Beauty and the Wolf by Lois Faye Dyer Read Free Book Online Page B

hers and the press of her increasingly sensitized body as it lay against his from breast to thigh.
    His lashes lowered, his eyes going darker as the moment stretched. Then he swung her in a slow circle, his steps sure as he swept her into a secluded corner, behind a tall column with baskets of ferns and flowers widening its base.
    Her skirts swirled around his legs as he stopped, easing her backward against the column’s support.
    His gaze didn’t leave hers as he bent his head and brushed his mouth against hers.
    It was like touching a live electrical wire. Frankie started, her hands curling into fists over his lapels as she caught her breath.
    â€œShh,” he murmured against her lips. Then his mouth fitted carefully over hers, changing the angle of the kiss as it lengthened, stealing the oxygen from her lungs until he breathed for her.
    Frankie forgot that a roomful of people danced and laughed only feet away from where she stood, locked in Eli’s arms, concealed behind the column. The world faded away, narrowing to hold only Eli.
    When at last he lifted his head, she was breathless. If she hadn’t been supported against his solid strength, she knew she would have wobbled, her knees weak.
    Eli’s hooded gaze searched hers, his breath coming too fast. His fingertips moved reflexively against the bare skin of her back above the low-cut gown as if unable to keep from stroking, and a muscle ticked along the line of his jaw. Whatever he saw in her eyes had his lips curving upward in a slow, sensual half smile that made Frankie yearn for the feel of his mouth on hers again. Then he wrapped her closer and swept her out from behind the column, back into the crowd, the music a slow swirl of sound around them. Frankie let him guide her, her feet automatically moving to the rhythm as she struggled to clear her head.
    She was every bit as shaken now as she’d been by that first kiss all those months ago at her birthday party. Noquestion about it, she thought with faint dismay, when she’d felt the earth move during that first kiss, it hadn’t been the result of drinking too much champagne on an empty stomach.
    Because it had just happened again.
    Harry and Cornelia, with half the dance floor now separating them from Eli and Frankie, were each trying to digest and interpret what they’d just seen.
    â€œI haven’t purposely spied on any of my daughters since they were teenagers,” Cornelia told Harry. “I feel guilty.”
    â€œWe didn’t spy on them on purpose,” Harry protested. “We just happened to be dancing near them when he pulled her behind that column. It’s not as if we were using binoculars.”
    Cornelia leaned back against his arm and looked up at him. “Even you can’t believe that excuse, Harry,” she admonished him, shaking her head. “You know very well you asked me to dance solely to keep an eye on Frankie and Eli.”
    â€œAll right,” he admitted. “It’s true. But in my defense, I’m having a hard time believing she’s suddenly interested in Eli. They’ve known each other for years, and I’ve never seen a hint of anything romantic between them.”
    â€œMaybe that’s precisely why,” Cornelia pointed out. “Sometimes two people can be too close and not realize they’re perfect for each other.”
    â€œI find that hard to believe,” Harry scoffed, dismissing the concept. “If a man and a woman are throwntogether often enough, sooner or later they’ll realize they’re attracted. Probably happen sooner rather than later,” he added.
    â€œPerhaps,” Cornelia conceded. “But some people are so obtuse, they wouldn’t see the perfect partner if they tripped over them.”
    Her voice held an underlying snap, but Harry didn’t notice.
    â€œWell, I still think Nicholas would make the perfect man for Frankie.”
    Cornelia’s eyes