Read In the Teeth of the Wind for Free Online

animal. He could smell her
    - smell _her - _that musky, wet heat driving him insane, taunting him as he crouched there, blotting out all
    rational thought. But even in his excited state, he knew if he could get her into the house, he could have
    her as he wished. Any way he wished. He could ram himself to the hilt inside her, tear her apart with his
    lust if he so desired, make her scream with passion.
    Cursing beneath his breath, he shoved the key into the lock, burst through the door, expecting her to
    be right behind him, enraged that she was not. Consummate fury turned his handsome face ugly as he
    bolted through the door and wrapped one hard hand around her left arm. He jerked her inside - bruising
    her - and she lashed out at him.
    "Don't manhandle me! Invite me in!"
    The vivid red imprint of her hand was tattooed to his sweaty cheek, but he had not felt the savage slap.
    "I want you!" he shouted at her. When she hesitated, he snarled, "Goddamn you, come in! I need you,
    bitch!"
    Felicity Rogers smiled and stepped across his threshold. "Why didn't you just say so, warrior?"
    Conor Nolan fell on her like a rutting beast and drove his way into hell.

____________________
    *Chapter Five*
    For the tenth time that evening, Rhianna looked at her watch. It was well past nine o'clock and Conor
    hadn't even called to tell her he'd be late. Not that it was anything new. If he were involved in a case, he
    lost track of time and would call half an hour later to apologize. But as the hands of the clock swept
    toward nine-thirty, she became concerned and reached for the phone to call him. As she did, it rang,
    startling her. She snatched the receiver.
    "You'd better have a damned good reason for standing me up, Nolan!" There was a pause then
    Cortesio's voice came across from the other end. "He ain't there?"
    "Joey?" Disappointment clawed her stomach. "No, he's not. I haven't heard from him."
    "Damn."
    "Have you?" She looked up at the ceiling.
    "He was wired this morning." She heard a nervous, embarrassed chuckle. "You wouldn't want him
    attacking you the minute he came through the door, would you?"
    Rhianna blushed. "Not much chance of that happening, Joey."
    "I don't know. You shook him up today. I ain't seen him like that since…" He stopped, no doubt
    annoyed by what he'd almost said.
    "Hey, look," Rhianna said with a forced gaiety. "If the man don't want me, he don't want me."
    "Marek… you've known Nolan long enough to know he doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do.
    Honey, I'm sorry." His voice hardened. "The man's retarded, what can I say?"
    Rhianna laughed despite her bitterness. "You do wonders for a gal's ego, you know that, Cortesio?"
    "Any man who doesn't want you has got to be either blind or neutered."
    "You're sweet." When the silence played out, she asked, "If I hear from him, do you want me to have
    him call you?"
    "Nah," he replied. "I was just going out to the roadhouse. If you hear from him, just let him know."
    "You be careful."
    "Yeah. You, too, kiddo." He hung up, but not before she heard him cursing in his ancestral tongue.
    Rhianna stared at the phone for a long, long time before pushing aside her pride and punching in Conor
    Nolan's number. Her hand was tense, her palm damp. Almost immediately she had her answer. The line
    was busy. He was home and talking to someone or…
    "Okay." She replaced the receiver. "Someone could be calling in, leaving a message. Probably Joey."
    She waited a few minutes and tried again. The line was still busy. She depressed the disconnect button
    and held it, then tried again. The call went through and she heard Conor's voice, hollow and crackling, on
    the answering machine: "This is Nolan. Leave a message."
    Rhianna hesitated after the beep gave her permission to speak. She bit her lip, then once more pushed
    aside her pride.
    "It's me. Are you there?" She paused, hoping he'd pick up. Her heart sank when he didn't. She closed
    her eyes and swallowed. "Look, I guess