Alien Vengeance by Sara Craven Read Free Book Online Page A

She needed something with long sleeves so that she could slide the handle under the strap of her watch and let the blade rest against her arm.
    And she knew with sudden excitement, exactly what she could use. She gave a slow, triumphant smile. Her captor might think he held all the winning cards, but the last trick could be hers, after all.
    She’d hoped she could slip upstairs again unnoticed, but when she came back into the living room, he was clearly waiting for her.
    He gestured imperatively, indicating the seat beside him. ‘Come here, Gemma.’ He saw her hesitation, and the dark brows lifted arrogantly. ‘Do you intend to make me fetch you?’
    No, she didn’t, and that was for sure. Fighting down the signs of inner rebellion, she walked over to the sofa and sat down beside him. If ever she’d needed that knife, it was now, and the damned thing was in the kitchen.
    ‘Would you like me to fill the time until supper with some housework, kyrie ?’ she asked coolly. ‘Or have you other plans for me?’
    He said softly, ‘Little wasp. Has no man ever taught you to sweeten your tongue? My plan is that we should talk a little, get to know each other—even ...’ he paused, as if uncertain how to continue.
    ‘You mean you intend to woo me a little?’ She put a world of exaggerated surprise into her voice and expression as she faced him. ‘But surely that’s unnecessary—for what you are planning?’
    He looked at her with a glint of anger in his eyes. ‘Quite unnecessary. I’d thought only that it might ease the situation for you, perhaps.’
    ‘Nothing,’ Gemma said bitingly, ‘could ever do that.’
    She wished the sofa was bigger. He was resting his arm along the back of it, and his hand was too near her bare shoulder.
    ‘Then that is a pity,’ he said. ‘I thought, you see, that we might indulge ourselves, you and I, with a little pretence. I thought we might pretend that yesterday at Knossos, I had joined you at your table for lunch, and afterwards driven you and your companion back to Heraklion, and that later you and I had dinner together.’ His voice deepened and softened. ‘And that when I suggested you might allow me to drive you into the mountains today, you agreed. So that we have spent the whole day alone together, walking and talking, and now we are here—and our meal is cooking, and we both know it is too late for me to take you back to your hotel—and we are content that it is so.’ His voice sank almost to a whisper. Gemma felt his fingers on the nape of her neck, under the fall of her hair, stroking her skin softly and sensuously. ‘And you are waiting, Gemma mou for me to kiss you.’
    He had moved while he was speaking, she realised with a jolt. He was so close to her now that their bodies were almost brushing. If she turned her head even a fraction, then their lips would meet...
    She had no intention of doing any such thing, of course, only his warm hand smoothing her skin was dangerously, treacherously compelling. She could feel an answering warmth, deep inside her body, an excitement constricting her throat.
    She fought it away fiercely. ‘Enjoy your egotistical fantasies, kyrie ,’ she said huskily. ‘But they don’t alter a thing. As it happens, I wouldn’t walk to the end of the street with you—in Knossos, or anywhere else. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have potatoes to peel. Your primary requirement is still for food, I understand.’
    ‘At the moment,’ he said between his teeth, ‘my most crying need is to give you a beating you will always remember. You had better get out of my sight.’
    Her impulse was to run like a hare, but she made herself saunter, head held high as if indifferent to the very real threat in his voice.
    Once in the kitchen, she sagged against the table with a barely stifled whimper of relief. Just for a moment or two there, it could have been so easy, so fatally easy to let him get to her.
    No matter how much she hated him, there was