Hot and Steamy Read Online Free PDF

process. Wanting to beat a market collapse, they will divest themselves of jewelry and gem businesses. Prices will crash. Lot of money to be made buying what they sell off.”
    â€œClever girl. Might want to invest there, too.”
    She slowly lowered herself into his lap, straddling his thighs. “These men, they must have hurt you terribly. More than I did in Bremen?”
    â€œYou hurt me. They murdered me.”
    She touched her flute to his. “To evil men reaping what they have sown; and a penitent woman making amends.”
    Chance nodded and drank.
    Virginia set her flute aside and lowered her face to his. “I will earn your forgiveness, Chance.”
    Her breath warm on his face, her scent filling his head, made Chance smile. He circled his arms around her waist and drew her to him. She slid forward along his thighs, her hands firmly on the chair’s back. She kissed him, lips parted. The tip of her tongue danced quickly against his lips.
    His arms tightened, crushing her against his chest. He sucked her tongue into his mouth. One hand rose to her head, loosening thick copper curls. His other hand slipped beneath her sweater’s hem, sliding up along soft, warm flesh, exposing her belly.
    She raised her arms, letting him free her from the garment. She sank her fingers into his hair, jerking his head back. She dipped forward, licking up along his jugular until her lips brushed his ear. “Yes,” she whispered, “I will earn forgiveness, no matter how long it takes. And you will enjoy every second of it.”

V
    L aPointe smiled at Chance over demitasse at an outdoor cafe the next morning. “It was as you suggested, Monsieur . Mademoiselle Greene had a woman pose as herself and board the Vesuvius . She then made her way to the railway station and is bound on a coach for Paris. You are certain the rest of your plan will work?”
    â€œNothing’s certain, but all looks good.” Chance added another sugar cube to his coffee and stirred. “You create the paste Queen and substitute it for the real one when you appraise it. I use the real one to convince Virginia and Trent that I can manufacture gems. I give Trent back the fake, then Virginia drugs me, steals Trent’s Queen, and leaves the real one in its place. She’ll contact you as a go-between with the owners, since you can authenticate it and already have the contacts to broker a deal.”
    â€œAnd the narcotic she gave you? It has left you with no ill effects?”
    â€œMild headache. I didn’t drink much.” Chance tapped his left eye. “Sees in the ultraviolet wavelength. The champagne in my glass glowed eerily. After a while I slowly fell asleep.”
    â€œBut not too soon, as your smile suggests.”
    â€œA gentleman does not kiss and tell.” Chance’s smile broadened. “Neither do I.”
    LaPointe set his cup down. “I do not understand, however, how you were able to draw a nine when you needed it.”
    â€œMagnets. The card decks were specially printed. The nines were done in a separate run, printed with an ink containing a high concentration of iron. As the automaton shuffled, it retained the nines in a stack. When I needed a nine, the manager touched the automaton’s shoulder. That turned off an electromagnet. The nines dropped on top of the deck.” Chance shrugged. “That was insurance only. Had Virginia won, Trent would have demanded the necklace. She would have managed to swap the two of them, and the result would have been the same.”
    The jeweler smiled. “And your enemies will fear for their fortunes.”
    â€œMost of them, yes.” Chance nodded. The others—his most powerful enemies—upon hearing how Chance claimed to have made diamonds would understand he’d actually developed a new weapon: a magnetically driven linear accelerator. Krups, Springfield, Colt, and every other man who profited from war would