Read Online Clay by Jennifer Blake - Free Book Online Page B

have taken from her worktable. With his gaze on his equipment, he said, “Such service. I could get used to it.”
    “Don’t,” she recommended briefly as she tossed the bag onto the bed. “It’s not going to last.”
    “Does that mean you’re letting me go?”
    The look she sent him was caustic as she stepped back well out of reach then turned toward the door again.
    “Wait,” he said quickly. “Stay a while.”
    “It’s late. I need to get a little sleep.”
    “Before Lainey wakes up again?”
    Her nod was brief.
    “So you’ll just leave me shut up, going out of my mind lying here with nothing to do except talk to myself.”
    “Sorry.”
    “I’ll bet you are. The least you can do is tell me the point of it. What is it you want? Ransom maybe, so you can afford a kidney transplant?”
    “What makes you think that?”
    “Logic, also something Lainey said. Though I’d think you could get help from some charitable association or government agency.”
    “No such luck,” she said in flippant tones. “So how much do you think you’re worth?”
    “Not as much as you may think. Anyway, who’s going to take care of your daughter if you wind up in prison?”
    “I’ll worry about that later. For now, I’ve got all that I can handle.”
    “Including putting her life in jeopardy for the sake of your career?”
    His gaze was hard, and Janna would swear there was real anger in his voice. She said, “We have to live. But how nice of you to be concerned, especially when you know nothing about it.”
    “I know enough to understand that you’re risking her life by being out here. What in hell are you thinking?”
    Her smile was grim. “Maybe that’s why you’re here, to help take care of her.”
    “You’re joking.”
    “Why? You have medical stuff in your vet’s kit.”
    “I’m not a medical doctor!”
    “You’ll do in a pinch,” she assured him with all the confidence she could muster.
    “You’re crazy.”
    She thought he was trying to keep his voice down to avoid waking Lainey, which only made the frustration in his tone more apparent. “Well, there you have it, the explanation for everything.”
    He stared at her, his gaze penetrating. “I don’t think so,” he said finally. “I think you’ve got something up your sleeve. I’m not sure what it is, but it seems to me that it has you running scared. You’re jumpy and on edge and ready to hit out at anyoneand everyone who comes too close. Fine, but don’t be surprised if they hit back.”
    “I take it that’s a warning?”
    “Take it any way you want.”
    With a lift of her chin, she said, “If this is your idea of witty conversation to relieve your boredom, I’ll pass. Good night.”
    She swung toward the door so quickly that her loosely tied housecoat swirled open. Clutching at it, she bent her head while she sought the ends of the tie that held it together. Behind her, there came a soft, slithering noise. A warning tingle zipped along her nerves. Her head came up.
    He was on her before she could move, whipping an arm around her waist, shoving her against the wall beside the open door. Her cheek scraped against the plaster. Her breath was forced from her in a rush. A second later, she was jerked around so her back was to the hard surface. He grabbed her right wrist and pinned it beside the turn of her neck with his left hand while the hard ridge of his right arm, which was bound to it, pressed into the softness of her breasts.
    “Now,” he said softly, his warm breath brushing over her cheek and tickling her ear. “Let’s see if this improves my communication skills.”
    Janna gave a small moan that had nothing to do with pain or fear, but was from pure chagrin that she’d let herself be lulled into complacency by his quiescence, compassion and handsome grin. It had been stupid of her to go near him. It had also been idiotic to forget that he had slack in the cable that held him, and dumb to think that he wouldn’t attemptto