All Through the Night Read Online Free PDF Page B

it?”
“Kerry… is something wrong?”
The way he said her name brought her gaze to the screen, to him. Something inside her lifted and spilled over as softly as sand in an hourglass. It turned on its head, and took her with it. Not that it was a bad feeling. Oh, no, no, no, she would have traveled the world over for that feeling. It was wonderful, as light as a handspring. But that was the good part. His voice did everything else sand could do, too—sift, drift, swirl—and suck you down into its depths.
They should offer medical coverage with this game , Kerry thought. It was dangerous.
“Riddles can be pretty annoying,” she said.
“You’ll like this one,” he assured her. “All you have to do is describe two things you would do with a strawberry that have nothing to do with eating it.”
“A strawberry?” Not the kind of puzzle she expected. “Well, they don’t make good doorstops. I dropped an entire box of them once. Didn’t find the one hiding behind the door until it was too late. Strawberry puree.”
The small room was silent except for the soft music coming from the speakers. But outside, the neighborhood hooligans were at it again. There were shouts, cars backfiring. Kerry blocked the sounds from her mind.
“What would anyone do with a strawberry besides eat it? I suppose you could drop it in a flute of champagne.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “I was hoping for something a little more imaginative.”
“Sorry, I can’t think of a thing.”
“I can tell you what I’d do with it.”
“Down, boy,” Kerry murmured. His voice had a sexy edge that warned her not to go there, but the remark hung in midair like a helium-filled balloon, daring her to let go of the string.
“Okay, what would you do? Make puree and massage my toes?”
“No, but that’s not bad. Actually, if I had a very ripe strawberry, I think perhaps I would crush it in my hand, let the juice run down my fingers and pool in my palm. When it was warm, I’d drizzle it over a very tender part of the body and delicately lick it off.”
“Lick it off,” she echoed faintly. “But that would be eating… wouldn’t it?”
“You’re right. Shall we go for number two?”
“No!” She was too far away to turn the machine off. Computers ought to come with remotes, dammit.
“Too bold?” he asked.
“No, no, it was fine. I always gasp as if I’d just finished a marathon.”
“Kerry… maybe you should come back here and sit down?”
She almost gasped again. “How did you know I got up?”
“The volume of your voice went down. You’re either talking very softly or you’ve moved away. Come on back. I won’t bite… I won’t even lick.”
“Gee, darn,” she said under her breath.
He laughed, and finally, she did too. She gave herself another moment and then went back, but only as far as the old leather rocker.
“We could go on with the tour,” he said, “if you’re ready.”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” What a beautiful thing cynicism was. Those sharp-edged scissors kept everyone away except him. But that was only because he wasn’t real, right?
She went back to her desk and sat down, although she would love to have stretched out in the rocker. A little distance would have felt safer, she was sure.
“I’d like you to relax and think about something for a minute,” he said. “Think about your sense of touch. What does it mean to you?”
She closed her eyes and dropped back in the chair. “Everything. I love to touch. I love the feel of things. It’s very sensual, touch.”
“And being touched? How do you prefer that?”
“It depends on who’s touching me.”
“Who would you like to touch you?”
“Your voice.” She barely had the words out of her mouth before her own voice dropped to a whisper. “I’d like it all over me like a big warm blanket.”
The husky catch in her throat surprised her. And him, as well. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her, and he seemed as perplexed as he was intrigued.
“I