Read Online Midnight Flame by Lynette Vinet - Free Book Online Page A

searing kiss that took her breath from her. The world spun crazily. Laurel realized she had gone too far with this man. What did she know about men? Nothing. Not even enough not to tempt one, especially not this one. She broke away from his mouth’s possession, knowing she had to stop the inevitable.
    “Please, please,” she croaked when he moved his head to the valley of her breasts and buried his tongue within the hollow. “Stop. I was playing a game, Tony. I’m not what you think.”
    “You’re everything I thought you’d be and more,” he said in a muffled voice. He scooped her up into his arms just as lightning streaked the night sky.
    Laurel struggled to escape. “Put me down, Tony. I apologize.”
    His voice sounded ragged and harsh when he spoke. “Maybe this will teach you not to play games.”
    He carried her from the gallery into a dark grove of oak trees that blotted out the sky and lowered her onto the soft grass. Realizing that her skirt had ridden up to her upper thighs, she attempted to pull it down and sit up, but Tony held her fast.
    When another streak of lightning flashed, she saw his face, the agony and desire in his eyes, as if he warred within himself. She began to plead again but stopped when he moved and his body covered the length of hers. His hardness rested against the spot between her legs, and a searing heat spread through her body and lodged in that area. Involuntarily she strained against him, aching for something only he could fulfill.
    Tony laughed bitterly. “You’re not fooling me, you never did. I knew from the moment I met you that you’d belong to me, that I’d do the dishonorable thing by making love to you. You do want me, don’t you?”
    He nipped at her lips, his hands moving over the material of her blouse, then sliding inside to cup a warm, full breast. His tongue drifted downward to the nipple, which he gently sucked.
    Hot lava flowed through Laurel. Never in her life had she felt such intense pleasure, an insane longing to forget propriety, to be a woman at last and wrap her legs in wanton abandon around Tony as he filled her with his love. The thunder overhead was lost in the beating of her heart as Tony’s hand moved over her rib cage, then downward to the velvety smoothness of her naked thigh.
    Her arms wound around his neck, and she whispered his name in a husky voice that she barely identified as her own. Pulling him closer, she trailed fiery fingers over the broadness of his back and then kneaded the warm, hard flesh of his chest.
    “I’ve never desired a woman as much as you,” he said in a tortured voice. “I can’t resist you. God help me, I can’t!”
    His mouth ground down upon hers. Laurel felt his tongue collide with hers, swirling and tasting the sweetness of her mouth. Her breath quickened. Exquisite and pleasurable sensations shot through her body, and not even the piercing white lightning that flashed hotly above them or the rumble of the thunder disturbed her.
    “Love me, Tony. Love me, love me,” she whispered in a passion-laced voice.
    “Oh, God forgive me!” he cried.
    Suddenly the sound of alarmed voices and bright torches filled the night.
    “Monsieur Tony! Monsieur Tony!”
    Tony cursed under his breath. “That’s Rabelais, my foreman. What can he want now of all times?” He began to stand, but instead he tenderly kissed her lips again. “Wait for me, my temptress,” he whispered before leaving her.
    Laurel lay upon the wet grass, feeling a slight mist settle upon her flesh. Her pulse beat hard. It was only when she heard the cries of “Lightning has struck the barn! Get the buckets!” that her senses returned. Standing up, she arranged her clothing and smoothed down her tousled locks and then walked toward the sound. She found that the barn was bathed in a red-orange glow. The male guests were lined up from a well to the fire and were passing heavy wooden buckets of water to Tony at the front of the line. The taut muscles