Touch of Temptation Read Online Free PDF Page B

been fried by the sun. He opened his mouth. Closed it. Finally managed to croak her name. “ Chloe? ”
    “I know, I’m sorry!” Each syllable was a struggle to get out, the muscles in her throat constricted with emotion. “I didn’t mean to say that. I just…God, it’s hot in here, isn’t it?” Breathless and burning, she started ripping at the buttons of the shirt they’d given her, revealing the delicate white lace of her bra.
    “Shit,” he choked out, taking a step back, and then another, while his powerful hands curled into hard fists at his sides, the veins bulging beneath his skin. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
    “I don’t wanna kill you,” the Merrick drawled, fighting her for control. It wouldn’t be satisfied until he’d given them what they needed…and it wanted him now. “I just wanna fu—”
    “ Enough! ” he snapped, and she flinched from the harshness of his voice, her bottom lip quivering. He looked furious, aroused and worried all at the same time, his chest heaving. The blue of his eyes overtook the green, smoldering with a hot, predatory glow. “You’ve got to fight this, Chloe. I’ve learned enough about you to know that this…this isn’t what you want.”
    She tried to make sense of his words, but the fever in her brain was burning hotter…brighter, making it impossible to think. Maybe it was the mix of her Mallory and Merrick blood, or maybe it was simply the fact that she’d been fighting the hunger for so long, but she couldn’t control herself. After all this time, she finally had an outlet for the visceral need ripping her to pieces. A tall, gorgeous, mouthwatering hero who’d come to save her—who could give the ravenous Merrick everything it wanted.
    “Please, Kellan? I need this so badly.” She wrapped her arms around her middle, trying to control her shivering, her body flashing from hot to cold. “Please help me.”
    “Damn it,” he growled, while a muscle ticked forcefully in his jaw. “That’s just your Merrick talking. The hunger caused by your awakening.”
    “But it’s—”
    A loud thud suddenly sounded above them, as if something heavy had been dropped on the floor, and Kellan tilted his head back, cutting a hard look toward the ceiling. There were raised voices and shouts, the commotion growing louder as heavy footsteps followed.
    “Get back in bed and pretend to be asleep,” he suddenly barked, his dark gaze locking with hers as he lowered his head.
    “But what are you going to do?”
    “I have to get back in my cell,” he told her, his expression grim. “They might be coming down here with our water, and if they catch me out here, they’ll separate us. I can’t let that happen.”
    “You’re going back now?” she all but sobbed, throwing her arms wide. “You’re just going to…to leave me like this? ”
    “Well, I’m sure as hell not going to touch you when there’s an audience. I’ve promised myself not to touch you at all!” he growled, running his burning gaze over the exposed strip of flesh revealed by her gaping shirt. He seemed almost transfixed by the smooth inner curves of her breasts, the white cotton only just covering her nipples. Then he shook himself in another move that looked decidedly wolflike, before muttering something under his breath that she couldn’t quite make out.
    “Kellan?”
    He dared another brief look at her face, then ground his jaw and turned, heading back toward his cell, the heavy door giving a low groan of protest as he pulled it open, then let it close behind him.
    Bristling with frustration, Chloe snatched up her pillow and hurled it toward the metal wall that separatedtheir cells, before climbing under the blanket on her cot and pulling the thin wool over her head.
    I will not beg him again, she vowed, shaking so hard that her teeth chattered. I will beat this .
    Chloe repeated the words again and again, motivated as much by the mortifying way that she’d acted as she