Read Online Taming the Lone Wolf by Joan Johnston - Free Book Online Page B

the game between them.
    Rose turned to Tess, who by now was always awake and leaning on her elbow with a grin on her face, watching their antics.
    â€œI’m hungry, Mama,” Rose said.
    â€œBreakfast will be ready as soon as you put on the clothes I left at the foot of your bed last night,” Tess said.
    Rose hugged her mother and got a kiss on both cheeks and the tip of her nose before she disappeared into her own bedroom to dress.
    Stony proceeded with the next part of the ritual, which involved him and Tess and a few drugging early-morning kisses that occasionally turned into hard, fast and unbelievably satisfying sex. But not this morning.
    Tess leaned back and searched his face, looking for something.
    â€œWhat is it?” he asked.
    â€œRemind me what it is, precisely, that you don’t like about kids,” she said.
    His eyes shuttered immediately. This was forbidden territory, and she knew it.
    â€œDon’t shut me out, Stony. Talk to me.”
    â€œWhat is it you want me to say?”
    â€œExplain why you profess not to like kids when I can see with my own eyes how good you are with Rose.”
    He sat up against the headboard and shoved an irritated hand through his hair. He couldn’t tell her about the lie. Maybe he could tell her about this. “It’s not something I’m proud of,” he admitted, hoping that would be enough to placate her.
    â€œCan you tell me what it is? Will you?” she persisted.
    It came out in a rush, before he could stop himself. “My mom died when I was little, and it was just mydad and me. He must have missed my mom a lot, because after she was gone, he lost himself in his work. He never had any time to spend with me. So I spent my time alone.
    â€œWhen I was thirteen, my dad remarried and started a second family. He changed his priorities. My half brother, Todd, suddenly got all the attention I’d been yearning for ever since my mother’s death.” He shrugged. “That’s it.”
    He was amazed at her perception when she said, “I see. Oh, I see. Why you profess you don’t like children, I mean. You resented sharing your father’s love with a baby.”
    â€œI don’t want to share you,” he said, the words torn from him almost against his will.
    â€œOh, Stony.” Tess slipped her arms around Stony’s waist and laid her head against his chest, where she could hear his heart madly thumping.
    â€œDon’t you know love is boundless?” she said quietly. “It doesn’t have limits. I can love Rose and still have more than enough left over for you.”
    It was an admission of love, of sorts. Even that was more than Tess had intended to say. Yet, she knew Stony had needed to hear her say it.
    â€œLeftovers,” he grumbled, pulling her tightly, possessively, against him.
    She hesitated only a second before plunging even farther into dangerous waters. “No. Not leftovers. I love you differently than Rose. She’s my own flesh and blood. I feel responsibility and delight and devotion when I look at her.
    â€œBut you, Stony. You’re the other half of me. I’vebeen looking for you all my life. I love you with every particle of my being.”
    His arms tightened until she thought her ribs would crack. She waited to hear the words from him, needed to hear them. She silently begged the wary wolf to take the few steps necessary to reach the hand she had held out to him.
    â€œGod, I love you, Tess.”
    She felt her nose burn and tears sting her eyes. She clutched at him, a sob of joy clogging her throat. “Oh, Stony. I love you so much.”
    â€œWhat about me?” Rose demanded. She stood beside the bed fully dressed, her shirt on inside out, tugging at the sheet that covered them.
    Tess looked at Stony, and they grinned at each other. He reached down and scooped Rose up in one arm and pulled her close to include her in their hug.
    â€œI love