Scarlet Butterfly Read Online Free PDF

know why. He was holding her captive with his body. She looked frightened, yet she didn’t pull away. There were circles under her eyes, but the dark smudges didn’t detract from the fine bone structure of her lovely face. She was beautiful. Her delicate face was oval, with a small aristocratic nose that turned up at the end in a dare.
    “I’m really all right,” she said quietly, stepping away.
    She reclaimed her cup and filled it again. Eyes too large and too bright for his comfort looked at him over the edge of the cup as she sipped the hot liquid. They were a cool, silvery green, almost gray, like theriver in shadows. He wondered if she could sense the undercurrents bouncing about the galley, and decided that she could. Most women would fill the silence with words, he thought; most women wouldn’t be able to exist in a void washed with such vivid sensations.
    Sean cleared his throat.
    “That was your car back on the road?”
    “Yes, I think I ran out of gas. I’ll call a service station, if you’ll let me use your phone.”
    “No phone. I doubt anybody would come anyway. The current is still rising. Looks like neither of us is going anywhere.”
    “I’m sorry. It’s just that I need my clothes.”
    “I’m afraid you’re out of luck until the storm lets up. But”—he gave her a long, heated look—“you’re welcome to wear anything I have—or nothing at all, if you choose.”
    “Thanks. I did find the suit I was wearing when I came, but it seemed awfully heavy. Did you get wet earlier?”
    “Wet? A little. Why?”
    “Well, just now, in the stairway, I thought you’d changed clothes. Were you wearing something blue?”
    “In the companionway? Look, Goldilocks, you’re still weak or something. I’ve been right here, except for my attempt to find the dock.” His voice sharpened again, revealing his tension.
    “Mr. Rogan, I’m very sorry. I seem to keep making you angry, and I’m not sure why. Maybe we got off to a bad start. Let me introduce myself. My name is Carolina Evans.”
    Bad start
? He had to bite back a colorful swear. She had inserted herself in his solitary, orderly lifeas if she’d been expected, and now was embroidering on her plans by pretending that they shared some secret. Still, there was something utterly compelling about her, something that appealed to the protective side of his nature. He felt responsible for her, and at the same time guilty over the desire she fostered without even knowing she was doing so.
    “So, Carrie,” he said awkwardly, in an attempt to regain control of a situation that seemed to deteriorate into pure lust every time they touched, “can you cook?”
    CARRIE
?
    The table rocked violently for a moment. Carolina and Sean caught the edge and steadied it.
    “Did we hit something?” she asked.
    There was a puzzled expression on Rogan’s face as he stood, glanced out the window, and turned back. “Must have been a swell, or maybe a log. Don’t worry, the
Butterfly
is safe.”
    Their gazes met and caught for a long moment. “I knew it would be, Mr. Rogan. That’s what drew me here. But I didn’t expect you, or intend to—I mean I should thank you for caring for me.”
    “Forget the ‘mister.’ I think we’re past that. I apologize for what happened. I don’t usually sleep with a woman who doesn’t even know I’m there, but you’d turned into an icicle, and I didn’t know any other way to warm you. Then I fell asleep too.”
    She took another sip of coffee and felt its heat slide down her throat. “Funny, I wasn’t cold when I woke up.”
    Was she kidding? If they’d been any warmer, they’d have incinerated the sheets. But the uncertaintyin her eyes cut through his hormonal reaction and he forced himself to back off.
    “I was pretty warm, myself. If I’d known what I was doing, I wouldn’t have. I wouldn’t want you to—Hell, I don’t know what I mean. But if you were offended, I’m sorry!”
    “I don’t think I was,”