Read Online Taken By The Hero (Hero Romance 2) by Kalena Lyons - Free Book Online Page A

think. Do you really think you’re cut out to be a glorified secretary?”
    Laura shook her head.
    “Do you really think you were meant to be like your friends? I’m sorry, I forgot their names.”
    Laura almost felt frightened that either Liz, Aubrey or any of the other conference attendees saw her in that state last night, especially leaving in the arms of an older man. But there was something reassuring about Jack, so she put the thought out of her head. “No - no, not at all.”
    “Well, what is it you think you were meant to be?”
    “I don’t… I guess… I don’t know,” her voice sounded confused. She had no idea what this older stranger was getting at, or what he was going to ask next.
    “Well there’s only one way to find out,” Jack said thoughtfully. “Take off your clothes.”
    Laura chuckled. But Jack turned to her sternly, and placed his face just inches from hers, squeezing her wrists.
    “I’m serious. Take. Off. Your. Clothes.” He enunciated each syllable so fervently; Laura felt she had no choice but to comply.
    She stood up, trembling. She slid her skirt off clumsily, before stretching her arms over her head to remove the blouse. Jack helped her by pulling it off forcefully, giving her a fright. “All… all of them?” she asked. Her head no longer throbbed, but she felt as if any second she was going to cry.
    “Yes, all of them,” Jack replied assuredly.
    She unfastened her bra slowly with her back towards Jack, but he soon swiveled her around to face him. She lingered over the simple black panties but realized if she had gone this far, she may as well remove everything for him.
    Jack looked approvingly at every inch of her body -the supple hips; the small, firm breasts; her soft belly revealing a soft mole that seemed to dazzle in Jack’s eyes like a diamond; the gorgeous, if sleepy, face; the wide, quivering lips; even the heavy, half shut eyelids. He bade her to turn around, not lifting a finger upon her. She did so slowly, and when she turned around to face him, she saw a warm and loving smile plastered over his face. She smiled in return.
    “Now, why did you do that so willingly?” Jack questioned her. She shrugged her shoulders. “At no point, did I force you to. At no point did I threaten you. At no point, was I going to lay a finger on you. Now there must be something that possessed you to do so of your own free will, wasn’t there?”
    She could feel Jack’s question piercing her. Every illusion she had of free will seemed to crumble. Who was she? What were the choices she made in her life? Were they hers, or were they done solely to please outside interests? Did her choices define her? If not, what did?
    Still, there was no denying it. She stripped for Jack solely because he had asked her to. She had never experienced a man being so direct with her before in her life. Every one of her relationships had involved a senseless rigmarole, an increasingly transparent game that she was tired of being an active participant in. But in Jack’s game?
    She felt passive. As if she were the board, and not the pieces. And the more passive she felt, the more excited she became with the novelty of it all. And the more excited she became, the more secure she felt.
    “I’ll ask again… What possessed you to strip for me of your own free will?”
    “I… because… I,” Laura hesitated to try to put into words what was going through her brain. Finally, she had no choice but to admit it. She felt it last night, when Jack was acting the perfect gentleman while she was drunk out of her gourd. She felt it as soon as she even laid eyes on Jack for the very first time. And she felt it now, naked in this man’s penthouse suite. “It’s… Because I wanted to!” she yelled, with a force that surprised even her.
    For the first time in her life, Laura Kimball felt entirely in control of herself - in control of her life, in control of her body. Seized as she was in Jack’s snare, she knew