Grace Street (A Chapter 8 Novel, #1) Read Free Page B

her
mewl with delight. Elsa’s breathing quickened at what she was
witnessing and she shifted in her seat, her nethers becoming damp
with arousal. When she did, her movement caught the man’s attention
and his eyes darted toward her. He gave her a lewd smile as he
continued to work his fingers into his girlfriend, all the while
the girl panted softly with her eyes closed.
    Elsa felt her cheeks flush and her body
temperature rise, but she found herself unable to peel her gaze
away from the spectacle before her. It was compelling, dirty and
gratuitous. Her mouth parted and she licked her lips, wishing she
was on the receiving end of his long fingers when the man suddenly
looked away and redirected his attention back on his lover,
crushing his mouth over hers and kissing her violently. It was
beautiful and shameless.
    Just then the bus squeaked to a halt, jolting
all the passengers forward and forcing Elsa out of her voyeuristic
entrancement.
    She found a small café she had been eager to
visit since noticing it several weeks before and seated herself in
a corner booth. After ordering a large diet Coke, she placed her
earbuds in and fired up some James Blunt and opened a book she had
brought along. She began humming when the same smell from earlier
hit her like a ton of bricks. Her eyes flicked upward and she
pulled her earbuds out. Sitting directly in front of her was Mr.
Tall, Dark and Dangerous himself. His intense stare bored into her
as he sat silently watching her and made no effort to make polite
conversation or explain his presence. He had the same
just-got-fucked-hair, impeccable attire and scent of expensive
aftershave. Elsa came to the frightening realization that he had
most likely followed her there and that it was him she had sensed
earlier on the darkening street. When she sat quiet for nearly a
minute trying to make sense of everything and staring at him
impatiently, a crooked grin spread over his chiseled face.
    “Aren’t you curious as to why I’m here?” he
finally asked, his eyes narrowed down to mere slits.
    She swallowed hard and chewed the corner of
her lip fretfully. Sliding her hands off the table, she reached
into her coat pocket and touched the mace. “Curious isn’t the
word,” she whispered, gawking at his firm, oxblood-red lips.
    He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the
table. “Then, what?”
    “Uncomfortable.”
    His smile widened only the faintest bit. “I
like uncomfortable.”
    Yes, she could sense that about him. He was
visibly pleased with her unease, just like he had been at the bar.
Unclear of his intentions, Elsa pressed her body into the back of
the booth, trying to put some distance between them, but her
actions only made him move forward, closer to her, like a wild,
jungle cat stalking its prey. Maybe that’s what she was to him - prey. But damn if he wasn’t stunning to look at all in all
his terrifying glory and dark eyes. At least this time he didn’t
smell like another woman’s sex, but even at that, it had been a
nice scent on him, even if it wasn’t her own fragrance seeping out
of his pores.
    “Do you find me attractive, Elsa?” he asked
in the deepest, most deceptively calm voice.
    Her eyebrows rose. He hadn’t forgotten her
name. “Any sensible woman would,” she replied coolly.
    Tipping his head back, the light caught the
bright white of his eyes and she could finally see the true color
of his irises – the deepest green with hazel specks.
    “Your eyes are the most amazing color,” she
unintentionally whispered when she became ensnared in his watchful
gaze.
    His mouth twitched with what appeared to be
agitation and something menacing flickered in his eyes. “If you
find me attractive then why did you refuse my card?” he asked,
completely ignoring her remark.
    If he really wanted to persist with this line
of questioning, then she would just come out and say it. “Because
you seemed dangerous.”
    The twinkle in his eyes was unmistakable.
“Oh, I