Desire and Deception by Nicole Jordan Read Free Book Online

dark, and the rank smell of the river gave way to other, slightly more pleasant odors.
    When he reached Ratcliffe Highway with its prosperous merceries and pawnshops and public houses, the visibility was better because streetlamps had been lit at frequent intervals. He was passing under a guttering lamp when the woman in his arms moaned. Shifting his burden to make her more comfortable, Jason glanced down and saw her clearly for the first time in the flickering light. Instantly his footsteps halted, his forward progress checked as effectively as if an enemy bayonet had been plunged into his heart.
    He stood there completely stunned, his attention transfixed by the vision in his arms. His first thought as he stood staring dazedly down at her was that he was holding an angel. The hood of her cloak had fallen away to reveal golden hair gleaming in the lamplight, but it was her face that held Jason spellbound. Shaped in a perfect oval, it boasted a complexion so pale and smooth that the skin seemed almost translucent. Long lashes swept the cheeks like shadows, while arching brows lifted toward the temples as if in flight. It was, Jason was persuaded, one of the loveliest faces he had ever seen. The soft hollows beneath the high cheekbones added depth to the delicate features, while the pallor of the skin lent an ethereal quality.
    He stared at her for several minutes before feeling suddenly flowed back into his body with devastating force, making him totally aware of his masculine urges. His gaze fastened on the angel's slightly parted lips. Her mouth was full and provocative without being too wide. Too desirable for an angel, he decided. More like a goddess. A goddess who even in sleep was capable of stimulating sensual fantasies. She was pure temptation, Jason thought with a groan.
    It was only her unconscious state that enabled him to suppress the desire to capture her soft lips then and there. And only the vague remembrance that she, this golden-haired Venus he had come across in such unique circumstances, was a complete stranger made Jason resist the impulse to caress the ripe breast beneath his hand. Yet his fierce desire didn't diminish. He found himself wanting to take her somewhere so they could be alone, wanting to undress her and discover for himself if the beauty of her body matched the stunning loveliness of her face. Then he would make love to her and she would belong to him and him only. . . .
    Jason shook his head to clear away his chaotic thoughts. Tearing his gaze from her, he kept it carefully averted as he forced his feet to move. His burden was still light, but his arms were aching from the strain of holding her without crushing her soft body against his chest. A thin sheen of perspiration broke out on his forehead, and he realized he was shaking. Vaguely, Jason wondered why she could remain so still and unmoving when the devil was waging a war with his soul. He wanted her to wake and experience the same torment that was gripping him. Would she feel it as well, this raging heat that burned through him like fever?
    As he neared another rickety streetlamp, Jason's gaze was drawn compellingly to her face once more. And then he almost laughed, so great was the rush of released tension. He had been holding his breath, expecting to experience that great shock of flowing current again. But now he let the air out of his lungs slowly. She was but a mortal woman after all. And more girl than woman by the looks of it. Definitely younger than he had first supposed from her husky voice and shapely body.
    The fever—or whatever it was that he had experienced during those agonizing moments—had died to a glowing warmth. But the madness had passed, and for that Jason was quite thankful, in that state of mind, he could easily have ravished the beautiful girl in his arms and damned the consequences.
    As Jason moved through the silent, semideserted streets, he found himself wondering at the unusual violence of his reaction.