Rebellion (A Dangerous Man, #2) Read Free Page B

hinges on
Carole,” He says finally, “Leave her to me, I know exactly how to deal with her.”
    Even though it’s not me he’s talking to, I’m hit by the
steely hardness in his voice. There is something ruthless in the sound. Vaguely,
I wonder who Carole is. The sound of another woman’s name on his lips is enough
to make my heart constrict with jealousy.
    I stay where I am at the door, not sure whether to go in to
him. I don’t want to interrupt if he’s busy. However, as if he can feel me
standing there, he turns around. I step back at the coldness I see in his eyes,
the blue is faded almost to grey, and his face seems almost cruel.
    “Sophie.” He smiles, his expression softening as he removes
the earpiece and comes around the desk to meet me. I shiver slightly, the fear
I felt only moments before, melting as he runs his hand over my arm, draped in
the soft material of his shirt. “This looks very good on you.” He says, his
eyes travelling down to my bare legs, then back to my face.
    “Thank you.” I say shyly. Outside the windows, it’s already
dark. I must have slept for hours. “I didn’t mean to sleep for so long.”
    David shrugs. “You were tired.” He raises his hand and runs
a finger along my lower lip, making me shiver again. “I’m sure I had something
to do with that.” He says tenderly.
    I blush, and he chuckles, pulling me to him, and running his
hands over my body, which is naked under the shirt. “You should wear this all
the time with nothing underneath.” He suggests, the teasing light in his eyes
making him look his age, with none of the steeliness I saw in his face earlier.
    I laugh. “I would never be able to go out.” I point out.
    “Hmm...mm,” His eyes are on my lips, “you’d always be here,
half naked and ready for me.” He growls softly and gives me a quick kiss on my
lips. “I’d like to show you what that thought does to me,” He says, “But I’m
sure you are hungry.”
    My stomach rumbles loudly, reminding me that I haven’t eaten
all day. “I am.”
    “Good.” He is already pulling me out of the study, his hand
gentle on my elbow. “Let’s eat.”
    Dinner is a home cooked feast Mrs. Daniels must have
prepared before she left for the day. In the kitchen, David fills our plates
from the silver chafing dishes, his fingers moving with superb grace. Is there
anything he doesn’t do perfectly well? I help him load the plates unto a tray
and follow him as he takes them to the living room.
    The food is delicious, as is the red wine David pours for me.
We eat, seated on the rug, the couch at our backs, and the gleaming lights of
the city laid out at our feet.
    There’s something about the intimacy of the moment. I feel
close to him somehow. “Tell me about yourself.” I whisper.
    He leans back on the couch, watching me through hooded eyes.
“What do you want to know?”
    “Everything.” I say hopefully.
    “My life isn’t half as interesting as yours,” he states
coolly. “My father died when I was young, my mother remarried almost
immediately and lived happily ever after till her husband died last year.” He
shrugs, his voice sounding detached.
    Something in his tone gets to me. “Didn’t you get along with
your step-father?” I ask, concerned. He doesn’t sound too happy about his
mother’s marriage.
    “I have no idea.” He says cryptically. “I never saw either
of them.”
    “How come?”
    He looks at me over the top of his glass. “He was very rich,
and he liked to travel, my mother followed him everywhere because that was what
he wanted.”
    My heart goes out to him as I imagine him growing up without
the attention of his mother. At least my mother didn’t abandon me. She died.
    “They never took you with them?” I ask, a small frown on my
face.
    He shakes his head. “No, they didn’t.” He says, looking a
little bored. “My step-father had a house not very far from here. I lived
there.”
    “Oh.” I watch as he leans back