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

“I told you before, I won’t hurt you.”  Hurting her was the last thing on his mind. He wanted to protect her. To wrap her in silk and keep her safe from all the dangers in the world.
    She straightened her shoulders. “I didn’t…I didn’t tell the cops everything.”
    What the hell?
    “He drugged me, he took me to that motel, he forced me to contact you but…there was more.”
    Blake wanted to touch her.  Because he wanted it so much, he did. Blake didn’t deny himself, not anymore. He eliminated the distance between them, and he put his hands on her shoulders.
Fragile.
She felt so incredibly breakable in his arms.
    If that bastard wasn’t already dead…I’d rip him apart.
    “The Night’s Heart,” she whispered.
    For an instant, his heart stopped.  Then it began racing—a double-time rhythm. His back teeth clenched. “Now how,” Blake gritted out, “would you know about that?”
    “Because
he
knew, the man who took me. It wasn’t about killing you.” Her faint accent deepened as she slid from his grasp. “Well, not all about killing you, anyway. He was planning to make you tell him where the Heart was.”
    Carson had told him that it looked as if his place at the Landon Hotel had been tossed. Sonofabitch. “What else did the kidnapper tell you?”
    And why hadn’t she revealed this info to the police?
    “He told me the Heart—the
Night’s Heart—
was a big diamond.” Her head tilted as she studied him. “Big enough to buy you a new life.”
    His past was biting him in the ass. Good thing part of that past was now on a slab down at the morgue.
I have to find out who that SOB was.
    “He wanted to buy a new life, too. He said the diamond would give him back the life he should’ve had.”
    Blake kept his expression guarded. “The guy was crazy.  He abducted you, tried to kill me—”
    “Are you telling me the Night’s Heart isn’t real?”
    It was real all right. 
    “Because I almost died for it tonight. No, I almost died for you.” She backed away.
Turned
away from him. “This is some honeymoon…”
    He caught her wrist and forced her right back around to face him. Forced her back against his body.  He towered over her, and her scent—
strawberries—
wrapped around him. “Why?”
    A faint furrow appeared between her blonde brows.
    “You didn’t have to warn me that he was there. And when he had the gun, you pushed me out of the way. You put yourself at risk.” What the hell had she been thinking? “That was the most damn foolish thing I’ve ever—”
    “You’re welcome,” she told him, her voice sugar sweet.
    And he had no words.
    “I saved your life,” Jess continued, “now you can repay me by getting me on the first flight back home.”
    I don’t want you to leave.
    He didn’t tell her that. She’d already been scared enough. But he wanted to be truthful with her, so he said, “I’ve never met anyone like you before.” And Blake still needed to know
why
she’d saved him.
    But more—he needed her.  His hand rose and curved under her jaw. He was careful, so careful, not to touch her bandage. “I have a lot of darkness in my life.”
    The gold in her eyes had turned molten. 
I could get lost in her eyes.
    What the hell?  Blake didn’t even know where that thought had come from. He’d never been into the poetic shit before.
    She’s different, and I might already be lost.
    He cleared his throat. “I didn’t want that darkness to touch you.”
    Her lips tilted up in the faintest of smiles. “We were just supposed to be lovers for a night. You didn’t know—”
    “I didn’t know what I’d found.” He did, now. “I want more than just a night.” 
    Her eyes widened. “Blake—”
    He kissed her. He wanted to take and dominate—control, the way of his life. But he held back. He held back the lust and rage and he used care.
    With her.
    For her.
    Her mouth parted beneath his.  Her tongue met his.  Softly, tentatively.
    He loved the way she