The Locktender's Daughter excerpt is © 2005-2011 by Dana Ann Ozak w/a Marguerite Arotin available through Wings E-Press and Kindle format through Amazon.
After dinner, Bethany excused herself from the
table and ran outside. She really needed to get away from Tyler. How was
she going to resist him if he came to visit her on a regular basis? She
touched her forehead and recalled the gentle kiss he placed there
earlier in the day. His lips felt like a gentle breeze when they touched
her skin and she wondered what it would be like to kiss his lips. Her
cheeks heated at the thought.
She picked up a rock and watched it skip twice into
the canal. It was a beautiful summer night and the moonlight shimmered
across the pitch-black water. She picked up another rock and watched as
it skipped three times.
“Not bad,” a male voice behind her said, “But my
record for skipping stones is six. Bet you can’t beat that?”
She turned and saw Tyler grinning smugly at her.
His tall muscular frame casted a bold shadow over the murky canal
waters. She handed him a stone.
“Okay, let’s see what you can do with that,” she
said with a smile.
“Let’s make a little friendly wager here. If I can
skip my stone farther than yours, you’ll have to give me a goodnight
kiss.”
She turned away. “Mr. Brown, I don’t think I can
agree to that wager.”
He put his hand on her shoulder. “Did your fiancé
ever kiss you? It’s really not such a big deal.”
She turned and gazed into his dark blue eyes. They
shimmered like amethysts in the moonlight. “Of course I’ve been kissed
before. My fiancé kissed me once or twice.”
“Well then,” Tyler laughed, “Let’s see how he
kissed you.”
She glared back at him and shook her head. “No, I
don’t think it would be appropriate to kiss a man I barely know.”
He laughed at her. “Are you afraid of being kissed
by me?”
“No, I’m not!”
“Yes you are. You’re chicken.”
Chicken? She was tempted to swipe that rock from
him and knock him in the head with it.
She picked up a rock of her own and walked toward
him. “You take that back, Mr. Brown! I’ll throw this rock right at you
if you don’t take it back.”
He laughed again. “I won’t take it back. I think
you’re chicken and I don’t think that fiancé of yours taught you one
thing about kissing”
“I am not chicken!” She kicked the cattails at her
feet. “And Hagan and I kissed plenty of times!”
“Well show me how you’re fiancé kissed you Miss
Wilder. It’s not as if I’m asking for much. I just want one kiss.”
Bethany rolled her eyes, dropped the rock, walked
up to him, and planted a small peck squarely upon his lips. As she
backed away, Tyler let out a rowdy chuckle and shook his head, “No.
Sweetheart that is not a kiss.” He grabbed her arms and pulled her
close, “This is.”
She tried to resist him but couldn’t turn away as
his lips met with hers. He dropped the stone and his long fingers began
to play with the loose golden curls surrounding her face. A swift summer
breeze slightly blew her calico dress and it wrapped around his ankles.
Her bosom pressed against his muscular chest and the stubble on his
rough chin rubbed against her skin. She couldn’t resist him as his
tongue explored her mouth. Lord above, she tried but she couldn’t
resist.
He suddenly broke away leaving her more stunned and
confused then she’d ever been. He smiled at her, “Well it looks like
despite your best efforts, I am slowly getting to you, my dear.
Goodnight, Bethany.”
He took her hand and placed a small kiss upon its
center. She was still too stunned to move. After he walked away, she put
her hand to her mouth. For the first time since her beloved Hagan passed
away, she was no longer numb. Tyler’s kiss, while it scared her to
death, had awoken all kinds of emotions deep inside of her. She rushed
back to her home hoping she could get Tyler Brown out of her mind and
heart.
