First Taste of Darkness Read Free Page A

hard slashes in his cheeks that just made him look super sexy. “I had to be sure, you see.”
    “Be sure?”
    “You could have been bait, a beautiful woman sent to distract me…so that your partner could close in for the kill.”
    She realized that there was a hard edge to his smile, and his green eyes—they were flat and cold.
    The elevator stopped.  When she heard the little ding of sound, Jess flinched.
    “Don’t worry,” Blake told her. “This time, there’s no one here but you and me.”
    That was the part that worried her. 
    He stepped from the elevator. 
    She didn’t move. “You think I could have been involved in whatever was happening at the last hotel?”
    He glanced back at her. “I think you’re a woman with a lot of secrets, Jess, and before this night is over, I intend to discover them all.”
    His words sounded like a threat.
    Probably because they were. 

Chapter Two
    The gold of her eyes matched the shimmering gold of her dress.
    Golden hair, golden eyes, golden skin…she’d caught his attention the instant she walked into the Landon Hotel’s bar. 
    He’d wanted her from that first sight, and, over the years, Blake had become quite used to taking what he wanted, no matter the price.
    “Jess Delaney…”
    She jerked when he said her name. She’d finally come out of the elevator and entered his suite. But she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring out the window, gazing at the always bright lights of Vegas. 
    “I’m—I’m not part of some scheme to attack you.” Jess said this without looking over her shoulder. He liked her voice. It was husky, slightly accented with the faintest of southern drawls. 
    “Why are you with me?” Blake asked her as he tossed aside his coat and loosened his tie. 
    She glanced back at him. Every time he looked into her eyes, he felt as if he were taking a punch to the gut. “I wanted you,” she said as her shoulders gave a small shrug. “Isn’t that enough?”
    Not in his world. The women who came to him were usually after money or power.  Lust entered the equation, but the encounters weren’t just about need.
    She’s different.
    Jess turned fully toward him, putting her back to the window. “I was scared to death when those bullets started flying—”
    “You didn’t scream.”
    “I was too afraid to scream!”
    He stalked toward her. “Are you afraid now?”  He wanted to hear her say the words because he needed to know how Jess sounded when she lied. He needed to know how she looked.
    Jess hesitated, but then she said, “Of course I am. You terrify me, Blake Landon.”
    He stilled. Those words weren’t a lie. He could see the fear in her gaze. “Then why stay here with me?”
    “I’m trying to figure that out myself.”  She bit her lip. The woman had lips made for kissing. Full, red. Tempting. “I’ve decided that maybe it’s
because
I’m scared, and I know that doesn’t make any sense.”
    He wanted to close the distance between them. Wanted to take her into his arms.
    But…even more, he wanted to hear what else she had to say.
    “I’m not a risk taker.” She gave a little laugh that fucking captivated him. It was soft and light and sexy. “Actually, I’m as far from that as you can get. I think standing here with you, right now, is the biggest risk I’ve ever taken in my life.”  Her shoulders straightened. “I’m not some kind of bait. I wouldn’t even know
how
to be bait.  I’m a woman on vacation in Vegas, and I—I wanted you. It’s as simple as that.”
    Could she really be that honest?
    His fingers had fisted because he wanted to touch her so badly.  “I told you before that I wasn’t an easy man.”
    “I’m not looking for easy.”
    He took a step toward her. “You want the danger.”  Some women did. They thrived on the rush.
    She shook her head. “I want you. I like the way you make me feel.”
    Sonofabitch.
He took another step.
    Blake’s phone rang, vibrating in his pocket. He