Read Online The Secrets of a Lady by Jenna Petersen - Free Book Online

remember.
    “This is my job, Griffin,” she whispered, her voice husky and broken as she dipped her head and broke their heated stare.
    Shaking off the desire she ignited in him, Griffin frowned. “To trade your body for his secrets?”
    She sucked in a sharp breath of air through her teeth. Without looking at him, she shrugged one shoulder. “Not to the very end. Just to a point.”
    “Well, if it’s just to a point, that makes it all different, doesn’t it?”
    Clenching his fist, Griffin stalked away, his heart racing with powerful anger and disappointment. It was obvious she took no pleasure in this part of her affiliation with the War Department, but still, she did it.
    The sound of her slamming her drink down on the table beside her made him turn. To his surprise, she was on her feet.
    “Do you think I enjoy this?” She swallowed hard before continuing. “Do you think I like having that blackguard’s sticky hands on me or his disgusting taste on my lips?” She wiped her mouth to accentuate her words. “Why do you think I wanted a drink?”
    Griffin froze, his gaze inexplicably drawn to her mouth. Her lips were full and pale pink, swollen from the way she’d been chewing on them in the past hour. They looked sweet. Irresistible.
    “You wish to remove his taste from your lips?” he asked softly.
    With a sigh that shuddered through her body, Audrey nodded.
    “Yes.” Her voice was much softer when she repeated it. “Yes.”
    Taking a few long strides across the room, he found himself directly in front of her. Her proximity warmed him as the lilac smell of her skin flared his nostrils. Slowly he slid his finger beneath her chin to lift her face toward his. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears in the glow of the lamplight.
    “I’ve a better way to erase his taste.”
    It seemed like it took an age from the time he lowered his head to the moment his lips touched hers, but it was worth the wait. Her mouth was soft, softer than he’d remembered.
    With a sigh of acquiescence, she leaned into him. He took her invitation by clasping her waist and drawing her even closer. She let out a little gasp when her breasts flattened against his chest, and he took the opportunity to gently probe her parted lips with the tip of his tongue.
    Instantly she pulled back, her breath coming in short, bated gasps and her eyes dilated as she lifted them to meet his.
    “Why did you…?” she trailed off and the uncertainty in her gaze was clear. Then she shook it away and leaned closer. “Never mind, I don’t want to know why.”
    Pulling her back up against him, he kissed her again. This time it took no teasing for her to accept him. He reveled in her taste, the sweetness of her mixed with the bitter sharpness of the scotch. The kiss deepened until he could no longer determine where she ended and he began.
    Finally, with a strangled groan, he pulled back. He had to or else he would do more than taste her lips.
    “I have wanted to do that for five years,” he admitted.
    Her lips parted in surprise.
    “Wh-what did you say?”
    In an attempt to control his wild emotions, he looked away. “I think you heard me.”
    Crossing the room, he downed his own drink in one swig. Blood raced hot in his veins and the evidence of her power over his body grew. He swelled against the barrier of his trousers after just her kiss.
    “Yes, I did hear you,” she muttered. “Excuse me.”
    Her shoulders shaking, Audrey hurried from the room. Griffin heard her footsteps fleeing up the stairs and down the hallway.
    With a low curse, he shook his head. For all his promises to only be a friend to Audrey Jordan, he’d certainly crossed a line tonight. Now he was certain to pay the cost of his foolhardy actions.
    ***
    Audrey hurried into her room and slammed the door behind her. It seemed an impossible task to draw air in to her aching lungs, no matter how she gasped and heaved.
    Griffin Berenger had just kissed her. It was as if he had reached