Alpha Me Not by Jianne Carlo Read Free Book Online

way. Holding her breath, she teased it open and waited for a death-defying squeak or a click or some other deafening noise in the dead silence. Not a spark of light lessened the ominous blackness of the room.
    Gawd, she smelled him. Musk, spice, and sex.
    On tiptoe she made her way to the bed.
    “Want that brandy after all?” He switched on a lamp.
    Refusing to look anywhere but straight into his eyes, she leaned forward and set her palm to his bunched forearm. “No lights.”

Chapter Three
    Joe turned off the lamp.
    The sight of Susie in the stark moonlight sucker punched every last molecule of oxygen from his lungs.
    Moonbeams streamed through the open windows to the right of the bed, bathing Susie in an incandescent glow. The gleaming ebony curtain of her hair twirled around her hip bones. The wifebeater skimmed her slim waist and molded her uptilted breasts. And the fuck-me pink lacy thong had his mouth watering.
    “You were expecting me?”
    Expecting? More like fervently praying she’d come to him before he lost the battle to go to her. No way in the universe could he sleep thirty yards away from Susie and under the same roof without holding her, kissing her, making love to her, imprinting his scent over every inch of her flesh.
    “Making deals with various deities. Bargaining away several choice pounds of flesh.”
    He reached for her hand, brought her wrist to his nose, and sniffed, inhaling the unique aroma of one of his favorite pulse points. A trace of lemon from the scented soap he’d given her remained, but he could make out a hint of her female spiciness. “I figured I might’ve been able to hold out till two thirty, but one second after that I’d have been in your bed.”
    “Good to know. I…I almost didn’t have the courage.”
    “At the risk of being a complete masochist—are you sure you want to do this?” Joe pulled back the sheets and edged over a little. He held his breath when she glanced first at the bed and then to him.
    “Positive.” A flash of white teeth, a sultry shoulder shrug, and then she slid onto the mattress, engulfing him in a cloud of intoxicating, quintessential woman musk. He’d been inhaling her emotions for twelve hours and twenty-three minutes. Her essence had seeped into his pores, her fear, her confusion, her dread and worry, her gritty determination, and, throughout the dinner, the fire, and the aftermath, her arousal.
    He cupped her neck and nuzzled her hair. “You smell incredible.”
    She chuckled. “That’s exactly what I thought when I opened the door. That the room smelled of you. Musk and spice.”
    “Amazing. You’re damned amazing, Susie White.” He hauled her close and turned so that they lay on their sides, heads aligned, noses almost touching. Tracing the strong, square line of her jaw, he marveled at the suppleness of her silky skin. “Still able to laugh. Not too many women I know could’ve done what you did tonight. You held yourself together. While there’s nothing in the world I want more than to make love to you right this very moment, I can’t in all good conscience without telling you that what you’re feeling is the adrenaline—”
    “Shut up, Joe Huroq. Make love to me. Make me feel alive.” She pressed her palms to his bare chest.
    “You’re not only alive, Susie, you’re the epitome of pulsing vitality.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “It was damned difficult to play the gentleman and leave it all up to you.”
    “I don’t want the gentleman. I want the big, bad mercenary.” She kissed the hollow in the center of his throat, licked his Adam’s apple, and his stones engorged so tautly the pubic hairs prickled. Fire on a dick—he wanted her, needed her.
    Slow, slow.
    He had a blazing desire to cherish this woman, give her his all. Tipping her chin back, he tasted her, sipped her satin softness, lingered on the curve of her full lower lip, and drew her tight against him.
    She linked her hands behind his neck