Risk the Night Read Online Free PDF Page B

pulled her from
the limo.   His hands were
calloused, as if he were used to hard work, which of course was
impossible.   And the desire he
felt, the desire that she knew perfectly well flowed between them, was a live
thing between their hands, their skin.
    She pulled free the moment she reached the wet pavement.   “The rain has stopped,”   she announced.   “And I can take it from here.   Thank you so much for your kindness
…”  
    He had already folded the umbrella, handing it back to the chauffeur
before taking her arm in an unbreakable hold that was even worse than his hand
on hers.   Even more erotic.   “I wouldn’t think of not escorting you
to your door, Miss Banks.”
    “I live on the fourth floor, and there are no elevators.”
    “I will try not to hyperventilate.”
    There was nothing she could do.   He was too strong, too determined.   She wasn’t afraid of him, she told herself.   She’d told him no, and he would hardly descend to raping
her.   In truth, he could have just
about anyone.   On a different day,
he might have even had her.
    But the memory of the man in the darkness still haunted her, and she
wasn’t going to let her odd, lingering arousal push her into making a terrible
mistake.   Besides, the man beside
her was probably lousy in bed.   He
was so good-looking he wouldn’t have to make much of an effort, and most women
would still be grateful.
    They moved up the stairs in silence, though each time she tried to tug
free his hand tightened, and she wondered if she’d have bruises.   She had climbed these narrow flights of
stairs for months now, considering it her own form of cardio-vascular exercise,
but tonight she was rushing it, desperate to get away from him, and she was
growing winded from the effort.
    “You don’t need to run,”   he said in a low voice.   “I’m not that bad.”
    She didn’t respond, saving her breath.   By the time they reached the top floor she was suddenly
regretting her haste.   What did he
intend to do once they got there?
    He released her then, holding out his hand.   “Your keys?”
    She didn’t want to give them to him, but she had no choice.   She reached inside the Judith Lieber handbag and fished them out, handing them to
him.   He unlocked the door, pushed
it open, and gave the keys back to her.
    She didn’t move.   He was
going to kiss her.   She’d allow him
that much, because she wanted so much more.   She wanted the implicit promise of his body, she wanted to
fuck the crazy, hot confusion out of her own.   She wanted this day, with these twin, insane attractions,
gone, but not without a deep, rich taste of him.
    “Good night, Miss Banks.”   Without another word he was gone, and she heard him descending the
stairs.
    She was so damned tempted to lean over the stairwell and call to
him.   To curse him, to call him
back, she wasn’t sure which.   Instead she went into her apartment, triple-locked her door, and
breathed a deep sigh of relief and regret.

 
    He could have had her.   Constantine knew if he’d pushed it he could have had her a dozen times,
including on the back seat of the limo while Tessa slept on.   He’d considered shoving her up against
her door, pulling up her vintage Balenciaga and fucking her senseless.   He’d seen the digital recorder in her
purse, and she would have dropped it as she was caught up in the fury he knew
he could inspire in her.   Knew,
because he was feeling that same rage, a maelstrom of need that threatened to
burn him up.
    He was semi-erect and he didn’t give a damn if it showed, though the
chauffeur, who was gay, was much too polite to gaze at his employer’s
boyfriend’s crotch.   And Tessa was
too spaced to be aware of anything.
    The smart thing to do was take her home, close his eyes and screw the
hell out of her while she dreamed, only half awake, picturing Madison Banks’s ripe, creamy flesh instead of the bony mass beneath
him.   The loose dress