Read Online Shattered Virtue by Magda Alexander - Free Book Online

there. He must have run away when you screamed.” He slams the door shut, drags the chair over, props it against the knob. He rattles it, probably to make sure it holds. Satisfied, he stashes the gun back in his briefcase and walks toward me.
    I’m trembling so hard the towel I wrapped around me ripples against my skin.
    He cups my chin, raises it until our gazes meet. His touch is so warm, I want to sink into the heat of him.
    “Are you all right?” His husky voice curls around my spine.
    When my legs threaten to give way, I stiffen my knees. Don’t want to drop at his feet like some ninny.
    Quivering, I nod. “Yes. I’m fine.”
    His raised brow tells me he doesn’t believe me. “You’re safe. I latched the bathroom window.”
    “He could break it,” I squeak. I hate the fear in my voice, but the sight of that man peeking in the window awakened my worst nightmare, the one where somebody breaks in while I’m asleep and beats and rapes me.
    “Wouldn’t do him any good,” he says, rubbing my back through the towel. “No one can crawl in through that opening. It’s too small.”
    My gaze cuts to the bathroom and returns to him. Not sure if it’s me seeking safety or him wanting to reassure me, but somehow I’m pressed against his body. His erection, long and hard, is branded against my skin.
    The inappropriateness of the situation makes me jump. “I’m sorry.” Face burning, I turn away from him, trying to put distance between us. As I do so, the flimsy towel rides up my back.
    A choked sound from behind alerts me to what I’ve just done. Oh, God, I just flashed him my bare ass. I swivel and face him, rearrange the sorry excuse of a towel around my body as best I can, but it only serves to push up my breasts.
    I peek at him to find an appreciative grin curling around his mouth.
    The fear dissipates as outrage takes its place. “Stop staring.”
    The grin grows into a full-blown smile. Darn. Even his teeth are perfect. “Why? You’re a beautiful woman.”
    “Because it’s not polite.”
    He snorts. “Politeness flew out the window five minutes ago, don’t you think?”
    When I ran out of the bathroom right into his arms. Fine. I get it. My bad. The lights flicker. “They’re not going to go out, are they?”
    He shrugs his right shoulder. “More than likely.”
    A burst of wind rattles the door. Hail and rain pummel the window over the lumpy sofa, which I now realize he’s made into his bed. He’d probably tucked down for the night when I ran screaming from the bathroom. No wonder he’s wearing only briefs. They’re a nod to my presence, because I can’t imagine he sleeps in anything but his birthday suit. Just as I feared, the lights wink out, leaving us standing in the dark a few feet from each other.
    Petrified, I gulp in air.
    He closes the distance between us but doesn’t touch me. “Hey, it’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
    His calm voice should reassure me, except it doesn’t. “You don’t know that.” I can’t help the quaver in my voice. Between the dark, the storm, the Peeping Tom, I’m fresh out of courage.
    His hand reaches out and tucks back a curl that’s fallen across my face. “The storm’s too far away to do much damage. The walls will hold.” When my only response is a whimper, he wraps his arms around me and pulls me to him.
    “Ohhh.” I’m freezing cold, and he’s a furnace of heat. I burrow into him, hungry for his warmth. My hand curls against his chest, eager for the reassurance of solid flesh. I know I shouldn’t, yet I can’t help but seek his warmth, his touch, him. And the closer I burrow, the more his body reacts to mine. He grows harder, longer against my belly. I can feel every inch of him imprinted against my skin. Something passes between us, something I’ve never experienced before. The man in him calls out to the woman in me, like we’re two of a kind. How can that be? He’s the ultimate player. And I never felt sexually attracted to