Wild Is the Night Read Online Free PDF

floor. But it wasn’t all right. The whiskey churned in her stomach, the burned food rose like bile in her throat, and her nervous reaction, fostered by indecision, made her body tense. When he tried to enter her with his fingers, she pulled away from him, her face reddening in embarrassment, her eyes wide and stricken.
    “What is it?” He attempted to draw her back into his embrace once more, but she pulled away, resisting the intoxication of his kiss.
    “I can’t.” She fought to explain, for once completely incapable of speech. She saw the confusion in his eyes as he raised his hand to touch her, but she flinched as if afraid, then struggled for words, mortified beyond reason. “I…I’m going to be sick.”
    Luke stared at her in disbelief as she choked, clapped a hand over her mouth, then rushed to the waiting bowl on the counter. She was definitely sick.

Chapter
   3   
    Luke couldn’t believe it. No woman had ever done this to him, not even when he was much younger—fourteen to be exact, and learning about love from the giggling Hamilton twins who’d lived on the outskirts of Charleston. But Amanda wasn’t teasing him or playing coy. Her face lost much of its color, and even as he watched, her eyes became as glassy as glazed china. Luke stood behind her, helpless as Amanda violently retched.
    “You all right?” He moistened his handkerchief and pressed the cool cotton to her face, then to the back of her neck. Amanda nodded, more embarrassed than ever. Luke helped her to a chair, and she practically pushed away from him, eager to forget the entire humiliating incident. Collapsing into the seat, she wanted to die, to forget that this night had ever transpired, to dissolve into eternal sleep which had nothing to do with the seductions of ruthless gunmen.
    “Please, just go,” she whispered brokenly, resisting as he tried to make her more comfortable. Ignoring her protest, Luke covered her with a linen tablecloth that he found in a drawer.
    “Look, I just want to be sure you’re okay.” He lifted her face, growing annoyed as she rejected his help once more.
    “I’m fine. Really. Now will you please just leave me alone?” She picked up her glasses and replaced them on her face, glaring at him with that oddly piercing stare he’d seen too often earlier.
    “Sure.” Luke nodded, growing justifiably angry. “You know, I don’t expect gratitude or anything. But you’re the damnest woman I’ve ever met. What are you mad at me for?”
    “I’m sorry if I ruined your evening,” Amanda said, hiding behind her well-honed defenses. “I suppose most women just fall into your arms.”
    “They don’t usually throw up,” Luke agreed, growing more furious by the moment.
    “Then it’s just as well we’ll be parting come morning. As Homer says—”
    “Amanda.” Luke’s voice was deadly. He reached across the table, picked up the whiskey bottle, then settled himself into a chair while she watched in horrified fascination. He cocked his gun, then placed it within reach. “Don’t you dare.”
    Amanda closed her mouth, then drew the linen up more snugly around her shoulders. If there was one thing she didn’t need to learn in school, it was when to back down.
    This was obviously the time.
    Gunfire woke them just before dawn. Luke was awake in a second, snatching up his gun in one fluid motion, then he posed at the window in shocked disbelief.
    “Jesus, what is this?” He fired in return, amazed to discover that the shots were indeed directed at the deserted restaurant. Pausing only to reload, he saw Amanda scramble for her clothes, then for the bird cage. Shaking his head in disbelief, he watched her place the owl safely beneath the table. Only then did she see to her own comfort. Struggling into her dress, she ducked as a window broke and glass danced across the floor in a thousand tiny prisms.
    “Get down! This isn’t one of your damned novels, they’re shooting!”
    “Who is it?”