Marked by Passion Read Online Free PDF

whole exchange with Jesse. She'd been trying to get him into her bed forever. Seeing him with me really got to her. I tried to be a better person and not feel good about that, but I couldn't help gloating. Just a little.
    Usually I would have taunted her more, but tonight I just wanted out of there. I closed up my register and cleaned up the broken glass and spilled alcohol in record time. I supposed I could have let Vivian clean up—she was supposed to close, after all—but if I left things a mess for her, she'd retaliate tenfold. Besides, Jesse's eyes were on me the whole time, and that infuriated her.
    "Done?" he asked when he saw me toss the rag into the bin.
    "Done. But, listen, tonight's not good. I have a few things I need to take care of." Going around the counter, I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and walked away before he could say or do anything.
    I hurried to the office, put on my jacket, and unburied the box. Tu ch’i tugged at me when my hand touched the box. I tensed, waiting for it to explode to life, but it died down with a weak ripple. Thank God. Relieved, I turned around and found Jesse in the doorway.
    "What's the package?" He nodded at the box.
    "Just some papers I got today."
    "For your show?"
    I studied him with narrowed eyes. What was with all the questions? And why did he show up suddenly tonight? Why was he so insistent on going home with me? Could he know about the scroll?
    Tu ch’i swelled, echoing my suspicion. I fought it back, but I couldn't help but be distrustful of Jesse's interest. Only how much of my doubt was justified and how much was real?
    Oh, God—Wu's crazy delusions had transferred to me along with the scroll. This was Jesse. I shook my head to dislodge the suspicions. Soon I'd believe I was being followed by black helicopters.
    Jesse frowned. "What's wrong?"
    "Nothing." I clutched the box tighter. "I'm just tired. It's been a long day."
    He took a step closer. "I can help you with the tension."
    "Jesse—"
    "Come on, babe." He snaked his arms around my waist. "Take me home with you. I miss you."
    His embrace was warm and familiar. I waited for the zing of sexual awareness I'd always felt with him. Nothing.
    Instead, I remembered the way my body had gone up in flames at the one glancing touch of the British guy's hand. Just thinking about it now made my nipples tighten, and I felt a rush of longing.
    But not for Jesse. And I didn't want to give him the impression that he was the one turning me on, so I shrugged out of his hold and clutched the box to my abdomen as if it was a shield. "I'm too tired for this."
    He stared at me; God knows what thoughts were running through his head. Then he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and said, "I'll walk you home."
    "I—"
    "Just to make sure you're safe," he cut into my protest.
    Normally, I would have scoffed at such an offer—I'd spent my entire childhood learning the finer points of kung fu, after all. But I felt shaky with the scroll on my person, and having a brawny guy with me was that much more comforting. So I nodded. "Okay."
    The whole six blocks to my apartment, I was torn between keeping Jesse at arm's length, worrying about whether Wu was going to suddenly pop out of nowhere, and being hypervigilant about having the scroll out in the open. Call me paranoid, but I had a weird feeling I was being watched. And not in the Brit's hot, expectant, sexually charged kind of way. More menacing.
    At the rate I was going, I'd be a basket case by the end of the week.
    "You're in a hurry tonight. You that tired?"
    No—that freaked out. I was roaming the streets with the equivalent of an atom bomb in my hands. I walked even faster. "A lot happened today."
    "I wish—" He shook his head, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. Instead of continuing his thought, he sped up to keep pace with me. "Let's get you home."
    My apartment was on the fringes, as I called it. Ten years ago, the part of the Mission where I lived was definitely