California Caress by Rebecca Sinclair Read Free Book Online Page A

over your knee? I’m a little too big for that, don’t you think?”
    “No, I don’t!”
    The loudness of his voice echoing in her hears did nothing to alleviate the throbbing that was quickly returning to her temples. It did, however, intricately combine with the strength in his fingers and the anger shimmering in his eyes to effectively bring home the vulnerability of her position here. The man was quickly losing what little restraint he had. If he kept goading her, and she kept responding, God only knew what would happen.
    I have to get out of here, she thought wildly, and I have to get out of here quick! Desperation made her act impulsively, in the only way Hope knew how. The man held her shoulders, but not her arms. Her lips curled into a cold smile as she did something she’d been longing to do since she had first opened her eyes. She didn’t just slap that arrogant face, she balled up her fist, pooled all of her anger into her hand, and punched him as hard as she possibly could. The force of the blow made his head snap back. His hands instantly released her shoulders.
    Skillfully, she lifted the key from the man’s pocket before he could utter his first grunt of pain. By the time he had reached out a hand to steady his balance against the wall, shaking his head to clear it, she had the door unlocked.
    Throwing it wide, she allowed herself a small, heady giggle of triumph. Her giggle turned into a full-fledged laugh when she saw the towering form of her brother standing with his hand poised mid-knock.
    If Luke Bennett had been a smaller man, he might have been sent tumbling backward at the force of his sister flinging herself into his arms. But he wasn’t, and Luke didn’t so much stagger as he accepted her weight and wrapped a large arm around her shoulder. Confused, he looked down at the top of his sister’s head as it nestled into his shoulder, then let his gaze scan the room as he stroked the silky mane of chestnut hair.
    The sight of the ugly bruise quickly beginning to swell on the blond man’s jaw told Luke all he needed to know. His own deep, rumbling chuckle joined his sister’s as he asked, “I guess he said no, huh?”

Chapter 3

     
    Hope’s arms dropped away from Luke’s shoulders and she took a step back from her brother. “Who?” She asked, her voice as devoid of emotion as her face.
    Luke grinned, nodding to the man who was gingerly exploring the bruise on his swollen jaw. “Him. Frazier. He said no, right?”
    “Frazier?” She gulped, her head snapping to the side as she cast a quick glance at the half-naked blond. She turned beseechingly to her brother. “Him?” she asked, her voice a small, high-pitched squeak. “No. There must be a mistake.” She shook her head, the wild disarray of chestnut curls swaying over her shoulders and back. “No, that’s not—”
    “Drake Frazier,” her brother confirmed, wondering why his sister’s cheeks had suddenly faded to such a deathly white, then just as quickly flooded crimson as her dark eyes widened with horror.
    “Who the hell did you think I was?” a gruff voice called from behind, and Hope felt the knot in her stomach tighten as she turned toward the speaker.
    Her shoulders stiffened as she sent him an indignant glare. “You never said who you were.”
    “Then why didn’t you ask?” Luke phrased the question in such an innocently boyish way that Hope wanted to throttle him on the spot.
    “I did ask,” she informed her brother haughtily. An angry glare told Luke to keep his big mouth shut. Her next words were aimed directly at the man she now knew to be Drake Frazier. “He wouldn’t tell me.”
    “Why the hell should I?” Frazier raged, wincing when his fingers found the center of the bruise on his chin. “You burst into my room in the middle of the night drunker than a skunk—and fully armed, I might add—collapse in my arms, then refuse to tell me who you are, why you came, or who sent you. What the hell did you