was still unexpected.
    “Carol Ann, would you get Sam on the phone for me while I finish signing these papers?”
    The dispatcher smiled as she complied. Sheriff Knight had done a complete about-face since he’d returned from California with his old friend in tow. He’d gone from practically living for his work, to living for quitting time, like most normal people.
    After dialing the number Carol Ann waited, expecting to hear the husky drawl