Give Me Tonight

Now the challenge was thrown to him. He accepted it without hesitation. Standing up in a swift movement, he caught her waist in his hands and backed her up until the edge of the table pressed into her buttocks. She didn't know what to do or where to put her hands. Her palms came to rest on his upper arms, on the hard swell of muscle that tightened at her touch. And she looked up at him, confused and excited, and curious. Just this once it wouldn't hurt. She would let it happen, and she didn't care what he said or thought afterward. He lowered his dark head and nuzzled her ear, and the touch of his hot breath in the hollow behind her earlobe made her shiver.

'That's a good question,' he said. 'What should I expect from a woman like you?' He heard her swallow convulsively, felt her body tense as he drew closer. She wasn't trying to move away, although they both knew he would have let her go easily had she made a move to be free. The skin of her arms was soft underneath his fingers.

Suddenly she seemed very fragile to Ben, someone to be handled gently and treated with tenderness. He'd never felt that for anyone in his life, or held a woman who trembled at his touch. He was accustomed to women who were comfortable with men, well-versed in the ways a man liked to be pleased. But there was a vast gulf between their knowledge and this woman's. Despite her attempts at sophistication, she didn't have much actual experience, of that he was fairly certain. There was no way her shyness, her uncertainty, could be manufactured. Why did it arouse him so?

“Addie, ' he murmured, and her breath caught as his mouth began to wander to the edge of her jaw. 'Don't pretend with me. Not ever.'

'Wh-what? '

'I hope I'm not imagining you. Am I, Addie?'

'No-'

'It doesn't matter if I am.' His hands urged her upward, gently forcing her to rise on her toes. 'Don't pull away, Adeline.'

She wanted to pull away, but her body was thrilling with exhilaration, guilt, and fear. Her face turned that necessary half-inch, to an angle that aligned with his. She was lost in the deep green sea of his eyes. His arm slid around her back, trapping her, keeping her close, and suddenly both of them were aware of her breasts pressed snugly into his chest.

As he bent his head to kiss her, she held her breath and her eyes closed. Just as their lips met, there was the sound of footsteps outside the kitchen door, and Russell's imperious voice.

'Addie? Addie, where are you?'

They broke apart in a startled movement. Addie flushed and spun away from Ben, touching her mouth with her fingertips as if he'd left a brand. There had been no time to feel anything but a delicious hint of warmth… but that was more than she ever should have known of Ben Hunter.

'We're both in the kitchen,' Ben replied, swiping up the dripping cloth full of ice and holding it to his face as he sat down abruptly. He and Addie stared at each other for one burning moment until Russell strode into the kitchen.

'I see she's got you fixed up good,' he said, seeming not to notice Addie's discomposure. 'Adeline, there's a thing or two we got to talk about.'

'Oh?'

'That Johnson boy-well, things hafta change between you and him.'

'What do you mean?' she asked warily. 'The quarrel is between you and Big George. That doesn't have to affect my friendship with Jeff. '

'The quarrel's between the Warners and the Johnsons. Which means there's no more friendship between you and Jeff. You're not goin' to see him anymore, or even talk to him. Understand?'

If he had approached her in a different way, she might have tried to understand his viewpoint. But the way he said it, as an order for her to follow, a command for her to obey, fired her temper as quickly as if he'd set a match to gunpowder.

'It looks like we have a few things to discuss,' she said evenly, trying to keep calm.'

'There's nothin' to talk about.'

Ben cleared his throat. 'Looks like it's time for me to leave.'

'Stay,' Russ commanded without looking at him.

'This won't take long.'

'But then again, it might,' Addie said tersely.

'Because you seem to think that all you have to do is dictate orders and watch me rush to obey. But I'm an adult, and I have some say in this.'

'Now, Addie, don't be stubborn, or-'

'Or you'll send me to bed early? Or give me less pocket money? I'm not a child to be disciplined. I'm an adult.'

'You're my daughter.'

“I have the right to take part in the decisions that affect me.'

'You sure as hell don't!' Russell exploded. 'Because I'm the one who makes the decisions, and I'm damn well not going to come to you for advice about my business-'

'This is my business too! You and Mama have been pushing Jeff at me for weeks. Half the time I've gone to see him only because I wanted to please you. Now suddenly I'm supposed to turn my feelings off and give him the freeze because of some arbitrary whim of yours. But I can't do that.'

'Dammit, why are you so all-fired anxious to cross me?' Their eyes met in challenge, and Addie saw his anger increase as he realized she wasn't going to bow down easily. But he was canny, and he decided to change tactics. 'Honey,' he said in a conciliatory voice, 'we'll get someone a lot better than Jeff for you. Any man in Texas would give his left… would give a lot to have you. Ain't that right, Ben?'

'Don't drag him into this!' Addie snapped, saving Ben the necessity of replying. 'And I won't be pacified by having the prospect of some other man dangled in front of me like a new toy.'

'Then what the hell do you want?'

'For you to stop treating me like I'm something to be moved around and managed and maneuvered, just like your cattle. Just like Mama and Caroline. '

His face turned purple. 'As long as you live under my roof, eat at my table, and live off my money, you'll do what I say. Just like they do.'

Addie felt tears of fury spring to her eyes. 'And talk to whom you tell me to? And marry the man you choose for me?'

'That's right.'

'It's not right,' she said huskily, thinking in a split second of Caroline and the man she had lost. 'It's not right at all. You wouldn't let someone run your life like that. Why do you expect it of me?”

Russell's face was hard. 'Because you're a woman. Smart, yes. Too smart for your own good, and damned spoiled. But you're still just a woman, and there's no gettin' around it. I 'll give you rein when I can, Adeline, but not this time.'

“But-”

'You want a woman's privileges and a man's rights too. But you can't have both. Look at you. Tears ready to fall. You can't hold 'em back-that's because you're a woman. Do you think a man would do that? You stick to your female weapons, honey, and let me make the decisions. You got your place and I got mine. '

'Don't you think I have a sense of honor? Of pride?' she demanded hoarsely, struggling to hold back the humiliating tears. It was a sign of weakness, one he had taken good advantage of. 'Being a woman doesn't mean I don't have sense and intelligence. It doesn't mean I don't need freedom.' There was a terrible pressure behind her eyes. She wadded the back of her sleeve against her nose, needing a handkerchief. Although Ben was silent, she was afraid she would see mockery in his eyes. She didn't look at him. As she stared fixedly at Russell, her heart burned with resentment. 'I'll see Jeff if I want to,' she said in a muffled voice.

'You do that, little girl, and I'll bring you to heel so damn quick you won't believe it.'

Addie was too angry and humiliated to say anything. She felt trapped as she stood there, cornered, and she had to break free or choke on her own helplessness. Striding through the kitchen, she yanked