Breathless Read Free Page A

ongoing liaisons with
Francine so fresh in her mind, she refused to give in.
"I can't.
I still have some unpacking to do and I
need to go shopping for some casual
clothes.
Francine keeps pointing out that I'm
overdressed.
James looked slightly abashed at the mention of
Francine's name.
He thought she suspected
something, if not knew all together.
It wasn't
much of a secret in the plant about Francine and
James.
That didn't help him. James couldn’t
ignore the deeper desire that caused him to feel
something for Alex.
He had ignored her mention
of a fiancée on purpose.
He still was unsure of his
emotions which were running the gamut from
devastation from Jean to love reborn in Alex.
"Can you detail it in a memo or at least a list and
leave it on my desk? I really do want to get going,"
asked Alex as she stood to leave.
"Yeah, I'll do that," James responded.
Alex
detected the note of rejection in his voice and
ignored it.
She had just walked out of his office
and back to her cube to collect her things when she
heard a noise from the reception area.
She
glanced at James' office wondering if he had heard
it, but when no movement came from his office, she
ventured into the reception area.
Francine had shut off the lights which plunged the
room in total darkness.
Alex was still shaky about
the layout of the office and stubbed her left foot on
the copier as she passed it.
"Dammit," she whispered.
Suddenly, a hand snaked out of the darkness and
grabbed Alex's right arm jerking her against a
hardened chest and belly.
Alex let out a small
scream that was stifled by a sweaty hand over her
mouth.
"Who are you," whispered a rough voice in her ear
as the hand moved inches from her mouth for her
to reply.
"Alexandra Chambers," she whimpered in a quaky
voice.
Alex tried to be calm.
She knew that
James was still in his office, because she had just
left him and not heard the door to the plant
open.
Her captor wasn't much taller that she was
and could feel the scratch from his beard or stubble
on her neck.
Alex could smell the scents of
aftershave, cigarettes, coffee, sweat and machinery
oil mingle with the smell of her own fear as her
assailants breath labored in her ear.
His left hand
clamped her mouth, holding her close to him and
his right hand roamed freely over her body, feeling
the softness of her silk blouse and cotton
skirt.
The hand continued to slide down her
curves until she felt it catch the hem of her
skirt.
As it was slowly raised, she felt the
roughness of the knuckles on her naked thigh and a
cool breeze as the skin was exposed.
Alex then
felt the callused palm of the hand caressing the skin
underneath.
The unknown man inhaled at her
softness and pulled her closer to him.
Alex felt the
growing hardness at the apex of his thighs and
prepared to give another scream when the clamped
hand finally freed her mouth again.
"Why are you here so late," he said, moving the
hand from her mouth to her right breast squeezing
it harshly.
Alex didn't hesitate and let out an ear shattering
scream.
Abruptly, she was let go and shoved to
the hard floor in the office.
James was putting on his coat to leave, when he
heard the scream.
At first, he thought it was a
piece of metal straining against one of the machines
in the shop, but then he recognized that it was
coming from the direction of the offices.
"Alex," he whispered and bolted through the door
into the reception area.
Alex was sitting on the floor on the verge of tears
when the lights came on suddenly.
James felt his
stomach clench as the worst thoughts came to
mind.
James knelt in front of her and brushed the
hair from her eyes with one hand as the other lifted
her chin up.
"What happened?
Are you okay?
Can you get
up," he asked anxiously.
Alex shook her head dumbly and allowed James to
help her up off the floor of the reception area.
He
led her to one of the chairs that sat in the room and
retrieved a glass of water from the cooler
nearby.
Alex sipped from the cup with shaking
hands and