Read Online Kiss And Dwell by Kelley St. John - Free Book Online

She dropped the pages on the settee. “ Irrevocably denied. I ’ m not going to live with that on my conscience, whether you like your current in-between status or not, ” she proclaimed. “ On or before the deadline, you ’ re crossing. Preferably before. ”
    “ And who ’ s making me? ” Ryan asked, amused by this golden-haired, green-eyed and extremely spicy Cajun.
    “ I am, ” she said, “ but I ’ ve had a hell of a day and I ’ m exhausted, and I ’ m going to bed to sleep on it. ”
    “ Want some company? ” he asked. “ I ’ m sure I could think of something to help you relax. You seem stressed. Are you planning to dream, Monique? ”
    Those beautiful eyes shot daggers through him again. “ Don ’ t even think about it, ” she warned.
    “ Oh, I ’ ll think about it, ” he said, “ And you will, too. If you change your mind, just say my name. I ’ ll come. And so will you. I guar-an-tee. ” He tried to sound as Cajun as he could manage.
    Her mouth quirked, fighting a grin. “ Don ’ t try it. You ’ ll never pull off sounding local, ” she said. “ And don ’ t step one foot in my room. I don ’ t need your help. ”
    “ That ’ s right. There are plenty of flashlights around, ” he mused aloud, then relished her cheeks burning brighter. “ And for the record, I ’ m from L.A. ”
    Her jaw dropped. “ I didn ’ t want to know that, and don ’ t tell me anything else. ”
    She took two steps toward the door then turned, frowning. “ You don ’ t sound like you ’ re from Los Angeles. ”
    “ Lower Alabama. ” He grinned.
    “ God help me. ” She exited the room, giving Ryan a tantalizing view of her swaying hips along the way.
    He laughed. If she planned on forcing him toward that light, or teaching him how to love, for that matter, she ’ d need all the help she could get. But he ’ d learned quite a bit tonight from his first interaction with Monique Vicknair .
    She was sexy, she was feisty, and she was more strong-willed than the spotted silver stallion he ’ d had in college. Six men had tried to break that horse, an Appaloosa with an attitude, and none had succeeded, until Ryan. He ’ d set the goal and achieved it, the story of his life, until fourteen months ago.
    He swallowed past that particular memory and listened to the pipes within the plantation ’ s walls creak and sputter as someone upstairs started a shower .
    Monique. She was probably peeling off that damp dress. Did she feel the cool fabric caress her skin and imagine Ryan ’ s hands, touching every sweet curve, teasing every indention and swell? Or did she fling the cloth across the room while recalling his promise that he wouldn ’ t give in to her attempts to make him cross?
    He closed his eyes and sensed her aggravation, knew that the thin red dress was probably in mid-fling.
    Strong-willed. She was a strong-willed woman with her will currently set on breaking Ryan Chappelle the way he ’ d broken that stallion. Slowly. Gradually .
    Thoroughly.
    He grinned. What do you know, he ’ d finally found a woman who equally relished the one thing Ryan enjoyed more than anything else…
    A challenge.

Chapter 4
    Monique punched her pillow with fervor, slammed her head against its soft middle and glared at the rain dripping down her bedroom window. She ’ d taken the coldest shower she could stand in an effort to get her mind off any form of heat, and off the prominent form of Ryan Chappelle .
    It hadn ’ t worked.
    Then she ’ d put on the blue-mesh baby-doll nightie she ’ d bought at Victoria ’ s Secret and quickly replaced the dead batteries in her favorite vibrator with the two she ’ d swiped from Nanette ’ s flashlight. Usually, a new piece of sexy lingerie made her feel that much sexier and caused her orgasm to be that much harder. And after the night she ’ d had with Ryan, she needed hard. In fact, she needed more than a vibrator, but she ’ d take what she could get.
    Ready for