TimeSlip Read Online Free PDF Page A

You presumed that I was with the police.”
    “But you let me believe it. You murderous, treacherous,
lying bastard. Now let go of me.”
    Ingrid wriggled like an eel. Strom muttered several
expletives under his breath as he struggled to open the bedroom door and subdue
her with his other arm.
    “Ingrid, you are a most infuriating woman. Stop wriggling!”
    Strom opened the door, tossed her on the bed and locked the
door behind him. “Now we talk.”
    Ingrid glared at him. “Talk, is that what you call it? Are
you going to add rape to the rest of your crimes, Strom?”
    “It’s only rape if you’re not willing.” That was the
wrong thing to say, idiot. Now she looked as if she really would like to
kill him. He probably should have let Jake handle this. He was better with
women. But the thought of Jake laying a finger on Ingrid made Strom’s fist
clench with jealousy.
    “You arrogant … Oh I can’t think of a word horrible enough
to call you.”
     
    Ingrid looked around the bedroom, seeking a weapon. Her eyes
fell on her stockings. Probably not, he was hardly likely to sit still and let
her choke him. Maybe she could beat him to death with one of her shoes? Some of
them had sharp, vicious bits. Like the purple wedges with the pointy toes. She
rolled off the bed and raced for the wardrobe.
    Strom leaned nonchalantly against the door. “Getting
changed? Why don’t you wear the pale-blue one?”
    Ingrid stopped in her tracks. Pale-blue what? He was talking
about her negligee. The creep must have searched through her things. Her hand
fastened on a wooden handle of a large burlesque fan, Finn’s idea of a joke for
her last birthday. Well, it was better than nothing. She made her way back to
the bedroom. The viking was no longer lounging against the door. The arrogant
bastard was lying in the middle of her bed with his hands behind his head.
    He raised one blond brow when he saw the fan. How could he
have missed that? His mouth twisted in a grin. Ingrid was full of surprises.
    “Don’t you dare grin at me.”
    “Stop acting like an idiot then. I’ve told you that I won’t
hurt you. I just want to talk.”
    “So talk then.” She glared at him.
    “Not when you’re threatening me like that.”
    He had to be joking. He had locked her in her bedroom and
invaded her bed and he thought the whole thing was funny. “I’m threatening you?
I’m threatening …”
    She made the mistake of going too close to the bed. Strom’s
arm shot out and within seconds she was lying across his chest, staring at the
ceiling.
    She struggled furiously in his arms, but he was far too
strong.
    “Please don’t stop that.” The voice in her ear was silky
with menace. “It’s really most enjoyable.”
    Ingrid lay perfectly still. Already she could feel the
evidence of his enjoyment and she wasn’t inclined to add to it. “So talk,” she
said icily.
    “I’m assigned to the Department of Temporal Security. We’re
investigating a group of criminals who are stealing from museums and selling
the artifacts on the black market. Raoul and his people are ruthless. They
don’t care who they kill or who gets hurt. Last month they blew up a
school-transport vehicle with thirty children on board. The ransom had already
been paid.”
    Ingrid was sickened. But hold on a moment, surely something
like that would have been all over the news. He was lying to her. What the hell
was he playing at?
    “Strom, if that is your name, why hasn’t there been a
mention of that on the news?”
    “Because it hasn’t happened yet, it won’t happen for another
five-hundred years.”
    The bedside clock ticked noisily in the room for a full
minute. Ingrid didn’t know what to say. A time-traveling viking—well you
certainly know how to pick them . It didn’t matter how handsome he was.
Strom was obviously nuttier than a fruitcake. Congratulations, Ingrid,
you’ve just won first prize in the psycho-boyfriend-of-the-year contest .
    That was it. She was