Far Too Tempted by Emma Wildes Read Free Book Online Page A

somewhere?
    Groping along, he found nothing, solidly stubbing his toe on a doorframe and uttering another loud oath. Robert certainly hadn’t lied when he said he’d done everything possible to rectify his debts.
    Alex sure as hell hoped he wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor. In retrospect, maybe he shouldn’t have sent Paul away so quickly. A long walk to Grayston Hall with his aching shoulder didn’t hold much appeal.
    Grasping the banister, Alex started up the sweeping grace of the main staircase. His booted feet sounded loud in the echoing emptiness of the great hall. And to think, he mused ruefully as he slowly climbed, he could have had all the whiskey in the world, a soft, comfortable bed, and his family around him if he’d just gone on to Grayston…
    The movement caught his eye and instincts honed by years of combat made him turn at just the right second and throw up his right arm to deflect the assault. The blow was solid and hurt, but he twisted away enough to refract most of it, and he used the advantage to grasp the object that had come slamming out of the darkness and jerk hard.
    He heard a soft cry and a gasp.
    A slim figure in white flew past him, like a specter out of the darkness. A flesh-and-blood person, he realized as he caught the elusive scent of lilacs. In a reflexive action, he grasped at the flailing figure before it tumbled down the steps, hearing the betraying rip of cloth that signaled he caught it. A body crashed into his as he tried to swing it back to the top of the stairs.
    He lost his balance and they both fell down. Hard. Right across the top step.
    Alex quickly realized one thing, landing on top of his would-be assassin was definitely his pleasure.
    The body underneath his was most assuredly, deliciously female. In the inadequate light, flesh gleamed ivory and satin, and his assailant lay very still now that they were sprawled together in a heap on the second story landing just above the steps. He caught the arms of his attacker and pinned them down ruthlessly above her head to prevent another attack.
    There were windows at either end of the gallery, giving some faint illumination to the scene.
    She wasn’t breathing.
    An oval face was framed by waves of dark, lustrous hair. Long, dark lashes touched ashen cheeks, and her soft lips were parted. Levering up on his good arm, Alex frowned in concern and confusion as he stared at the woman beneath him. One of his thighs pressed over her slim hips.
    Where the hell had she come from?
    A whistling, gasping sound suddenly escaped her lips, and her chest heaved, moving her breasts against his chest. Slowly, her lashes lifted. Eyes of shimmering gray, almost silver, started upward. And widened in either shock or horror.
    “Alex.” It was a croak.
    Oh my God, he thought dimly, Jessica ?
    It could be no one else. Even in near darkness, that remarkable shade of eye color was hers alone.
    “Get off me.” The order was as undoubtedly fierce as she could make it with the breath still knocked out of her, little more than a demanding whisper.
    Yes, definitely Jessica. In the flesh.
    Literally.
    He didn’t move.
    Actually, he couldn’t.
    During their struggle, the flimsy garment she wore had torn. He remembered the ripping sound as he caught her, but that hardly mattered. The fact was that she lay beneath him half-naked. His gaze went involuntarily to where her breasts were visible between the destroyed halves of her chemise: perfect, full and quivering, with the darkness of her nipples exposed. Her shoulders were white and slim, and her throat worked as she swallowed convulsively. He still had her hands trapped over her head so she was powerless to resist his insistent gaze.
    “Let me go,” she cried out. Color crept up to stain her neck and face. “You…you big oaf, let me go!”
    She was very lovely. It was impossible not to notice. Every promise of womanhood and beauty fulfilled.
    And he’d been at war a long time.
    They hung there a