Read From Kiss to Queen for Free Online

heaven, was the man even aware of what he was doing?
    â€œGood morning,” Mark gruffly whispered.
    Darn, he was awake. And his hand was still moving, still making her heart race.
    â€œAh . . . good morning,” she whispered back. Afraid her heart might actually explode, Jane slapped a hand to her chest to still his actions—then sneezed again.
    Mark sat up slightly behind her. He did move his hand, though, but only to slide it between her breasts and pull her tighter against him. “Are you sick?” he asked with soft concern.
    â€œCould . . . um, could you move your hand please?”
    He chuckled, his chest vibrating her back as his searing palm pressed against her belly and pulled her even closer. “Sorry,” he apologized, an unrepentant lilt in his voice. “Instinct, I guess.”
    â€œInstinct, or . . . habit?”
    He patted her belly then withdrew his hand altogether. “I don’t make a habit of sleeping curled around beautiful women with frost on their noses,” he offered by way of answer.
    Picturing him curled around beautiful women, Jane suddenly gasped. “Are you married?”
    â€œNo. Are you sick?” he repeated.
    â€œNo,” she said on a sniffle and rubbed her nose—which her blush had apparently thawed to the point that it had started running. “I’m not sick,” she continued as she nonchalantly rolled away and sat up, then made herself busy by folding the thin Mylar blanket they’d used for cover.
    She squeaked again when Mark pulled her back, facing him, and pressed her nose against his throat.
He
gasped then, and Jane sneezed again—although this time she was pretty sure it was because his chest hair was tickling her nose.
    â€œYou are sick.”
    â€œIt’s probably just an allergy,” she lied, not about to admit she’d been too shy the day before to get out of her wet clothes quickly enough.
    â€œWhat are you allergic to?”
    Your soft, nice-smelling chest hair,
Jane wanted to shout. “The woods,” she said instead, tugging against his hold. He let her go, but then stopped her from scrambling away by trapping her with his eyes.
    They looked better this morning. Clearer. Brighter. Actually, they looked positively gorgeous; a stark, molten gold, keen and intelligent and . . . narrowed in suspicion.
    â€œYour face is red. You’ve caught a cold.”
    I’m blushing, you oaf.
But Jane decided being sick was less embarrassing than admitting her hormones were on the verge of rioting. Heaven help her, the man she’d pulled from the lake was beautiful.
    Okay, she may have noticed that fact yesterday, but she’d been determined to ignore it. She couldn’t now. He was sitting right in front of her, and she couldn’t help but notice his hair was sticking out in a tangle of mahogany waves, brushing the collar of his unbuttoned shirt and falling over his forehead just short of his gorgeous eyes. His jaw was slightly shaded with whiskers, which only accentuated his sculpted features. And his mouth? The one that had kissed her last night? It was wide and sensual and . . . appeared set with determination.
    â€œYou’re a stubborn woman, Jane Abbot.”
    â€œIt’s how I survive. And it’s my business if I want to be stubborn.”
    â€œYou’ll probably die of pneumonia before I get you back to civilization,” he muttered, standing up.
    He
got
her
to civilization? This was her rescue operation, not his.
She
was saving
him
.
    Apparently now that he had his sight back, the man intended to take charge. Well, she’d see how close he got them to civilization without her help. He might be big and strong, but he didn’t have a clue where they were going.
    And she’d let him in on that little secret just as soon as she stopped gawking.
    â€œI would like a few minutes to myself,” she finally managed to