Black Gold by Vivian Arend Read Free Book Online

couldn’t remember a word she said. When Gem finally closed the door on Evan’s grin she was more confused than the last time she’d been alone in her hotel room.
    Only her years of training in etiquette had allowed her to sit and chat with the pulse of sexual desire firing through her veins. She turned and headed toward her suitcase, kicking off her shoes, stripping the confining sweater and skirt away. There were more than a few times she must have lost her concentration, if the amusement on Evan’s face was any indication.
    She was getting very tired of people finding her entertaining.
    The aching need swirling around her refused to diminish. It was as if a shimmering layer of an aphrodisiac lay over her skin, from her toes to the top of her head. Nothing had ever turned her on like she was now.

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    Vivian Arend
    And, Lordy, the music. The pounding beat drove lust hard. She still heard it, and in a flash, there was nothing she wanted more than to have passion surround her. Push her farther down the road toward an urgent release. She clicked on the radio and fiddled with the knobs until she found a local station with a similar rhythm.
    There was a mirror mounted over the dresser, and she caught a glimpse of herself. Her light pink bra and panty set shone like pale cotton candy against her dark skin. She pulsed her hips in time with the music, letting her hands drift above her head in imitation of one of the women on the dance floor.
    Only that lucky lady had a man opposite her, someone to stare in admiration. A partner to caress her, draw their torsos close and grind their bodies together to let the heat between them escape. Gem had nothing but this frustrating sexual urge and no one to ride it with.
    Like usual.
    She cranked up the volume then slipped back into position before the mirror to resume her dance.
    Fine. If she was alone, that meant she could go for it. Swing her body to the beat and do whatever she wanted. And if Evan found her a solution in the morning for her troubles, that was wonderful, but in the meantime…
    If she had to take matters into her own hands, she had a lot of experience with that as well.

    The faint scent of laundry soap rose off the bedsheets, and Shaun nestled deeper in the covers to make himself a nest. Hmm, that almost, but not quite, feminine fragrance. Some of his happy thoughts faded.
    Female? There was no female in his room. Sadness slammed into him like an earth slide.
    He sniffed harder. Man, whatever they washed the linens in not only smelled good, it kinda…turned him on. A momentary confusion scrambled his brain—and the idea he might have had a wee bit too much to drink passed by, waving madly. He ignored the mental suggestion, stuck his tongue out at it, in fact.
    He was a wolf, damn it. He could hold his liquor.
    One mad grope gathered the covers into his arms, and he buried his face in them to breathe deeply.
    The interesting scent vanished, covered by the cloying after-burn of dusty dryer sheets.
    Nope. Nada. He sat up, the crumpled bed linens forgotten as he found his feet. The fragrance wasn’t coming off the bed, the delicious aroma instead rolled along the covers, originating from somewhere else.
    Shaun hauled himself off the mattress, the clock staring at him with red eyes complaining it was barely nine o’clock. He swung his head to peek out the window—pale light and not daylight bright. Okay, that meant evening, not morning, so he hadn’t snoozed the entire night away yet.
    There had to be a source to that wonderful smell. He was tempted to shift to a wolf—his sniffer would be stronger in that form, but doors were a bugger to manipulate with paws. Instead he clung to the wall to help stop the slow roll of…well, himself…as he made his way back to the main door.
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    Black Gold
    Evan was a twisted bastard. Shaun grinned. The moonshine began to fade from his system as his wolf metabolism kicked