Heiress's Defiance by Lynn Raye Harris Read Free Book Online Page A

while she’d worked her ass off to make this company prosper, but she was currently little more than a glorified employee. Still fighting. Still working to prove herself.
    And she couldn’t stop that fight. Not yet, and not over something so simple as hormones. She wanted him, but she couldn’t have him. It was too dangerous. When he touched her, she forgot that. When he did not, she could think straight again.
    “I’m not running. Not all battles are worth the fight.”
    His eyes narrowed and she knew she’d scored a direct hit. It bothered her that he thought she was a snob, but if that’s what it took to make him keep his distance …
    “Of course not.” Christos took a step backward, and then another. “But ask yourself, Lucilla
mou
, when you touch yourself tonight, how much better it would have been if I were the one caressing you instead.”
    Her heart slammed against her ribs. Need—such wild, wild need—speared into her. There was nothing she could say, no way she could deny that powerful image he’d placed in her head.
    “Please leave.” Her vocal chords were tight.
    “But this is my office,” he said softly, mockingly.
    A lightning bolt of shame and fresh hate sizzled into her. She’d been right to push him away.
So right.
She marched to the door, then stopped and threw him a look over her shoulder. “Not forever, it isn’t. That much I promise you.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    C HRISTOS WORKED LATE and then went home. But he was too restless to settle in, so he walked down the street to a Greek takeout and picked up dinner for two. His plan was to go home and call one of the women in his contact list. A leisurely dinner, some wine, a little lovemaking—just what he needed to get his mind off Lucilla Chatsfield.
    Infuriating, sexy Lucilla. He’d been attracted to her almost from the beginning—but his desire for her had grown over the past few weeks. It had happened slowly at first, and then, when he’d seen her in that red dress at the auction, he’d realized just how intensely he wanted her.
    She didn’t simper and bat her eyelashes at him. She didn’t care how big his bank account was. She would cheerfully wish him to the devil if she could—and yet she wanted him. She’d admitted as much today.
    When he thought of her nipples beaded tight against the silk of her dress, he grew hard. He would have taken her on her desk if she’d given him the chance. Just like two weeks ago, before her assistant had walked in on them.
    Damn her for being so infuriatingly stubborn. He’d been surprised when she’d pushed him away—and then he’d been uncharacteristically hurt, though he told himself it was ridiculous to be so. She did not know his background, did not know she was pushing his buttons pretty hard. All she knew was how scared she was of what might happen if she gave in.
    He meant to go home, but he found himself walking in the opposite direction. The wind picked up and the clouds grew darker. Soon, it would rain, and he’d be soaked to the skin. He almost welcomed it, if it would help to cool this heat in his blood.
    But it didn’t rain, though the air was thick with the promise of it. Eventually he found himself on the street in front of her building; he couldn’t quite believe it had been his destination all along. But it had.
    He walked up to the door and hit the bell for her apartment.
    Her voice came on the intercom a few moments later. “Yes?”
    “Have you eaten?”
    He heard the intake of her breath. “Christos? It’s nine o’clock! What are you doing here?”
    “Asking if you’ve eaten, or if you worked late and skipped dinner.”
    She paused. “I ate an apple.”
    “Not good enough, Lucilla. You need real food. Tonight, I am your delivery boy.”
    “You brought dinner?” He could hear the surprise in her voice.
    “Yes.”
    “Confident, aren’t you?” she asked, echoing his own words from earlier back to him.
    “Not at all,” he told her truthfully. “But I am here