WickedBeast Read Online Free PDF Page B

was short. One way led to
a single door, the other had two. Kelly led him into a beautiful pink dream of
a little girl’s room. He raked it with a ruthless search, using both senses and
eyes. Laying Minuet on the bed, he remained leaning over her as she settled
under the covers. Kelly was close beside him, but Minuet didn’t wake.
    Cord guided Kelly out of the room with a hand at the small of
her back, pulling the door almost closed. He stopped at the top of the stairs.
    “Her father?” he asked softly.
    Kelly leaned on the wall to look up. “He was murdered six
years ago.”
    Cord frowned. “Minuet is about three. How is that possible?”
    Kelly smiled, it was a bit sad but there was humor as well.
“Dragons don’t know everything?” she teased gently.
    Cord moved closer. He had to. Her teasing, the humor drew
him. “Explain it to me. Use small words. What happened?”
    Her hands rested lightly on his chest, not pushing him away.
“The murder is unsolved. Minuet is the result of artificial insemination. We
were ready to start the next week. But then I couldn’t for a long time. Do I
need to explain?”
    “No.” He placed his hands on the wall, one on either side of
her head. “You waited ’til you were done mourning? Are you still in love with
him?” He was leaning down, his mouth a few inches from hers.
    “I will always love him,” she confessed softly. “He is part
of my daughter.”
    Cord let the hushed purr of her words sink in. He waited for
it, any minute now that confession should back him up off her. It didn’t. He
didn’t care. Perhaps he couldn’t care, not even a little bit. Well, he did
care, he was glad he didn’t have to take her from the man.
    Shadows and reality swirled, merged. Suspicion raked his
predatory senses. This story had the smell of an old evil, but the rose petals
overwhelmed even that stench. Everything was wrong with the way he was
reacting. She was taking up too much of the present. He couldn’t back down. Getting
what he needed was more than a compulsion.
    Dawn was not here yet. A single night-light lit the floor
and little more, the top of the stairwell enclosed them in intimate darkness.
He could feel Minuet sleeping undisturbed at the other end of the hall. Molly
was doing something down in the kitchen that involved a lot of muttering.
    Cord’s hands left the wall to cover the back of her hands on
his chest and pressed her palms into his flesh. He dragged her hands up,
wrapping them around his neck as his body slowly crowded her, trapping her. His
fingers trailed down the undersides of her arms, coming to rest on the sides of
her breasts, thumbs caressing the swells in lazy sweeps.
    Kelly didn’t stop him. Her large violet eyes watched him but
there was no fear, no rejection as he wrapped her arms around his neck and
pressed his body to her from knees to chest. Nor was there any doubt of his
response. His hips rocked into her abdomen as he watched her eyes. It was her
mouth he should have been watching. Lush lips opened in a tiny gasp as she felt
his heavy length.
    That was his, the air she breathed, and he had to have it.
His mouth took hers and he couldn’t be slow anymore. He’d given her every
opportunity to object, to stop him. She’d accepted.
    His lips on hers weren’t near enough. Firmly pushing into
her mouth, he was rewarded as she opened for him. Her taste, her delicious,
addictive taste exploded through his senses as he delved into her. She
tentatively sucked his tongue and all hell broke loose, triggering a chain of
responses he’d never experienced before. Lust backdrafted through him with
white-hot demand.
    Cord ripped his hands off her, flattening them on the wall
beside her body. The rush of sexual aggression left little besides the drive to
complete his possession of her. He was dimly aware his reaction could manifest
in talons to ensure she did not evade him.
    A low growl rumbled around them as his weight shifted into
her, the need to pin