First Taste of Darkness by Cynthia Eden Read Free Book Online Page A

the kidnapper’s too-still body.
    “I-I didn’t have a choice.” Carson’s voice rasped out. “He was going to shoot you. I yelled—yelled for him to stop. And he turned his weapon on me…”
    She couldn’t remember those last few seconds. Jess had been so busy trying to get Blake out of harm’s way that she hadn’t even glanced over at Carson.
    Blake checked Carson’s wound. “The bullet went straight through. You’re going to be fine—”
    “Police!” A hard voice barked.  And the cavalry was there. Finally. Men and women in uniform rushed through the broken door.
    She realized that Blake must have called the cops. That they’d been his back-up. She’d warned him, and he’d taken precautions.
    He was alive. Safe.
    And the kidnapper wouldn’t hurt anyone again.
    It’s over.
    Blake and Carson both turned to face the cops. Carson dropped his weapon.
    “The man on the ground is the kidnapper,” Blake said with a jerk of his head toward the body. “My security chief had to shoot him in order to keep us all alive.”
    A cop stopped in front of Jess.  A woman with dark red hair and worried brown eyes. “Are you okay, ma’am? Mr. Landon told us what happened to you…”
    Jess glanced over at him. She found Blake’s hard gaze on her. There was still so much fury in his stare.
    Fury…and fear?
    “Ma’am?” The redhead lightly touched her arm. “Do you need medical attention? There’s blood on your neck and shirt.”
    “I just…I need to go home.” Back to Florida. The excitement of Vegas wasn’t for her. Jess’s gaze held Blake’s as she said once more, “I need to go home.”
    His eyes narrowed.
    “Come with me,” the officer told her as the woman led Jess away from that little motel room. The parking lot was a swirl of blue lights. Uniformed personnel ran everywhere, seeming to swarm the area.
    There were no other guests at the old motel. 
He’d been right…there was no one to hear me scream.
    Then the cop was helping Jess into the back of an ambulance. An EMT began examining her neck, her wrists.
    Helpless, Jess looked back over her shoulder.
    Blake stood in the doorway of that motel room. His gaze was on her.  Cops were talking to him, questioning him.
    But Blake was just staring at her.
    Goosebumps rose on her skin.
    “We’re going to need a statement from you, ma’am,” the redhead told her.  “After we get you bandaged up, you’ll have to tell us what happened…”
    That should be easy enough. “Wrong place,” Jess murmured as she forced her eyes away from Blake. “Wrong time.”
    And it was time for her to get away from this place—and away from the man who seemed to see straight into her soul.

Chapter Five
    “I shouldn’t be here,” Jess said as she crept forward into Blake’s hotel suite.  Her steps were slow, uncertain, and when she glanced back at Blake, her face was far too pale. “I need to get home.”
    So she kept fucking saying.
    Only…
I’m not ready to let her go.
    Blake shut the door behind him. He’d had to soothe the cops. Had to make sure that they had all the details they needed for their case so that they’d back the hell off.
    As soon as word leaked from the PD, he knew the media would be all over this shooting. It would be a feeding frenzy. A shooting, a kidnapping—with his notoriety, there was no way the press wouldn’t be screaming about this story.
    And about Jess.
    “The cops want you to stay in town for another night.” He kept the emotion out of his voice. Hard, considering the rage that still pumped through him.  Rage that deepened when he glanced at the stark, white bandages on Jess’s delicate wrists—and the bandage on her throat.
    That asshole could have killed her. 
    “I’ve had my fill of Sin City.”  Her lips pressed together, then she gave a slow shake of her head. “This isn’t my idea of a relaxing vacation.”
    He stalked toward her. When she stiffened and fear flashed in her beautiful gaze, he stilled.