Read Online Too Dangerous to Desire by Alexandra Benedict - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Alexandra Benedict
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you myself.”
Hardly the comforting words she had expected to hear from him. But then again, she had noticed he had a tendency to become irate whenever she neared the ocean.
Adam set off to collect his scattered clothing.
Bemused, Evelyn tried to gather her own scat tered senses, to sort out the peculiar loss she was suffering at his separation. But her eyes, her thoughts shifted to Adam once more.
He snatched his trousers from the beach and stepped into the pair with a jerking movement. She might have been alarmed by his clear vexa tion, if she wasn’t so distracted by the sight of his sturdy legs.
A shameful inclination to press her fingers over his strapping limbs consumed her. A sudden desire to know him more intimately possessed her. She beat back the alarming and inexplicable pas sions, tried to put her thoughts to right. But when he next stretched his thick arms above his head, the muscles across his chest and belly elongating, and yanked the shirt over his midriff, she couldn’t prevent the breath of disappointment at seeing him covered from passing between her lips.
Briskly he returned to her side and tugged at her arm. “Let’s go.”
She was still flustered and a bit shaky after ad miring him dress, but she scrambled to her feet. “Where are we going?”
He dragged her. “To the cliff.”
Chapter 9
nm
balmy breeze teased Evelyn’s skin, as she took in the salty tang of ocean air. “Why are we here?”
“Because this is where I first spotted you.”
Adam stood beside her on the cliff in rumpled attire. He had hauled her up the mountain so quickly, he hadn’t the opportunity to tuck in his shirt. The hardy hike had also put a deep glow in his already bronzed skin and a pulsing life in his eyes.
Her heart pulsed, too: the effect of being so close to him. Why did he shake her senses so?
Together they overlooked the vast and restless ocean.
“You were more afraid of him than death two days ago.” With a firm hand, Adam tipped her chin upward. “Are you going to run to the sea every time you see a shadow or hear a knock at the door?”
She turned away from him, a great upheaval in her soul. “You don’t understand, Adam.”
“Then make me understand.”
He stood behind her, all brawn. It was so easy for him to confront his troubles, she thought. He had a hammer for a fist and could crush his adversary with little effort. She didn’t even have the strength of mind to defeat him in her nightmares.
“You can ease your fears, Evie.”
She was restless like the ocean. “How?”
“Admit them aloud; they won’t have such power over you then.”
“It sounds too simple.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “It’s a start.”
The man’s comforting caress made her shiver with inexplicable delight. She was still baffled by her peculiar response to his often innocent touch.
But she was also encouraged by it.
“I don’t know where to begin,” she said. The past few years of her life had been a whirlwind of confusion. She was strapped for words.
“Start at the beginning,” he said in a low voice. “Where are your parents?”
With a heavy breath, she sorted through her chaotic thoughts to admit: “My mother is dead.”
“And your father?”
“After my mother’s demise, Father took to his room. He rarely ventured out, he was so cheer less.” She reached for the pendant at her throat and twisted her fingers around the gold heart. “He started to drink.”
Evelyn remembered the inebriated hollers of madness every night, the foxed footsteps of a grief-filled husband, trolling the house in search of a wife’s lost ghost.
“He started to gamble, too,” she said.
And then life turned really bleak. The comforts Evelyn and her sister, Ella, had grown accustomed to started to vanish, one by one, the deeper their father descended into debt.
“It wasn’t long before we had very little left. A leaky roof, really.”
“And you had to let the servants go?” he guessed. “Like
Hardly the comforting words she had expected to hear from him. But then again, she had noticed he had a tendency to become irate whenever she neared the ocean.
Adam set off to collect his scattered clothing.
Bemused, Evelyn tried to gather her own scat tered senses, to sort out the peculiar loss she was suffering at his separation. But her eyes, her thoughts shifted to Adam once more.
He snatched his trousers from the beach and stepped into the pair with a jerking movement. She might have been alarmed by his clear vexa tion, if she wasn’t so distracted by the sight of his sturdy legs.
A shameful inclination to press her fingers over his strapping limbs consumed her. A sudden desire to know him more intimately possessed her. She beat back the alarming and inexplicable pas sions, tried to put her thoughts to right. But when he next stretched his thick arms above his head, the muscles across his chest and belly elongating, and yanked the shirt over his midriff, she couldn’t prevent the breath of disappointment at seeing him covered from passing between her lips.
Briskly he returned to her side and tugged at her arm. “Let’s go.”
She was still flustered and a bit shaky after ad miring him dress, but she scrambled to her feet. “Where are we going?”
He dragged her. “To the cliff.”
Chapter 9
nm
balmy breeze teased Evelyn’s skin, as she took in the salty tang of ocean air. “Why are we here?”
“Because this is where I first spotted you.”
Adam stood beside her on the cliff in rumpled attire. He had hauled her up the mountain so quickly, he hadn’t the opportunity to tuck in his shirt. The hardy hike had also put a deep glow in his already bronzed skin and a pulsing life in his eyes.
Her heart pulsed, too: the effect of being so close to him. Why did he shake her senses so?
Together they overlooked the vast and restless ocean.
“You were more afraid of him than death two days ago.” With a firm hand, Adam tipped her chin upward. “Are you going to run to the sea every time you see a shadow or hear a knock at the door?”
She turned away from him, a great upheaval in her soul. “You don’t understand, Adam.”
“Then make me understand.”
He stood behind her, all brawn. It was so easy for him to confront his troubles, she thought. He had a hammer for a fist and could crush his adversary with little effort. She didn’t even have the strength of mind to defeat him in her nightmares.
“You can ease your fears, Evie.”
She was restless like the ocean. “How?”
“Admit them aloud; they won’t have such power over you then.”
“It sounds too simple.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “It’s a start.”
The man’s comforting caress made her shiver with inexplicable delight. She was still baffled by her peculiar response to his often innocent touch.
But she was also encouraged by it.
“I don’t know where to begin,” she said. The past few years of her life had been a whirlwind of confusion. She was strapped for words.
“Start at the beginning,” he said in a low voice. “Where are your parents?”
With a heavy breath, she sorted through her chaotic thoughts to admit: “My mother is dead.”
“And your father?”
“After my mother’s demise, Father took to his room. He rarely ventured out, he was so cheer less.” She reached for the pendant at her throat and twisted her fingers around the gold heart. “He started to drink.”
Evelyn remembered the inebriated hollers of madness every night, the foxed footsteps of a grief-filled husband, trolling the house in search of a wife’s lost ghost.
“He started to gamble, too,” she said.
And then life turned really bleak. The comforts Evelyn and her sister, Ella, had grown accustomed to started to vanish, one by one, the deeper their father descended into debt.
“It wasn’t long before we had very little left. A leaky roof, really.”
“And you had to let the servants go?” he guessed. “Like
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