First Taste of Darkness Read Free Page B

yanked it out. “This had better be fucking important.” Or else someone was about to get fired.
    “Uh, an attack on your life counts as important, right, boss?” Carson Anderson asked, coughing a little bit.
    Blake growled, then snapped, “You haven’t had time to get back to the Landon Hotel.”
    “No, but I’m on my way. I got a report from the team there, though, and I figured you’d want to know…”
    Blake’s gaze was on Jess.
    “There’s blood at the scene, so you definitely wounded the guy, but the team couldn’t find him.”
    His back teeth clenched.
    “I’ll pull up all the surveillance cameras,” Carson promised. “I’ll get an ID on the guy—”
    “And you’ll find him,” Blake ordered.  An attack in his own hotel—hell, yes, they’d be finding the SOB.
    “I’ll find him,” Carson echoed. “But you might want to stay in for the night, just to be safe.”
    Like Blake cared about playing it safe. Eyes still on Jess, he said, “I’ve got plans until dawn. I’ll stay plenty busy.”
    Her lips parted.
    “Find him,” Blake demanded once more, then he tossed the phone aside. It landed with a soft thud on his couch. 
    Another step took him ever closer to Jess. He inhaled her scent. Strawberries. The woman definitely smelled good enough to eat.
    His gaze slid over her body.  She had curves. Wonderful damn curves that he couldn’t wait to explore.
    Once he had the dress off her.
    Before he could reach for her, Jess’s hands came up. Her palms flattened on his chest. “The man who shot at you—he got away?”
    For the moment. “My chief of security, Carson Anderson, will find him.” 
    Her chin lifted, and she stared at him with a determined intensity. “I’m not working with him.”
    “I believe you.”  Now that they’d gotten that part out of the way…
    She pushed against him. “Aren’t you worried? Someone tried to
kill
you!”
    Not like it was the first time.  As he built his corporation, Blake had made plenty of enemies over the years.  He hadn’t gotten to the top by always playing nicely.
    But then, he’d never really been the nice type.
    And he also wasn’t the type to let go of something—someone—that he wanted.  His fingers curled around her shoulders. “I have a security staff that is looking for that man right now. He’s not getting away.”
    “The police—”
    “I told you, the police will be contacted.” When he was ready to contact them.  He’d skirted the law a time or two in the past, and before he turned this SOB over to the authorities, Blake needed to know just why he’d been attacked.
    Blake also enjoyed handing out his own punishments.
    You came after me, so now you’re going to wish you’d never made that damn mistake.
    Her gaze searched his. “Does anything scare you?”
    “There isn’t room for fear in my life.”  A simple truth.  No room and no time. 
    “What do you have room for?”
    “You.”  He bent his head and kissed her.  Not softly. Not lightly. But hard and fierce, showing her the hunger that coursed through his veins. The lust and the need that were consuming him.   
    During the car-ride over, she’d nearly driven him out of his mind. The rush of adrenaline from the attack and the white-hot tide of lust that he felt for her had left him on a razor’s edge of control.
    She’d climaxed in his arms. Shuddered in pleasure. 
    When she’d cried out his name, Blake had promised himself that the next time Jess Delaney climaxed, he’d be inside of her.
    His cock was so hard and full right then that he knew he was about to erupt. This time, there wouldn’t be a chance for a long seduction.
    This time—it was going to be hard and fast and wild. Just the way he liked it.
    Still with his mouth on hers, with his tongue driving into her mouth, Blake stripped her. The golden dress hit the floor in a pool of light, and her naked body pressed against his.
    She hadn’t worn a bra.
Fuck.
He lifted his head and gazed