His for the Taking Read Online Free PDF Page B

his warmth on her back and breathed his scent suddenly surrounding her, as intimate as a hug.
    ‘I found her,’ he said.
    Ralph looked taken aback. ‘Oh—I, er, thought you meant—’
    ‘He did,’ Zoe said. ‘But since my great-aunt has died he decided I would do just as well.’
    Ralph’s eyes narrowed, looking between them. Although Zoe had known Ralph for years, she felt all at once as if he were suspecting her of planning to rob Xenia’s home. ‘And you’re both all right? Can I help you with anything?’
    ‘Fine,’ Zoe said firmly. ‘Thank you, Ralph.’
    She began to close the door, but his hand shot out and stopped her. ‘It’s just that his backpack is still in the hallway, so I wondered—’he lowered his voice, and spoke close to Zoe’s face ‘—if you had invited him in yourself.’
    Zoe didn’t know what he was being protective of—her welfare, or Xenia’s belongings. Either way, habit and instinct chose her next words for her.
    ‘I only do what I want to do, Ralph. And I’m doing fine. Thanks so much for your concern, though.’
    Behind her, Nick spoke. ‘And thanks for reminding me about my pack.’ He brushed past her into the hallway.
    For a split second the length of his hard, warm body was pressed against hers and Zoe’s awareness filled with a huge, hopeless longing. She was barely able to understand how her stomach was twisting, her nipples hardening, her legs weakening, before he had swept the big backpack up without any effort and had brushed past her again, back into the apartment.
    This time he pressed even closer against her, because the pack took up extra room. Her hip brushed his groin and the back of his arm touched the side of her right breast.
    Zoe’s lips parted, her body throbbed, and she nearly moaned with the pleasure from that contact, unintentional and unavoidable as it was. For a stunning moment she knew that if he really touched her, naked skin on naked skin, touched her with desire in his hands, it would be beyond anything she had ever felt before.
    And then she shut her mouth as she realised what had just happened.
    Uh, der, Zoe! Stupid girl! Nick had just left her apartment and she’d been too busy dealing with hormones to shut the door behind him.
    She’d had backup, too. Ralph was still in the hallway, looking suspicious. If she’d really wanted to get rid of Nick, she would have asked him for help, and damn her independence.
    But she hadn’t.
    ‘See ya, Ralph,’ she said, and shut the door.
    Nick had already gone down the hall and into the living room. When she got there he was sitting on the couch checking over his backpack. It was a very big backpack, cared-for but well worn.
    ‘So do you travel with your life on your back or what?’ she asked. She considered sitting in an armchair safely across the room from his sexy body, but Zoe had never been one to go for the safe option. Her actions just now proved it. She dropped onto the couch beside him.
    ‘Just like a turtle,’ he agreed. He unzipped the top and pulled out a charcoal-grey sweater, and then he pulled off his weatherproof jacket.
    He was wearing a white T-shirt that clung to his wide shoulders and his muscular chest. His arms were well developed and tanned. Zoe’s mouth went dry and she swallowed.
    ‘I didn’t know how long I’d be away for, so I thought it was best to be prepared.’ Nick didn’t seem to notice that she was making googly eyes at his chest.
    ‘You’d make a good Boy Scout,’ she said, not really paying attention to what she was saying because he was rolling up his jacket and putting it in his backpack and the movement made the sinews and muscles of his arms flex in all sorts of wonderful ways.
    ‘I was a great Boy Scout,’ Nick said. ‘Made Eagle Scout. How about you—were you ever a Girl Scout?’
    Zoe glanced down to see her nipples were hard and highly visible underneath her own t-shirt. She forced her eyes away from his chest before her lust became far