Bound by Moonlight Read Online Free PDF Page A

It was always more than just the dead who were victimized.
    Babineau observed the body up close, his handsome features expressionless. A trick of the trade, not to get involved. “Multiple stab wounds to the neck and chest. No signs of struggle, at least here. Ligature marks on wrists and ankles. Evidence of torture, sexual trauma, starvation.” His façade broke for an instant. “Poor kid. Hell of a way to go.” He started to reach for the lids of her open eyes, but caught himself. He stood and met Cee Cee’s steady gaze. “You
know
he’s already got the next one.”
    “So let’s go find out who’s missing.”
    Babineau gave her attire a slow assessment. “Darlin’, you’re not exactly dressed for Pussy Patrol.” He shot a quelling glance at Boucher, who’d snickered. “I’ll do a sweep of the streets while you wait on Dovion’s initial. This is number three. Maybe if the workinggirls get scared enough, they’ll be more forthcoming. We’re due for a break.”
    Cee Cee wasn’t that optimistic. The pros didn’t give up info on their usual customers. It was bad for business.
    But then, so was murder.

Three
     
    M AX HEARD HER come in just before midnight.
    When Babineau’s car came through the security gates, it took him a minute to smooth down his bristling tension as Charlotte’s words stabbed through his memory.
    Alain Babineau and I were lovers.
    That was before him, and her partner was married now. Charlotte was his. But Max didn’t want to share her even with the past.
    It was hard to pretend to be civilized when instinct demanded he tear out Babineau’s throat.
    The car paused briefly at the mansion’s front steps. The front door opened and closed, and Max relaxed.
    He waited a minute. Two. Then ten. She didn’t come upstairs.
    He padded downstairs to the silent first floor of the sprawling house, reaching out for her with his senses.
    She sat in the dark parlor, on the sofa where she’d once lounged naked after they’d made love. She sat with her feet drawn up on the cushions, arms about her knees, swallowed up in his coat as she stared out into the night. He could taste her sadness and her tears.
    Why hadn’t she come to him for comfort?
    He stood in the shadowed hall, just looking at her.She took his breath every time. Strong, sexy, and exotic with her curvy lines, dark, daring eyes, and sleek tawny skin, she was his every desire. He’d ached for her for years, knowing he could never have her. Twelve long celibate years. She was worth every minute of the wait as they’d pursued each other for very different purposes. She’d wanted to put him inside a jail. He’d wanted to put himself inside her.
    She seemed quite content with his winning that round.
    She still wore the dress and those shoes that made his tongue want to roll out. She was the best-looking woman he’d ever seen, whether in skinny jeans and a snug-to-the-edge-of-indecent tank top or one of his silk shirts. She was lush and blatant in her sexuality, with a
Don’t get too close, I bite
attitude that made the animal inside him roar to life.
    Tonight she’d tamed her short, spiky dark hair into a sleek curve, and toned down the bold colors that usually lined her eyes and lips to make them soft and sensual. Her sophisticated sheath was every bit as elegant as any worn by the Crescent City’s elite. Alternating swirls of filmy fabric iced with bands of midnight-blue satin skimmed her body, hinting at her perfection. The sheer hem fluttered about her knees, covering gorgeous legs she normally left bare. And then those shoes. He swallowed the growl that thickened in his throat.
    Knowing that she’d gone to such lengths to provide him with the image of success and quality she thought he wanted to be seen with humbled him. He didn’t care how she chose to wrap the package. She was the gift he treasured.
    Charlotte turned suddenly and saw him there. The creamy glow of the pearls about her neck quieted his lusty emotions into