Read Online First Taste of Darkness by Cynthia Eden - Free Book Online Page A

thing…just a piece…was enough to buy me a whole new life. The man I’d been died with Finn, and Blake Landon—” He lifted his hands. “He was born.”
    He’d killed Jeremiah Finn.
    “So now you know who the man is that you’re fucking.” 
    Jess flinched.
    “And you’re so scared that you’re shaking.” 
    Jess shook her head. 
    A muscle jerked in his jaw. “Why the hell did I just tell you all of that?”
    “Because I asked.”  Her answer was soft, immediate.
    His eyes narrowed on her. “How do you manage to do this?  How do you get under my skin?”
    She didn’t know.  “How do you manage to make me feel…more than any other man has before?” And, the question that scared her most… “Why am I still not running away from you?”
    “Because you know I’d follow.” 
    Her feet seemed rooted to the spot. But it was her turn for secrets, too.  “I’m not shaking because I’m scared of you.”
    “Maybe you should be.”
    “I’m shaking because I’m scared of myself.”  Everything between them was happening too fast. “I…feel too much with you.” 
    “Dammit, baby, I just told you that I killed a man—”
    “A man who tried to kill you.”
    “And you believe me? How do you know I’m not just covering my ass with that story?”
    The hard, growling question was no doubt meant to make her even more afraid.  But… “I trust you.” 
    His face changed then.  She saw it.  Some of the hardness. The darkness…it eased. 
    He just stared at her, and Blake almost seemed lost.
    “You saved my life tonight,” Jess told him. “You could have just left me there—”
    “Never.”
    “But you didn’t,” she finished, voice quiet. “You came for me. You got me out of that nightmare.”
    He was still gazing at her like—jeez, almost as if she were some kind of present and it was Christmas morning.  Surely she wasn’t the first person to trust the guy? 
    Jess tried to smile. “Maybe…maybe we should start over. Now that all of our secrets are out.”  Her shoulders sagged a bit as she exhaled. “My name’s Jess Delaney.” She caught his hand. Shook it.
    His fingers tightened around hers. “It wasn’t the wrong place.”
    “Wh-what?”
    He hauled her against him. Pressed his lips to hers and kissed her with a wild passion that had her arching against him.
    “It was the right place. Everything about you…” Another hard, drugging kiss. “Everything is right.”
    And even though he was dangerous, even though he was so beyond the men she’d known in her life, Blake seemed right to her, too. So very right.
    Her fingers brushed over the rough stubble that was darkening his jaw.
    “Come back to my bed,” he rumbled the words.
    “Yes,” she said and she followed him up the stairs and back into the darkness.
    Jess was beginning to wonder if she would follow him anywhere he wanted to lead. 
      
    ***
    Sunlight poured onto the bed. Jess reached out her hand, her body stretching, but Blake wasn’t beside her.
    She sat up, pulling the sheet with her. A quick glance at the bedside clock showed her that it was nearing nine a.m.
    “Blake?” Jess called out. Her gaze slid to the bathroom, but the door was open, that room seemingly empty.
    The suite was too quiet. Too empty.  His side of the bed was cold.
    She slipped from the bed.  Jess hurriedly donned the robe that had been left on a nearby chair. Then she padded down the stairs. The silence in the suite was complete.
Blake’s gone.
    She glanced around, wondering if Blake had left a note for her. He’d probably just stepped out for a moment—
    A knock shook the front door. “Ms. Delaney?” The voice was loud, demanding. Masculine.
    She recognized that voice. It was…Carson?    
    Frowning, Jess glanced toward the door. 
    Then she heard the jingle of keys, and the door opened. 
    Carson stood on the threshold. When he saw her, his brows raised. “You’re not ready yet?”
    She pulled the robe closer to her