Because You Are Mine Part I Read Online Free PDF Page A

surprise at the sight of him.
    He’d asked her politely about her progress and tried not to notice the throb of her pulse at her throat or the roundness of her breasts. She’d taken off her sweat jacket as she worked and wore a tight tank top. Her breasts were fuller than he’d realized before, the size of her breasts an erotic contrast between her narrow waist and hips, and long coltish legs.
    After thirty seconds of stilted conversation, he’d fled like the coward he was.
    He told himself that his hyperawareness of her was completely natural. She was an incredible beauty, after all. The fact that she seemed completely oblivious to her sexuality fascinated him. Had she grown up in some kind of hole? Surely she was used to having males perk up whenever she walked into a room, salivating at the vision of her silky rose-gold hair, velvety brown eyes, and tall, willowy figure. How could she not have learned by age twenty-three that her flawless pale skin, lush, dark pink lips, and slender, lithe body had the power to fell a strong man?
    He didn’t know the answer to that question, but after close study, he could say with confidence her lack of awareness wasn’t an act. She walked with the long-legged, lanky stride of a teenage boy and said the most incredibly gauche things.
    It was only when she’d been bewitched as she gazed at his artwork, or when she’d stared out the window at the skyline, or when he’d secretly spied on her while she sketched that night, utterly lost in her art, that her beauty was fully revealed.
    And a more compelling, addictive sight he couldn’t recall viewing.
    He paused presently in the foyer of the penthouse. She was there. No sound emanated from the depths of his residence, but somehow he knew Francesca worked in her ad hoc studio. Was she still sketching on the massive canvas? He suddenly pictured her perfectly, her beautiful face tense with concentration, her dark eyes flickering back and forth between her quickly moving pencil and the view. She became somber and formidable as a judge when she worked, all of her self-consciousness burned to mist by her brilliant talent and an uncommon grace that she didn’t appear to know she possessed.
    She also was ignorant of her potent sexual appeal. He, on the other hand, was acutely aware of its promise and power. Unfortunately, he was equally conscious of her naïveté. He could practically smell it surrounding her; her innocence intermingled with an untested sexuality, creating a heady perfume that had set him off balance.
    Sweat gathered on his upper lip. His cock swelled to full readiness in a matter of seconds.
    Frowning, he glanced at his watch and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He tapped a few buttons and walked down the hallway, veering off toward his bedroom. Thankfully, his private quarters were on the opposite end of the condominium from where Francesca worked. He needed to get her out of his mind. Purge her.
    A voice answered his call.
    “Lucien. Something important has come up, and I’m running behind. Can we meet at five thirty versus five?”
    “Certainly. I’ll see you there in forty-five minutes. Hope you’re feeling thick-skinned, because I’m in a real mood.”
    Ian smiled wryly as he closed his bedroom door behind him and locked it. “I have a feeling my sword is hungry for blood today as well, my friend, so we’ll see who requires the thick skin and who doesn’t.”
    Lucien was still laughing when Ian hung up. He stowed his briefcase and withdrew a fencing uniform from his dressing room, laying out a plastron, breeches, and a jacket. He stripped quickly and efficiently. From his briefcase, he withdrew a key. Two large dressing rooms adjoined his private quarters. Mrs. Hanson—anyone save Ian—was prohibited from entering them.
    It was Ian’s private territory.
    He unlocked the mahogany door and walked naked into the high-ceilinged room. It was lined with drawers and cabinets on either side and was always