Enthralled by Ann Cristy Read Free Book Online Page B

her into a tight embrace. His mouth was open on hers, hers open as
well—in surprise. Her heart hammered in fear and excitement. She had known
Chazz was as aware of her as she was of him, but she had felt safe in her guise
as a nun. Now the barriers between them had been broken and she was no longer
safe at all.
    She struggled at
first, her hands pulling at the fingers that cupped her face, but Chazz took no
notice. His fingers tightened. His tongue soothed her lips, then invaded her
mouth, searching, savoring.
    A hot sword seemed to pierce
Teel. No, it couldn't be happening to her again. No man could scale her
defenses. No man could touch her!
    One warm hand left
her face to trail down her neck and over her shoulder, then lower to softly
cover her breast. "Darling," Chazz groaned.
    "No... not like this...
no..."
    "You're right,"
Chazz whispered into her neck before he swept her up into his arms.
"You're so beautiful. Do you know that?"
    Teel stared at him, clutching
his neck, a niggling snake of panic uncoiling in her stomach. "Where are
you taking me?"
    "To the Deirdre."
    Teel let out a sigh of relief.
"Good. I'm tired."
    "Are you, darling?"
Chazz's voice was slurred as she'd heard it once before. The whiskey was having
its effect.
    Teel was determined to head
for her stateroom the moment she boarded the yacht. She watched intently as
Chazz fired the dinghy, his movements less precise than usual. He really had
drunk a great deal this evening. Thank God she was sober, Teel thought. How
horrible it would be if she had drunk something. How vulnerable she'd be if he
ever made any moves toward her. As it was, her senses seemed heightened by the
evening she'd spent with Chazz. Even now as they sped across the water toward
the Deirdre, she
could almost feel the warm touch of his hands on her waist and back when they'd
danced.
    As Chazz tied the
dinghy to the landing grid, Teel hurried up the ladder. She was halfway down
the wide set of stairs leading to her cabin when a hand closed over her arm.
She shivered as she turned. "I'm tired, Chazz. I'm going right to
bed." "Good, so am I. But I brought you something to help you
sleep." He raised the bottle in his hand. "I told Darby to leave this
in the lounge for us. lust one."
    Teel shook her head. "I'm
too tired to go back to the lounge. I'll just say good night here." She
entered her cabin and turned to see that Chazz had followed her. She opened her
mouth to argue, but the glitter in his eyes stopped her. "All right,"
she conceded. "Just a small one. Shall we go back to the lounge?"
    "Nope." Chazz
grinned, then brought his other hand from behind him He held mo glasses. He sat
down on the bed and poured the cognac.
    Teel sat on the edge of a
bench, thinking that Chazz didn't need any more to drink and certainly not the
generous portion of brandy he had poured into his glass. She looked at her own
glass and knew that she wouldn't be able to finish it.
    Chazz raised his snifter
toward hers. "To us."
    "Good luck," Teel
said, and she sipped the aromatic liqueur, welcoming its hot bite as a sudden
chill made her shiver. She had a sense of waiting, of not being able to move
because a large invisible hand held her in place. She didn't believe in destiny
or Kismet, she told herself. She should just get up and leave. But her body
refused to do what her mind urged.
    Chazz finished his
cognac, came over to her, and lifted her from the bench. "Let me help you
drink that," he said, taking the snifter from her hands and tipping the
contents into his mouth.
    "You've had enough,"
Teel said through dry lips.
    "Have I, darling? Then
you have some." He fitted the snifter gently to her lips and let some of
the liquid trickle into her mouth, then turned the glass and let his own lips
drink from the same spot, his eyes never leaving her face.
    Teel felt as if she were
falling backward through space. Chazz was standing so close that the hairs on
their bodies might have been touching. A personal electricity