Winter Bride (9780345546197) Read Free

strode down the hall toward the elevators with Townsend at his heels. “She can definitely expect me.”

Two
    A hand clapped over Ysabel’s mouth, jarring her from sleep.
    “It’s all right. Keep quiet. I have no intention of hurting you.”
    Darkness. Fear. Danger.
Guardia!
    Her eyes flew open, and her heart beat wildly. The palm sealing her lips was callused and hard. She was too terrified to register there was no brutality in the grasp.
    She started to struggle, trying frantically to escape that smothering hand.
    “I tell you it’s okay. Just let me—”
    Her teeth sank deep into his palm.
    He gasped in pain and jerked his hand away. “Dammit, I told you I wasn’t—”
    She punched him in the midsection with her fist.
    She heard a grunt of pain as she rolled out of bedand onto the floor. She sprang to her feet and ran for the door leading to the hall.
    He tackled her before she was halfway across the room, flipped her over on the floor, and straddled her.
    “Listen to me. Just let me explain.”
    Something was vaguely familiar about his deep voice, but she had no time to analyze. Imprisoned between his thighs, she couldn’t knee him, but her hands were still free and his genitals must be in reach.… Her fist struck hard, fast and accurate.
    He groaned and collapsed on top of her, fumbling in the darkness for her wrists. He captured both of them and pinned her to the floor.
    “Let me go or I swear I’ll castrate you,” she hissed.
    “You damn near already did. I’ll be more careful about accepting your next invitation to visit.” The words were spoken in almost a growl, but the voice was as musical as the bass notes of a piano.
    She
had
heard that voice before. She stopped struggling. “Who are you?”
    “Your loving stepson.” He raised himself to a sitting position astride her. “Jed Corbin. Will you attack me again if I turn your arms loose?”
    “Of course not.” Relief turned her every muscle weak. “Though it was entirely your own fault if I hurt you. When you frightened me, I acted instinctively.”
    “Then your instincts are fairly lethal,” he said dryly. “And Townsend must be a lousy judge of character.”
    She was suddenly acutely conscious of the hardnessof his thighs cradling her hips, the scent of soap and after-shave lotion drifting to her in the darkness. “Will you …” Her voice was slightly breathless and she paused to steady it. “… please get off me?”
    “Since you ask so nicely.” He didn’t move and she became aware of a subtle change in his body, a sensual intonation in his voice. “Though I’m tempted to explore the situation further. I’ve never realized how close to the primitive we are in moments of conflict. It’s very … arousing.”
    She felt a flutter of fear and stiffened, ready to attack again.
    “For Lords sake, I’ve no intention of raping you.” A moment later his weight was gone and he was moving across the room toward the nightstand. “I just thought you might be similarly inclined.”
    “Why are you here?”
    “You asked me to come.”
    “Not like this. Not in the middle of the night, with no warning or—”
    “I just flew in from Paris and preferred our visit be private. Not that I imagined anyone would kill the fatted calf for me. I’ve never been made to feel particularly welcome here.” He turned on the lamp on the nighstand and was immediately surrounded by a pool of soft light. “However, I didn’t anticipate this kind of reception. I assumed Townsend’s delicate little flower would give me a chance to explain before she swooned in terror.”
    He looked the same as he had on television and yet there were significant differences. He wasn’t as tall as she had thought, barely six feet in height, but every inch was solidly knit. The faded jeans hewore outlined the heavy muscles of his thighs and the tight compactness of his buttocks, and the pushed-up sleeves of his black turtleneck sweat-shirt revealed tanned,