Act of Exposure by Cathryn Cooper Read Free Book Online Page A

to
find out just how dangerous she might be.' This last comment was
made more softly, to himself, rather than to anyone else.
    Those who did
not know her presumed that despite the sombre blackness of her
outfit, this sleek young woman could not possibly be what she was:
the most successful young barrister in the city. Because they did
not quite believe that someone so beautiful could also be so
brilliant, they tried their hand and their luck. At the same time
as propositioning her, they could not help but imagine her generous
mouth on theirs, her breasts bare and heaving gently beneath their
gaze and their groping hands, her legs parted. At first, of course,
they would ask a mundane question; something low-key, something
legal, and with the most sensual of mouths, she would reply, speak
of the law, of her views on the latest judgements, of her opinion
on the outcome of the case of financial double-dealing now being
played out at the Old Bailey.
    Those who
might have asked her to lunch balked at their own crassness in even
thinking that she was the sort of woman to be regarded as anything
other than a professional. Abigail Corrigan was a glittering
example of what women could be if they did not let their sexuality
weaken their resolve.
    If those who
conversed with her ever noticed that her eyes never quite looked at
them and that she was always searching for something or someone
among the crowd, they did not comment on it. It was enough that she
had spoken to them and they knew what sort of woman she was.
    Abigail
Corrigan glided serenely on her way. Her nocturnal adventures of
just a fortnight ago were consigned to some secret corner of her
mind, as they usually were. But usually was a slipshod word now,
after her last encounter. Aspects of the man she had lain with in
the Railway Hotel kept seeping into her mind.
    She thought
repeatedly of the darkness of his eyes, the warm pressure of his
lips on hers and the firmness of his tongue as it had pushed into
her mouth. And of how willingly she had let him in. Unknown before
that night, he was now drifting around her mind like a familiar
shadow. Even while sitting in court these sweet memories evoked
delightful sensations that ran like shivers over her flesh. Beneath
her robes she was bare from stocking tops to waist. Abby never wore
underwear. In her professional life, it was her only concession to
sexuality.
    Pleasurable
thoughts were put away when someone she knew spoke to her.
    'Abby, my
dear. How nice to see you here.'
    She smiled at
the tall man with the shoulder-length grey hair that was so
smoothly tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He had
another guy with him, a pink-cheeked young man who had the
scrubbed-clean confidence that only a public school education can
achieve. He looked at her with obvious interest.
    'Christopher.'
    He shook her
hand in a thoroughly businesslike way, but his eyes held meaning.
He was one crown prosecutor who had felt the sharp edge of her
tongue, the tight precision of her legal defence. All the same, she
could recognize the lust in his eyes. She had also seen him with
his mouth hanging open, his eyes glazed as he beheld her in another
place and as another person. Oh what marvellous inventions are
masks, coloured contact lenses, black wigs, and bright red
lipstick, she thought to herself.
    'This is Lance
Vector,' he said. 'Freelance journalist. He's following my star
assignment at the moment. This, my dear Vector, is Abigail
Corrigan, a woman who is wed entirely to her profession and has
never been known to accept the offer of a date unless it's in
court. She's our very own Snow Queen, and the sharpest legal
defence around. If ever you need a lawyer, she's the one you should
ask for.'
    Abigail shook
the young man's hand. Immediately, she knew she had had an effect
on him. Whatever expression had been in his eyes altered. His jaw
dropped ever so slightly, his handshake lingered longer than
necessary. After pulling her hand out of