Aegis 01 - First Exposure Read Online Free PDF

forward and kissed her hard. Heat, lust, need poured from him into her. She tasted it on his slick tongue tangling with hers, felt it in the way his fingers dug into her spine. Knew, from how hard he was growing between her thighs, that he wanted her.
    She’d kissed a lot of actors over the course of her career, in some pretty hot on-screen love scenes, but none of them had ever reacted as quickly, as ferociously as Cade was now. And for a moment, that realization threw her off. She wanted to chalk it up to the situation, to where they were headed and the fact they had a history. But a bitter truth teased the edge of her mind. The real reason was that she’d never thrown as much of herself into a role as she was doing right now. And she’d never wanted any of those actors the way she wanted Cade right this second.
    Fear made her pull back. She pushed off his lap, teetered on the stupid heels but caught herself before she went down. And though inside her stomach was twisted into a hard, tight knot, she pulled up every shield she’d perfected over the years and fixed an impassive look on her face. After all, no one could pretend better than an actress.
    “We’ll call that lesson number one, Blackwell.”
    His hands froze against the armrests, his tense body halfway out of his chair, ready to come after her. Smiling her warmest America’s sweetheart grin, she dropped back into her chair and reached for her magazine again.
    She didn’t look at him, but from the corner of her vision, she saw the way his chest rose and fell with his rapid breaths. She tried to focus on the words in front of her, but they melded into each other, and in her mind all she could see was how he’d looked staring up at her. Face flushed with passion, lips swollen from her assault, and that giant bulge against the fly of his jeans—the same one she’d brushed against that had sent a tingle through her entire core.
    Focus, Avery. She blinked several times. Flipped a page. This is no different than any other role.
    Several tense seconds passed. And then he chuckled and relaxed back into his seat. “Okay, princess. You win. You pull that on me at Indulgence and no one’s gonna think you’re anything but hot to fuck my brains out.”
    Unease settled in the bottom of her stomach. And memories of doing just that bounced around in her mind. Cade Blackwell had been an amazing lover, even at eighteen. At thirty she had a feeling he could rock her world into the next universe if she let him. And that knowledge—more than what she might find at Indulgence—scared the crap out of her.
    She turned a page, feigning indifference. “Good thing I’m such a good actress. No one will know I’d rather cut your dick off than fuck it.”
    The air changed. Tensed. Grew icy. From the corner of her vision, she watched his jaw harden and that dark look creep back into his eyes. She knew she’d probably gone too far, but she didn’t care. He was getting under her skin with his heady looks, wicked touch, and challenging comments, and she needed to lay down the ground rules. She wasn’t letting Cade Blackwell back into her life no matter what he did to help her find Melody this weekend. And there was no way he was getting inside her heart, regardless of how far they had to take their little ruse.
    He pushed out of his chair without a word. Her pulse sped up, but she pretended to continue to read the architectural magazine in front of her. Several moments passed where she wondered what he could possibly be doing in the other room. She’d obviously pissed him off. Was he calling his boss? Telling him the deal was off? Had she just jeopardized finding her friend all because she couldn’t keep her own emotions in check? Why the hell did she let herself get so worked up by Cade Blackwell?
    A manila envelope dropped against her magazine. She startled, then looked up in surprise. Instead of sitting across from her like he’d done before, Cade walked by and sat to her