Read Desperado for Free Online Page B

every time I touch you,” he whispered harshly. “Don’t you think I know it?”
    She couldn’t drag her eyes away from his. “You have nothing to give me. I know. I’ve always known.” She laughed painfully. “It doesn’t seem to matter.”
    He drew her close and held her, his arms strong around her, his mouth against her hair. He took a deep breath and felt all the anger and misery of the past few years drain out of him. He laid his cheek against her dark, soft hair and closed his eyes. It was like coming home.
    She held him, too, drinking in the clean, spicy scent of his muscular body as she tried valiantly to ignore the fever of passion his touch kindled. It gave her comfort, as it did him. He wasn’t an emotional person. He kept his deepest feelings hidden carefully inside. Maggie knew all about that, because she did the same thing. If people could get close to you, they could hurt you. It was a lesson Maggie and Cord had learned early in their lives. It had made them cautious about involvement.
    His hand brushed the length of her hair and he smiled lazily. “I love long hair,” he murmured.
    She didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. He knew she kept it long because of him.
    “We’re poison to each other. Maybe,” he began slowly, “it would be for the best if you did start over somewhere else, somewhere…far away.”
    “Better for me, certainly,” she murmured huskily. Her fingers caressed his hair at the temple. “But who would takecare of you if I did?” she added, her voice teasing to disguise her hunger for him.
    His indrawn breath was audible, and his arms loosened, freeing her abruptly. “I don’t need taking care of!” he said shortly.
    The truce was over. Just that quickly. She smiled sadly as she watched him get to his feet and move away from the bed. “Don’t pop any blood vessels over a figure of speech,” she chided. She searched his hard face quietly, savoring its nooks and crannies. Soon, she thought, it would be out of her sight forever.
    “I’m through with what passes for love,” he said with cold sarcasm. “Just in case you start seeing me as a long-range project.”
    “Does June know?” she asked wickedly.
    He glared at her. “June is none of your business!”
    Her eyebrows arched. “Excuse me! We can just forget that I barged into your hotel room and started making passionate advances toward you!” she added facetiously.
    His eyes were smoldering now. “I’m leaving.”
    “I noticed,” she agreed.
    He got as far as the bedroom door, and then he remembered Gruber. He’d almost lost his eyes, if not his life, to the man’s vengeance. Maggie was alone and vulnerable, and Gruber had contacts here.
    “I still want you out at the ranch,” he said curtly.
    “Save your breath,” she said pleasantly. “I’m not going.”
    “If anything should happen to you…” he began tightly, and was amazed at the fear that clenched his heart. If anything happened to her, he’d be alone in the world. He’d have no one at all.
    “My, my, wouldn’t that uncomplicate your life?” she inserted pertly.
    “That isn’t true,” he snapped.
    “Yes, it is,” she replied. “You just don’t like admitting it. I can call the police anytime I need help, they said so on television just last night. Meanwhile, I’ll find a job as quickly as I can and light a fire out of Houston.” She smiled deliberately. “Won’t that give you a whole new lease on life? I won’t even ask you to send me a Christmas card!”
    He started to speak, and he couldn’t. He just glared.
    She struck a seductive pose, knowing it would infuriate him. There was no danger in enticing Cord, he was impervious. She tugged the pajama top lightly away from her long neck. “Want to ravish me before you go?” she offered with mischievous eyes. “I can call room service and get them to send up an emergency condom,” she added, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
    “Damn you!” he bit off furiously. He