Melting Steel: An Alpha Billionaire Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

under the coffee table. I run my fingers over the initials carved into the handle – H.W.C.
    My initials.
    Keeley glances up at me from where she’s picking up pieces of broken glass, brows furrowing when she looks at the sword. Emotion flickers across her face, then it’s gone, replaced by a cold mask. She shrugs and turns her back to me.
    My throat constricts, images of a small, dark-haired little girl, racing through my mind.
    No. It can’t be.
    “What?” She dumps the glass pieces into a wastebasket, then crosses her arms over her chest, blue eyes narrowed on me.
    I glance away trying to regain some composure. Was it possible she was my blue-eyed girl? The one I’d sworn to protect. The one I’d been dreaming of for the past twenty years.
    Despite the beating I got for persisting otherwise, I knew she was real. That I hadn’t made her up.
    “Get what you need for the night.” The words are spoken before I really think about what I’m suggesting.
    Her jaw locks and she studies me for a moment, eyes heavy with mistrust.
    “Look.” She takes a deep breath, gaze locked on me. “I appreciate you want to help, but this is my problem. I don’t even know you.”
    She’s right. We’re practically strangers. Christ, I don’t even know her last name. But there’s no fucking way I’m walking out of this shitty apartment without her.
    She’s mine. She just doesn’t know it yet.
    “And what happens when that asshole comes back looking for you?”
    She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, and I can tell her mind goes somewhere dark.
    “I’ll handle him.” The confidence that was in her voice moments before is gone. She’s scared and she has every reason to be.
    I move towards her, ready to use any and all tactics to make her see reason. Sheer force won’t work, not with her. If anything, it’ll just make her dig her heels in deeper. No, it’s time to turn on the charm. Appeal to her feminine needs.
    She stiffens slightly when I reach out to stroke a strand of dark hair that’s fallen loose from her bun.
    “What are you doing?” Her voice cracks slightly on the last word.
    A grin pulls at my lips, but I stifle it. I can tell my touch affects her. She’s so fucking responsive. I lean in slowly, and wrap my other arm around her waist.
    “Come home with me.” I brush my thumb across her bottom lip and she instantly parts them for me. The things I’m going to do with that mouth.
    She shakes her head, but I can tell she’s thinking about it. I can feel her resolve fading.
    “Just for tonight. There’s nothing you can do until morning.”
    “Just for tonight,” she repeats, her gaze focused on my lips.
    I lean in slightly and she closes her eyes, clearly anticipating my kiss.
    Not yet, sweetheart.
    When I finally kiss her, there will be no stopping.
    “Go pack a bag.”
    She nods, and I know I’ve won.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter 5
     
    Keeley
     
    When he looks at me like that, my panties may as well evaporate. But there’s something else behind his gaze, like he actually wants to help me.
    Don’t be so naïve, Keeley.
    He wants one thing from me, and once he gets it, I’ll be just another notch on his bedpost.
    But at least I’ll have the night to figure out what to do. I have no doubt Jax will be back, looking for me.
    I keep saying that I don’t need his help, but the truth is I’m terrified – for myself, but also for Drew. I made a promise years ago that I’d never let anyone hurt him again, and I’ve sacrificed everything to make sure no one did.
    But I can’t protect him from Jax. Not unless I can somehow come up with the money he’s stolen.
    Ten thousand dollars . Shit. It might as well be a million.
    The small envelope I kept taped under the couch is gone. Tip money that I was going to use to pay for this month’s rent. It was only five hundred dollars, but it was all I had.
    “You have everything you need?” A calloused hand brushes against the bare skin of