The Prince of Pleasure Read Online Free PDF Page B

upstairs, in one of the guest rooms. Laurel will show up, I'll take the stuff from her—"
    "I am not," Khan said coldly, "a man who hides from anyone."
    "No. Of course you aren't. I simply meant—"
    "I am most assuredly not a man who would hide from a woman!"
    "Look, there's a simple solution. I'll call Laurel, tell her to leave the papers with the doorman or the concierge."
    "I am also not a man who would ask his host to turn a guest away from his door on my behalf."
    "That's my point. She isn't a guest. I didn’t invite her here. I wouldn't, not after the way she went at you."
    Khan felt his face turn hot. The woman was a friend of the Wildes. Because of him, that friendship was now strained.
    "Listen," he said, "you don't know all of it."
    "I do," Travis said. "What she did was—"
    "I kissed her."
    Silence. The Wildes stared at him, at each other, then at him again. Khan cleared his throat.
    "I was angry."
    "And?"
    "And, I followed her outside."
    "And?"
    "And, I—I kissed her."
    Jake grinned. So did Caleb. Travis laughed.
    "He kissed her," Jake said.
    "Yeah," said Caleb, "well, that's sure as hell one way to get even with a woman."
    Khan glared at the three of them.
    "I am glad that you find this so amusing!"
    "Listen to him," Travis said. "His accent's coming back. It always used to, remember? When he got into a jam."
    "I am not in a jam. I do not have an accent." Khan paused. "Hell," he said softly. "I owe the woman an apology."
    Jake nodded.
    "In that case," he said solemnly, "you're in luck. The lady in question just stepped out on the terrace—and she's spotted you."
    "Wow," Caleb said quietly. "If looks could kill…"
    Khan swung around.
    The music, the laughter, the voices all seemed to fade away.
    She stood just past the open wall of glass that divided the terrace from the living room.
    She was wearing jeans. Some kind of silky-looking shirt. Spike-heeled boots that were the crimson of a tropical sunset. Her hair was loose, a wild waterfall of dark curls that fell to her shoulders and down her back.
    She was beautiful.
    Spectacularly beautiful.
    And he knew, without question, that he wanted to start all over again, tell her that he wasn't the ruthless despot she'd pegged him for, or the barbarian he'd proven to be.
    As for the kiss…
    He wanted to kiss her again.
    Taste her.
    Draw a response from her as he almost had, the other night.
    First, though, he owed her an apology. And he would make one. Now.
    Khan took a step forward.
    One of the Wildes—he didn't know which because he had not taken his eyes from Laurel—one of them laid a hand lightly on his arm.
    "Khan." The voice was Caleb's. "Man, don't do anything you'll regret."
    Khan shook off Caleb's hand.
    "Everything's fine," he said, and started slowly across the terrace, toward Laurel.
    And Laurel, who had been trying to decide what course of action to take when she found herself staring at the very last man she'd ever wanted to see again, the man she'd thought of endlessly for the last two days, did something she'd never imagined.
    She turned and ran.

     
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
     
     
    Coward, Laurel thought, as she pushed her way through the maddeningly crowded room.  
    She, who had never run from a fight in her life, was running, and from what? He was just a man, despite all those foolish titles. That he'd humiliated her didn't mean she had to turn tail and run.
    If anything, she should have stood her ground, just as she had all her life.
    Growing up in south Dallas she'd learned, early, how to face down bigger, tougher kids. Anybody who thought only boys had to deal with bullies and beatings and intimidation was living in another century.
    Even school had been a battleground.
    You went to a place where acceptance or, at least getting through from day to day meant blending in and sometimes even dumbing down when you already knew you wanted out of these mean streets, you  learned to ignore the taunts of others and keep your eye on your