Read Online Tallchief: The Hunter by Cait London - Free Book Online Page A

your own. No little ones for you and dear Kevin?” he returned too softly.
    “It didn’t happen.” She shook her head and shivered, repulsed by the thought of Kevin’s touch. Then she looked down at her hand, locked to the countertop, and found Adam’s big warm one covering it. It felt too solid and safe. She slid her hand away.
    “Why are you here?” she repeated, and realized that fear, memories, and something else danced along her nerves. She didn’t want to think of that tense, electrified feeling Adam could evoke in her.
    “To let you know that there is no reason to jump when I’m near, or to pale as if I’d hurt you. I do not want my brother and relatives thinking I terrorize women. It isn’t good for the image,” he stated firmly.
    She stared at him. “‘Good for the image’? What image? You’re a down-on-your-luck drifter, so far as I can see.”
    He tilted his head, and despite the warning-smoke color of his eyes, said quietly, “I have my good points, you know.”
    “I don’t want to hear what you think of yourself.”
    “No, but you’re ready to tell me your thoughts, aren’t you? Well, let me tell you mine, about you. You edge away from the slightest accidental touch of a man. I saw proofof that tonight. You’d better keep that under control, or they’ll wonder and ask and try to help. You don’t want anyone helping you, do you, Jillian? You want to pass out advice to others, though.”
    “I’ve heard enough. Get out.”
    “I’m not done. If you avoid talking to me as you tried tonight, they’ll sense something runs between us. Unless you want that examined, try a little harder to be at ease with me, will you?”
    “I don’t owe you anything, Adam.”
    “Oh, yes, you do, you little witch. You’ve deliberately come back into my life and now that you’re here, you’re not ready to take the consequences.”
    “Such as?” she invited, challenging him.
    “This,” he said softly before he lowered his lips to hers.
    Caught before the fear could tear at her, Jillian could only stand still, held by the merest light, warm brush of his lips. In it was beauty and tenderness and hope, long shriveled and forgotten. Sadness welled up inside her, and came trailing down as tears upon her cheeks.
    When she was able to pull back into her shields, Adam had gone and she was in for a long, restless night.
     

    That night, while he was certain that Jillian stewed about him in her home, Adam called his friend and most trusted business manager, Steve Morris. Adam intended to keep Jillian in Amen Flats until he could resolve how he felt about her. On one level, she stirred ugly memories of the past; on another level, he wanted to hold her either in safety or as a man needs a woman. And just maybe, he felt guilty about her hardships.
    Nancy, the new toy flatbed hauler, would need advertising layouts. Jillian O’Malley was a perfect candidate. Steve would contact her with the offer that needed immediate attention; using the name “Sam” and electronic mail, Adam would work with her, just as he’d worked with other artists.
    He shrugged as a splash of guilt hit him. Opportunistic? Yes, but then, as Elspeth said, the Tallchiefs had hunting blood. If he had to use a Sam contract as bait, then he would.
    He thought about their past and pushed it away, separating it from the moment when her lips had lifted just that bit to his. The incredible sweetness of that moment had torn at him.
    Or maybe it was desire. Adam shook his head. He was a meticulous, controlled man, and even as a youth, he’d only had one sexual relationship—a girl he’d hoped to marry. She’d wanted someone else, and even then, he was amazed at how little it touched him, while parting with Jillian had nearly torn him apart.
    Adam toyed with the two feathers, the dove’s and the hawk’s. Lying together, they seemed feminine and masculine, yin and yang. Why had they meant so much to Sarah? What had she wanted him to know?
    What