Dangerous Magic by Stephanie James, Jayne Ann Krentz Read Free Book Online Page B

unlike everyone else, I’m fully aware of it, and I’m going to see to it that you exercise some control in its use.”
    “You mean that I’m going to use it the way you want it used!” she said heatedly, wondering how she had ever gotten into such a devastating conversation.
    “Now you’re getting the idea,” he approved, separating her wrists and enclosing one in each of his hands. Very deliberately, as if defying her to break free, he twisted her hands behind her back, arching her resisting softness against him. “Don’t worry,” he went on softly. “I wouldn’t dream of trying to crush your enchantments. I only intend to see to it that you practice them on me for a while.”
    Elissa turned her head frantically to avoid the plundering of his mouth, but it was impossible. He held her too firmly, too closely, and there were no avenues of escape. His lips moved hungrily on hers, bruising her when she tried to fight him, softening seductively when she ceased struggling.
    The cycle of his attack was at once unswerving and inevitable. Elissa felt her senses begin to swim with the hopelessness of trying to break out of the circle. Each attempt at freeing herself brought only a punishing intensity in his kiss. Passiveness brought forth a gentler, intriguing exploration of her mouth.
    “It’s called conditioned response,” Wade told her on a note of victorious masculine humor. “Soon you’ll realize it’s much more pleasant to stop fighting altogether.”

    “I want you to leave, Wade,” Elissa tried ordering in desperation. She had to get rid of the man, and soon. There was a compelling danger in his embrace, and she was woman enough to recognize it. It weakened her with its sense of inevitability, but sought the embrace in the first place.
    And that was a very novel situation for Elissa Sheldon. Past romances had always been of a very comfortable nature, deftly managed by her with unerring instinct for what she liked to think was the benefit of both parties. She was not at all accustomed to being taken by storm, and she had no intention of growing used to the idea.
    “But I’m not ready to leave,” he whispered. “We have a great deal to discuss, you and I. Come over to the couch and I’ll show you.” With that he stepped back, retaining only a casual hold on her arm, and began to lead her toward the fat, pillowy sofa.
    Elissa knew she wasn’t going to get a better opportunity. She was dealing with a desperate situation, and it called for desperate remedies.
    Heart pounding, she allowed herself to be reluctantly dragged past the bar she had arranged earlier, now cluttered with used glasses and bottles.
    Appalled at her own daring, she reached out and snagged the nearest bottle.
    You couldn’t attempt this sort of thing with a faint heart, she challenged herself bracingly, and you had to do it quickly while there was still an element of surprise. Already Wade had turned to glance back in annoyance to see what was happening. She wouldn’t aim for his head, she reassured her queasy stomach. Only his shoulder. The cloth of his sweater would protect him from being cut, but the impact should startle him enough to loosen his hold on her for a vital second or two…
    Her hand clutching the bottle was moving in an arc as the gray eyes collided with hers over his shoulder. In that instant she knew he realized what she was about to do and that she hadn’t gotten enough of a head start. He would put out his free hand and catch her arm before the bottle found its target!
    But he didn’t. With sudden horror Elissa became aware that Wade was simply going to stand there and let her crack a half-full bottle of bourbon across his shoulder. The ice in his gaze dared her to go through with it, but she knew she couldn’t. Not possibly!
    It didn’t take much to halt the blow before it landed. Elissa recognized that the effort had been rather half-hearted from the beginning, and the knowledge increased her fury