Read Online Princess by Christina Skye - Free Book Online Page A

her brain.
    The sofa bed squeaked, protesting beneath Hawk’s weight. “Any other grave secrets I need to know before I go to sleep?” he called.
    So he assumed it was some kind of joke. Maybe that was just as well. “No more secrets,” she answered shortly.
    “Good.” His voice wasn’t quite as cool as it had been. “’Night, Ms. Mulcahey.” The light switched off in the room behind her.
    Jess stared at the partially open door. He didn’t understand at all.
    With luck he never would.
    Summer Mulcahey paced anxiously outside a dilapidated warehouse, imagining her sister trapped in a hotel room with a psycho. Given her FBI experiences, her imagination was far too concrete and detailed.
    She probably worried too much, but the thought didn’t make her stop sweating. When her cell phone chimed, she answered immediately.
    The number was blocked, she noted. “Jess, is that you?”
    “It’s Izzy Teague, Summer. I just got your message.”
    Reining in her nerves, Summer walked away from the team of forensic experts finishing a crime-scene assessment nearby. “Izzy, what’s going on? My sister said she saw you tonight. She also said she was in a car accident. If Jess is in some sort of trouble—”
    “Jess is fine, Summer. Her Jeep spun out in a storm, and I smoothed things out.”
    Summer Mulcahey glared at the phone. She didn’t for one second believe the story was that simple. Izzy Teague was a security operative with class-A clearances, and he didn’t wander onto lonely country roads to handle random motor accidents. “Try again,” she said flatly.
    “Okay, it wasn’t just a simple accident.” Izzy blew out an irritated breath. “You really need to hear this now?”
    “I really,
really
need to hear this now.”
    “I’m involved in a project here, Summer. My friend was finishing his surveillance when your sister took a detour onto the shoulder. He couldn’t see her until it was too late, but he’s fine now. So is your sister.”
    Summer hunched over the phone, speaking quietly. “She’s my sister, Izzy. Since I know
exactly
what kind of work you do and the kind of men you do it with—”
    Izzy laughed dryly. “Of course you know. You’re married to one of those men.”
    “That fact is irrelevant. I don’t want Jess involved in my world or in yours. I mean that, Izzy. There are . . . reasons.”
    “Care to name them?”
    “No, and don’t cross me on this. If Jess has wandered into the middle of a mission, get her out.” Summer’s voice hardened. “Otherwise, I’ll come out there and see to it myself.”
    Jess was floating on a small boat in the Aegean. Waves rocked her gently, slapping against the hull while she slept beneath a hot, glorious sunset. Yawning, she decided to take off the top of her swimsuit and slather on more oil. . . . She shrugged off the straps, feeling the heat of the sun on her shoulders—
    She woke up with a start, on a strange bed in a cold room. As rain pounded against the window, driven by a hammering wind, she remembered where she was and why she was still there.
    For long tense moments, she didn’t move, letting the blurred edges of sleep slip away.
    2:21 A.M.
    So much for her vaguely sexual dreams.
    Abruptly her stomach growled. She had been too keyed up to eat very much after the accident, and now hunger pangs hit her in earnest.
    She glanced at the clock again.
    2:22 A.M.
    After a mental review of her possessions, she realized her options were limited to a raisin granola bar and a few other snacks, but all were stashed in her suitcase, which happened to be next door in the living room.
    Of course she wasn’t going near Hawk or the bed where he slept, probably wearing nothing.
    With a mental curse, she pulled the pillow across her head, ignoring her growling stomach. She was successful—for about twelve minutes.
    Finally convinced that further sleep was impossible, Jess sat up, staring into the darkness.
    She would simply pull on her robe, creep next