Read Online Fire & Ice by Anne Stuart - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anne Stuart
Tags: Mystery
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finally got on a plane back to California, he'd let her keep the jacket. It probably had American female cooties on it. Maybe it would remind her of what an idiot she'd been.
Or maybe it would remind her of how his warm, hard body had felt beneath hers when she'd knocked him over in hysterical relief.
Even without the jacket she was going to have a hard time forgetting.
She needed to get laid. It was that simple, and it was only her ridiculously semi-virginal state that was making her crazy. Obsessed with Reno. She needed to get back to California, choose the first nice, good-looking man she could find and get it over with. Someone with more discretion, patience and sympathy than the wretched Duke. And then she'd be completely immune.
Because there was no room in her life for a Yakuza punk samurai.
Or to be honest, there was no room in his life for her. And the sooner she accepted that fact the better off she'd be.
She hugged herself anyway, snuggling deeper into the leather. If that was the only kind of embrace she was going to get she might as well enjoy it. It was going to be over soon enough.
The crazy, fucked-up thing was, he was enjoying himself. On the run for his life, with a gaijin tagging along, and he was feeling more alive than he had in a long time. Taka would kill him.
Reno looked over at her. She was huddled into his jacket, her face turned away, and he knew a moment's regret. He would have much rather been the one to wrap around her, but he had too much regard for his life to risk Taka's wrath. He was going to keep her in one piece, unmolested, no matter how tempting she was. It wasn't as if there weren't a thousand other women in the world.
Besides, even worse than Taka, he didn't want to upset Su-chan. Women were like that—able to make you feel like a total shit with just a look, and he'd made a promise. He'd prefer it if Taka took a swing at him.
No, things would be much better all around if he just left her alone. Taka and Su-chan would be happier, Grandfather would be happier, he and Jilly would be happier. If she'd just stop looking at him when she thought he didn't notice.
If he could just stop thinking about the erotic possibilities of her mouth and her long, curved body.
He needed to concentrate on the business at hand. Who had told the Russians where to find them? Someone close to his grandfather, someone the old man trusted, and the old man didn't trust many people.
At least the Russians were taken care of, in a twisted heap of metal at the bottom of a cliff, and instinct told him that was the last of them.
Unless someone decided to take the two of them out for the fun of it, and mercenaries kept business and pleasure far apart. If they kept coming it meant that someone else was paying the bills.
He glanced over at her. No one was getting to her, no one was going to hurt her. He wasn't sure why he felt so strongly about an irritating stranger, but he did. No one was going to hurt her.
Not even him.
6
Takashi O'Brien stood on the narrow porch of the old inn, staring out at the Pacific Ocean. It was off-season on the island of Hokkaido, and most of the places were closed for the winter. No one knew that he and Su-chan were hidden up here in a place that had once belonged to his grandfather. They'd arrived at the small inlet by boat, with enough food to keep them going until they heard it was safe to come back. But Taka was getting edgy.
“Is something wrong?” He heard his wife's sleepy voice behind him. He turned to look at her—she was wrapped in a duvet, her long hair in her eyes, her mouth as delicious as always.
He went to her, pulling her into his arms, keeping the duvet wrapped tight around her naked body so the cold winter wind wouldn't bite into her. “I should have heard something by now.”
“But we don't get cell-phone service out here. At least, my phone didn't work.”
“Cell phones don't work. My PDA works on a different frequency. Peter won't use it until
Or maybe it would remind her of how his warm, hard body had felt beneath hers when she'd knocked him over in hysterical relief.
Even without the jacket she was going to have a hard time forgetting.
She needed to get laid. It was that simple, and it was only her ridiculously semi-virginal state that was making her crazy. Obsessed with Reno. She needed to get back to California, choose the first nice, good-looking man she could find and get it over with. Someone with more discretion, patience and sympathy than the wretched Duke. And then she'd be completely immune.
Because there was no room in her life for a Yakuza punk samurai.
Or to be honest, there was no room in his life for her. And the sooner she accepted that fact the better off she'd be.
She hugged herself anyway, snuggling deeper into the leather. If that was the only kind of embrace she was going to get she might as well enjoy it. It was going to be over soon enough.
The crazy, fucked-up thing was, he was enjoying himself. On the run for his life, with a gaijin tagging along, and he was feeling more alive than he had in a long time. Taka would kill him.
Reno looked over at her. She was huddled into his jacket, her face turned away, and he knew a moment's regret. He would have much rather been the one to wrap around her, but he had too much regard for his life to risk Taka's wrath. He was going to keep her in one piece, unmolested, no matter how tempting she was. It wasn't as if there weren't a thousand other women in the world.
Besides, even worse than Taka, he didn't want to upset Su-chan. Women were like that—able to make you feel like a total shit with just a look, and he'd made a promise. He'd prefer it if Taka took a swing at him.
No, things would be much better all around if he just left her alone. Taka and Su-chan would be happier, Grandfather would be happier, he and Jilly would be happier. If she'd just stop looking at him when she thought he didn't notice.
If he could just stop thinking about the erotic possibilities of her mouth and her long, curved body.
He needed to concentrate on the business at hand. Who had told the Russians where to find them? Someone close to his grandfather, someone the old man trusted, and the old man didn't trust many people.
At least the Russians were taken care of, in a twisted heap of metal at the bottom of a cliff, and instinct told him that was the last of them.
Unless someone decided to take the two of them out for the fun of it, and mercenaries kept business and pleasure far apart. If they kept coming it meant that someone else was paying the bills.
He glanced over at her. No one was getting to her, no one was going to hurt her. He wasn't sure why he felt so strongly about an irritating stranger, but he did. No one was going to hurt her.
Not even him.
6
Takashi O'Brien stood on the narrow porch of the old inn, staring out at the Pacific Ocean. It was off-season on the island of Hokkaido, and most of the places were closed for the winter. No one knew that he and Su-chan were hidden up here in a place that had once belonged to his grandfather. They'd arrived at the small inlet by boat, with enough food to keep them going until they heard it was safe to come back. But Taka was getting edgy.
“Is something wrong?” He heard his wife's sleepy voice behind him. He turned to look at her—she was wrapped in a duvet, her long hair in her eyes, her mouth as delicious as always.
He went to her, pulling her into his arms, keeping the duvet wrapped tight around her naked body so the cold winter wind wouldn't bite into her. “I should have heard something by now.”
“But we don't get cell-phone service out here. At least, my phone didn't work.”
“Cell phones don't work. My PDA works on a different frequency. Peter won't use it until
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