Read Levi (Prairie Grooms, Book Five) for Free Online Page B

grabbed an apple all right, and made as if to throw it at him. He weaved and bobbed to dodge the flying fruit, then realized she hadn’t let go of it. “Hey, what are you doing?”
    Fina stood in triumph and tossed the apple from one hand to the next. “Did you really think I'd throw this at you?”
    Levi stood and watched as she continued to toss the apple from one hand to the other, with a smirk of victory on her face. “All right,” he finally said. “You got me.”
    She put the apple on the table. “And the score is now…?” She cupped a hand to her ear and leaned in his direction.
    Levi bit his lower lip and glared at her. “Five to five,” he ground out. “Now, let's go.” He spun on his heel and headed for the door. “I'm going to show you the barn,” he said, then suddenly turned to face her. “And if I had any sense, I'd make up a bed and sleep in there tonight.”
    “What for?”
    His eyes roamed her face, studying her mouth, before they drank in the rest of her. “Because, as I see it, it’s going to be a long night, no matter how I look at it.”
    “What is that supposed to mean?”
    He cupped her face with a hand. “You're too beautiful for your own good; you know that, don't you?”
    “I know no such thing,” she said, her voice solemn.
    “Well, you are, which means the next nine days are going to be pure torture for one of us; maybe both, who knows?”
    “If it is for me, do I get another point?”
    “No.”
    “Then what do I get?”
    His arms came around her so fast she had no time to think, only react. She gasped as her head tilted back. “Levi,” she breathed. “What are you doing?”
    “Making sure I don't sleep in the barn tonight.” That said, he kissed her like she’d never been kissed before.
     

 
     
     
    Five
     
     
    He shouldn’t have done it; knew he shouldn’t have, but with the way her hazel eyes flashed at him, and her dark hair loosened from its pins and escaped in tiny, dark tendrils to frame her face, Levi had to kiss her.
    She didn’t push him away as he thought she would. Instead, she melted against him, and, try as he might, he couldn’t help but deepen the kiss. He’d wanted to tease her with his words earlier, give her a light peck, and leave her shocked. He didn’t expect such a fire to flare between them, nor the bone-deep possessiveness that consumed him. She was his. His and his alone; and Lord help any man who so much as looked at her. For, in that moment, Levi could picture himself beating some poor fool half to death for doing so.
    He slowly lifted his face from hers. A slight sheen of sweat covered her brow and he smiled. He’d lit a hotter fire in her than he thought. “I do believe, I just won myself a point, Mrs. Stone,” he whispered against her face.
    She shook her head.
    “You don’t think so?”
    She shook her head again and her mouth moved, but no sound escaped.
    Levi chuckled. “Kissed you senseless, have I? Then I get two points.”
    “No!” she forced out. “No fair …” She caught her breath, but her knees gave out.
    Levi grinned like the devil, more pleased than ever, and held her tightly against his chest. “Dare I say three points?”
    She shook her head again, gave him a glazed look, and swallowed hard. “You haven’t earned a thing!” She straightened her knees and pushed against him to free herself.
    “Haven’t I?” he held her prisoner and studied her flushed face, could feel her heart slamming against his own chest. She was on fire and fought to put it out. This, of course, would never do.
    “Let me go!” she cried as she struggled against him.
    “No.”
    She stopped and glared at him. “What do you mean, no? Let me go at once!”
    “You don’t want me to,” he drawled, his voice silky smooth.
    “Who are you to say if I do, or if I don’t? Now release me!”
    His eyes raked over her as she began to tremble in his arms. He lowered his face to hers. “No,” he whispered, and then nipped at her