Read In Your Arms for Free Online

enjoy taking the lives of others, but being a sheriff hadn’t always been easy. Even when a man pointed a gun at him first, killing him wasn’t what Marcus wanted to do. But sometimes he didn’t have a choice. The screams of the people he’d shot echoed loudly through his head even now, and that was what made him turn in his badge two years earlier.
    He shouldn’t have let Melissa draw her own conclusions about his jaded past, but reliving those memories wasn’t something he ever intended to do. Burying them deep inside was better. At least that allowed him to wake up and look at his own reflection in the morning.
    Marcus pushed up from the ground and squinted toward the Gulch. Melissa had made it safely back to the general store, even if her heart was bruised. He cursed himself for withdrawing from her so harshly, but he’d been a hair’s breadth away from dragging her to the ground and lifting her skirts in the air. And that couldn’t be allowed to happen. He would never take her innocence unless it was given freely to him, and he doubted she would ever do that. A woman’s virginity was a gift she gave to her husband.
    But that didn’t stop his body from screaming for her. Unbuckling his gun belt and stripping off his clothes, he jumped into the creek without another thought. As his head went under the water, his body suddenly began crying out at the contact of the cold water. He had to erase all thoughts of Melissa Bloom from his mind.
    It was going to be hell working with her and not being able to do a damn thing about it. The best thing to do was ignore her, to pretend the kiss that evening had never happened. He’d take her to the dance as he’d promised, but that would be it. Nothing more than a polite hello every now and again would have to do. If he got any closer to her than that, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop himself again.
    He’d spoken to her true--he was not nice. He was merciless when it came to getting what he wanted, and he wanted her . Dunking his head again, he wondered to himself how he was ever going to ignore that glorious hair or those expressive eyes. He knew he wouldn’t be able to. It would be impossible to ignore Melissa.
    But, damn it, he had to try!
    ~ * ~
    Over the next few days, Marcus found it hard to avoid both Bloom sisters. Chuck kept him busy doing a few odd repairs to the roof and staircase. At the end of the week, a new supply of goods was brought in that needed to be stocked.
    Melissa had barely said two words to him since the incident near the creek, and Marcus couldn’t be more thankful. She was probably mortified at his behavior of kissing her and wanted nothing further to do with him. That thought twisted his gut, but it made it easier to stay away from her, even if he stole a few glances her way every now and again.
    He noticed Melissa and Shirley weren’t speaking with each other as well, and whenever either of them occupied the same room, a definite chill could be felt in the air. He had no idea what had gone on between them, he was just glad he hadn’t been there when it happened.
    Shirley tried to corner him every so often, talking about nothing in particular--the weather, the goods, or Mr. Patrick’s barn dance at which she made it quite clear she would be free to dance with whomever she pleased. Marcus cringed at the thought, but he knew propriety demanded that he at least give her one dance.
    Truth be told, he dreaded the occasion. Knowing Melissa was his to dance with for the evening gave him a heady feeling. He tried not to think about it much, but just the image of having her in his arms again made him tense. And more often than not, he was in a bad mood around the shop because of it.
    Marcus also made sure he was at the store just before dawn so he could carry the heavy buckets of water to the trough so Melissa wouldn’t have to. Every morning he saw her go outside to fill it, and every morning he watched her trudge back inside with a