Read Online Exposing the Heiress by Jennifer Apodaca - Free Book Online

it into clay and feeling it all had left him empty and tight. His head and muscles ached, and he dropped down on the couch, picking up the remote. Finding a movie, he turned it on low, then settled back. He kicked his bare feet up and willed his body to relax.
    He heard her door open. The colorful light from the TV revealed Lyssie shuffling out, wearing a tank and PJ pants, her eyes sleepy, a line creasing her cheek from her pillow. She navigated between the corner sofa and coffee table to stare down at him.
    Oh hell no. He couldn’t do this now. For three excruciating days and nights, he’d kept his hands off her. “Go back to bed. You don’t want to be out here right now.”
    She tilted her head. “That’s not the deal. Only the studio is off-limits.” She settled on the couch next to him.
    Her warmth flowed over his skin, her scent climbing down his throat. Then she reached out, taking his hand and threading their fingers. Helplessly, he looked down at the smaller hand twined with his. Something in this throat, the tight loneliness that dogged him after sculpting out his nightmares, unlocked. “What are you doing?”
    Her brown eyes filled with softness. “Being your friend. Most nights, you go back into your room. Probably watch Netflix on your iPad or read, I don’t know, except I know you don’t sleep for a while. But tonight, you’re out here so I’ll keep you company.”
    The feel of her hand in his warmed his veins, made him want too many things he couldn’t have. “You need to sleep.” Lyssie had been busy in Skype meetings with her accountants and lawyers. Controlling her wealth was complex, plus she still owned half of Dragon Wing, and then she ran several charities with her assistant Maxine. On top of that she had her secret project…something to do with her pictures. All this and the stress that asshole Madden’s threats put on her were exhausting. He was tempted to pick her up and dump her in her bed—but he’d never walk out.
    “I can multitask.” Gripping his hand in both of hers, she curled up next to him, laying her head against his shoulder. “Unless you really want to be alone?”
    He should. Jesus, he should send her back to her room. Did she know what a temptation she was to him with her full mouth, sleepy eyes and too-generous heart? How goddamned sexy she looked, or the way her hair sliding over his arm sent wake-up messages to his cock?
    It’d be so much easier if their attraction was only physical. That he knew how to deal with. He’d give them both what they wanted until they were satisfied. But this? Fuck. Lyssie had come to him, turned to him when she’d been scared and desperate. That’s who he wanted to be. Sex would destroy that and them, because eventually, she’d learn who and what he really was. Then she’d look at him with horror and turn away.
    “Hunt?”
    Do it. Tell her to go back to bed. Or get up and walk away from her. But he wasn’t that strong. Instead, he pulled her into his arms, settling her against his chest. He grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and covered her. “Stay.”
    An hour later, Hunt laid her in her bed. Lyssie was sound asleep and so damned beautiful, she took his breath away. Every cell in his body cried out to slide into that bed with her, kiss her awake. His heart pounded and stomach muscles contracted sharply. Need clawed him.
    But he walked out and quietly closed her door.
    …
    “Hey, there you are.”
    Alyssa jerked, almost falling off the barstool.
    Hunt caught her arm. “Whoa, didn’t mean to scare you.”
    “Dang.” Slapping a hand against her chest, she sucked in air. He was fresh from his shower after his morning run and workout. They both loved running, but she kept to her isolated runs, and Hunt never pushed to join her.
    This morning, she’d run twice her normal miles, trying to beat her growing desire into submission, the ache that woke her in the nights and stole her thoughts in the day. Hunt set the