Burned: Black Cipher Files #3 (Black Cipher Files series) Read Free Page B

moonlight and the position of his body cast her face in shadow, defining her features in shades and angles, like a scene from the old black and white movies he used to watch with his Grandpop.
    Her breath was coming in short, soft pants and drew his gaze from the shadowed planes of her face to her chest. Her sweater was damp, her nipples beaded in the chill night air clearly visible.
    Her hair was the color of midnight, woven together in a loose braid as thick as his wrist and resting on the curve of one very fine breast.
    Totally inappropriate of him to notice, and dwell on.
    They had this From Here To Eternity thing going on that was fuzzing his brain and making it difficult to concentrate.
    The moonlight bathed her face in a silvery light, her gray eyes shone with some undefined emotion. The crisp scent of cucumber and the ocean rose from her body. She was like his own personal siren, drawing him to her and pulling him from the clutches of the sea.
    Yeah, he’d figured out that one. His last memory was of tumbling into the cauldron of the surf.
    As he absorbed the impression of her body beneath his and the soft shush of the surf behind them, he wished he was better with women. Wished that the men in his family weren’t cursed. Wished that he knew what romantic words to whisper in her ear so they could stay here all night alone in the darkness, moonlight shining down on them and the ocean surrounding them, just man, woman, and nature.
    He traced the delicate features of her face with his gaze, her deep shadowed eyes, her slightly upturned nose, and the sheer perfection of her mouth.
    Oh, what he could do with her mouth, to her mouth.
    His cock had risen with the nature of his thoughts. But unfortunately he had more pressing problems, not to mention he was probably scaring the crap out of her.
    His head pounded like a son of a bitch. The last time he felt this badly he’d woken up from being drugged and had lost about five hours of his life. Then lost everything.
    Suspicion kicked in. What the fuck?
    Then his brain revved back into gear. “Hanlon’s razor,” he murmured under his breath. Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
    Namely his.
    No one knew he was going to be here, on this beach, surfing in the dark. Not even him until about thirty minutes ago.
    He thought he noticed an instant of surprise before her perfectly arched brows crinkled into her forehead. The surf rolled and broke behind him. He could hear the water approaching when she exploded into action.
    “Get off me.” She panted, and dug her heels into the sand, trying to buck him off.
    “Yeah, sorry. I won’t hurt you.” He let go of her wrists.
    “It’s coming.”
    Zeke twisted around looking for the threat, needing no confirmation that her terror was real. “What’s coming?”
    “The...the...the....”
    Her feet scrabbled against the sand.
    He looked around again and didn’t see any threat. But her motion underneath him had re-awakened his body. Hell-o. A wave broke and headed toward them.
    “Wa-ter.”
    He realized then she was not just wet but soaked and trapped beneath him. Great...he’d been living out his teen fantasies while the girl froze to death. That’s why the men in his family were cursed.
    “Yeah.” He tried to get up but she wiggled and squirmed so much that every time he attempted to shift off her, she bucked him in a different direction.
    “Get off. It’s coming.”
    “Hold still, dammit.”
    The water curled against their toes and she shrieked.
    “Jesus.” Zeke rose to his knees as she scrabbled out from under him. “Are you nuts?”
    She rolled backwards, kneeing him in the balls and then she jumped to her feet.
    “Who’s the one who went surfing at night, genius?” she sneered.
    She had a point.
    Zeke rubbed at the bump on the back of his head. While he might agree in theory, he didn’t take kindly to being yelled at.
    “Look....” He glanced up at her from his spot on