Bone Idol by Paige Turner Read Free Book Online

saw his lips curve in a smile.
    He blinked and pulled himself back to the matter at hand. How should he approach this? From what angle? He shook his head. Subtlety had never been his forte.
    “Why did you ruin my father?”
    Henry’s eyes darkened with dismay. The shock on his face was clearly unfeigned; was not the sort of emotion one could play-act.
    “Ruin him?” He frowned and parted his lips to make a denial, then he hesitated and awareness came into those blue, blue eyes. “Oh—the paper. Streptosaurus boundrii .”
    “Yes, I—Henry, why did you do it? Why did you expose his mistake to the whole world like that? Couldn’t you have been kind?”
    “Kind.” It was not a question. It was more as if he was tasting the word. He glanced down, his expression unreadable. “Kind.”
    When he raised his eyes again, Albert was shocked to see the anger in his gaze, cold and implacable. It sent a bolt of physical dismay through him, and he almost took a step back, but held his ground.
    “You think I should have kept quiet, perhaps?” said Henry. “That I should have allowed his research to stand? Your father is a well-known man in bone-hunting circles. He has the respect of his peers, and younger men look to him for guidance.”
    Now it was Albert’s turn to sound bitter. “Not anymore.” He actually took a step towards Henry, but he misjudged and found himself standing uncomfortably close to him.
    He had to tilt his head back to look into his eyes, to challenge him, but he refused to back down. “You made sure of that.”
    “You would have had me stand back and watch him lead the whole science down a blind alley, as less brilliant men built on his flawed paper? Let sentiment stand in the way of truth? I couldn’t.”
    His voice was still low, but it shook with indignation, and as Henry leaned in to him, Albert could feel the heat of his anger, feel the tension as he held himself in check.
    “You should have allowed him to keep his dignity. You should have spoken to him alone and allowed him to escape the ridicule of his peers. Instead, you in your arrogant, overbearing, thoughtless—”
    The breath was knocked out of him as the train gave a particularly violent jolt, and he was thrown forward against Henry, tumbling him back into his seat and landing square in his lap, their lips a fraction of an inch apart.
    Stunned, Albert tried to scramble away, to regain the thread of his tirade, but Henry pulled him hard against his chest and pressed his hot, open mouth to Albert’s.
    At first he froze, held utterly still by the shocking thrill of the contact, stunned by the sudden clenching of his body and the wanton pleasure he took in the feel of Henry’s mouth.
    Then he pushed at Henry’s chest, but Henry wrapped one strong arm around him and wound the fingers of his other hand into his hair, holding him close so that his hands were trapped between them.
    Henry leaned his head back and looked into Albert’s face. The pupils of those blue eyes were dilated, and the stoked passion smouldering in them made him feel short of breath.
    Henry drew Albert gently towards him by the hair, hardly pulling, and, to Albert’s shock, he flicked his tongue against his upper lip in a gesture so intimate, so erotic, that he couldn’t help but let out a little moan of arousal, his lips parting.
    Taking advantage of the opening, Henry slipped his tongue into Albert’s mouth and let it play against his, slick and strong. Stilled at first by the novelty of the sensation, Albert tilted his head as a throb of desire started low in his body, and pressed his tongue tentatively against Henry’s.
    Henry rewarded him with a low, animal groan and deepened his kiss, his lips firm and moist, his breath hot. He released Albert’s hair and drew his fingers down the nape of his neck, making him shiver and flinch with a feeling so electric and erotic that it made him press closer, wanton and wanting.
    Henry drew his mouth away to a whimpered