Heart Ache (Bound by a Touch Novels #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

fool.
    “ Oh, good hell!” She slapped a palm against her cheek. “Get a grip, Gabby.”
    She reached into the shower to turn on the water. The forward motion brought her hair down around her face and with it came the scent that just had to be her overactive imagination. Her hand gathered the auburn strands, pulling them to her nose.
    Crazy or not, she smelled Nikolai.
    She reached in to turn off the water. There would be no shower this morning because the thought of washing her delusions down the drain caused an actual physical pain in her chest. His scent was a comfort, as if filling an emptiness she didn’t realize she had.
    A shake of her head and a sigh to clear her lungs, and she was ready to admit she was nuts. Certifiable. Get out the straight-jacket and the rubber room. Bat shit crazy!
    There was no way Nikolai had been here. She’d have known if the man of her dreams was, in fact, reality. Wouldn’t she?
     
     
    Nikolai vaporized into his bedroom and panted like he’d run across the entire country. He bent at the waist, resting his hands on his thighs and sucked in breath after breath.
    “ That was close!”
    He’d been so comfortable with Gabrielle sleeping in his arms, he’d actually fallen asleep, too. It wasn’t until she’d started stirring and said his name that he’d realized his mistake.
    He hated leaving the way he did, evaporating right out from under her was the coward’s way. But it wasn’t as though he’d really had a choice.
    His toes wiggled freely which drew his attention.
    “ Dammit!”
    Hopefully she wouldn’t find his shoes. There wasn’t an explanation that would make sense—except the truth. And the truth was out of the question.
    He sucked in a deep breath, held it in his lungs for a moment, released it, and made his decision. The shoes needed to be retrieved—sooner rather than later. His eyes closed, picturing where he wanted to vaporize.
    In the next second, Nikolai stood on Gabrielle’s balcony. Through the window he could see her sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee with her nose buried in the morning paper.
    A momentary pang of disappointment surged through him as he noticed she’d already dressed for work. She always sported conservative office attire, but from the short stint in her closet he knew she had a wild side. There was more to his Gabrielle than pencil skirts, twill slacks, and professional blouses.
    He forced his mind back on task and quickly changed his plan. He vaporized directly into her bedroom, fetched his size thirteen Lugz safely hidden under her bed.
    Knowing he should leave didn’t make him do so.
    The morning crew at KHB droned on with the news. A flutter of paper signaled the turning of a page. She giggled softly at something and Niko wanted to be the one making her smile. He wanted to be her everything.
    Knowing she sat only a few inches of drywall away, yet totally out of reach was painful. It would be easy to appear at her front door. He could knock and ask to join her for coffee. Or offer to give her a ride to work. Or push her against the wall and kiss her until they were both crazed.
    A shake of his head dismissed his asinine thoughts. If he didn’t get out of here, he was going to do something he wouldn’t be able to take back.
    Closing his eyes, he willed his body to evaporate out of her presence and back into the lonely room that was his and his alone. He never brought a female to the place where he actually slept. There was another master suite down the hall he used for the rare occasion a female accompanied him home. The very rare occasion.
    He hadn’t so much as touched a female since the moment he’d shaken Gabrielle’s hand. He hadn’t wanted to. From her very first touch, she held every part of him in her delicate hands.
    His vampiric speed made his morning routine a quick one and he was ready in no time. He straightened his tie, trying to ignore the empty ache in his chest. Niko closed his eyes and stretched