Mallory Rush - [Outlawsand Heroes 02] Read Online Free PDF Page B

What if his heart, his respiration, couldn't handle the excitement her own body was hard-pressed to handle itself?
    "You need only tell me what it is you wish for, and I'll grant your slightest whim," he assured her in a rich, gravelly voice. "But while you consider your desires, you won't mind if I indulge one of my own, will you?"
    Did he mean to ravish her? Her heart thumping like mad, Lori was terribly afraid that he would—only when he fingered her wet bangs, she was jolted by a distinct disappointment that ravishment was apparently not to be her fate.
    "I'm quite taken with your hair," he explained. "Fascinated, really. How you've cut it—I've never seen anything quite so striking. And the color is lovely. Yes, very lovely... as are you."
    For a moment she could only stare at him, her mind whirling on tiptoes of delight, her body tingling from the unexpected tenderness of his touch.
    "I'm glad you like it," she said softly. Soft. He made her feel soft inside and feminine all over.
    "Oh, but I do. Almost as much as I like the feel of you under my hands, the sound of those catching little breaths I hear. In truth, I like everything about you. Never has a woman so completely engaged my attention. Alas, I could very easily be smitten with you."
    "You're dangerous," she whispered, certain of that even if she was no longer certain of anything else.
    "Indeed," he agreed, playing with the ends of her hair. "But you needn't fear me, though there are others who should."
    A sudden darkness lurked in his hooded gaze. What she glimpsed was brutal, merciless, cold. Lori shivered. It was a lethal, stalking kind of danger that went far beyond the sensual danger he posed to a woman as vulnerable as she. Who was he? Part of her was desperate to find out; part of her prayed she would never know.
    "You're so still, so quiet," he said, his gaze mellowing on her. "What are you thinking?"
    "It's strange, but I get the feeling... well, almost like you're two different people in one."
    "But of course I am." He frowned. "I assumed that Attu told you."
    "Your—your friend didn't really tell me anything. I only knew you were in need of help and you're lucky—"
    "Lucky Luke," he interjected, chuckling. "Such a lackluster name, don't you think?"
    "It's okay." Images of cards and drawn guns came at her.
    "So, Attu failed to mention my real name?" At her nod, he bowed toward her—which put his lips a whisper from hers and caused his hips to rise slightly. She stifled a gasp, and then a moan, when he nuzzled into the juncture of her thighs. What had been only half-alive was fully alive now.
    He murmured a sigh of satisfaction, then said with a gallant air, "allow me to introduce myself. Noble Zhivago, barrister."
    Zhivago, that was Russian, wasn't it? And yet his accent pegged him as a proper Brit. While she found herself puzzling his nationality Lori was struck by the absurd politeness of their exchange in an anything but polite position.
    "You're a lawyer?" she asked, unable to subdue a grin.
    "It seems you find my occupation amusing," he noted with such seriousness that she couldn't hold back her laughter. "I fail to understand the cause for your humor, but whatever it is, I'm glad of it. You have a truly delightful laugh. I can only hope you indulge the sound often... Lori."
    His words touched her, deeply, and she quickly sobered. But a warm, happy feeling remained as she confessed, "actually, I don't laugh, really laugh, very often. At least I haven't in recent years. Noble." She liked the way his name tasted, how the resonance of it lingered on her tongue. "Noble," she said again. "A wonderful name. It suits you."
    "Thank you. I'm sure my parents would be pleased to think they had chosen well." That frightening something she'd glimpsed earlier flashed without warning in his eyes. Then, like quicksilver, it was gone, replaced by a silvery gleam as he urged her deeper into the saddle of his thighs.
    "Now tell me what you found to be of such