Intimidator by Cari Silverwood Read Free Book Online

stilled.
    “Maybe.”
    She shook her head, unsure what she was most disturbed about. He’d told her he was an alien only a few minutes ago. A few lust-crazed minutes ago. Either he was nuts, or not. If he was then her behavior became crazy too. He hadn’t drugged her. Though if he were an alien, maybe he had a sex ray or something… And maybe she needed to go swallow some of Ally’s pills.
    “Did you do something to me, mister?” she asked suspiciously.
    “Not yet.” He studied her. “Although I like that you ask questions, you need to ask them more…what’s the word? It’s a type of niceness…”
    “Huh. You want more respect?” She arched an eyebrow, aware she was challenging him. Though if he truly was an alien, and not some Russian drug syndicate crim who’d sampled too much of his own smack, maybe he’d not get the subtlety?
    Alert. Warning. Nut job in proximity. Why was she even vaguely, with more than half a brain cell, considering he might be an alien? Because he’d just made her melt? Because he acted so solid, down-to-earth and non-fantasy that Tinkerbell’s wings would fall off if she was here?
    “Respect? Yes. That’s it.”
    Ahh, she couldn’t resist. “Twat.”
    He reached under, fisted her hair, and anchored her to the floor with it. “I know that’s an insult.”
    Her gasped out indignant, “Ow, ow, ow,” and her wriggling against his hold, achieved nothing except to make him smile triumphantly.
    He waited for her to stop wriggling. “I can see you’d be a constant challenge to any male who claimed you.”
    “No one’s claiming me unless they want their balls on a plate.”
    “First, I’d have to cut out that adventurous tongue.”
    She snapped her mouth shut and ventured a frown.
    Funny how she’d not told him to fuck off. She really should, except she was too wrapped up in watching him watch her, and seeing the changes on his face. There were differences in his cheek structure, and ears, and other little things like his eyebrow hair growing the wrong way…and did that have to mean he was an alien? Maybe if your eyebrow got shot off it could grow back wrong? Maybe he was just inbred with weird genes? If that were the case, inbred had some big pluses and she wanted to meet his brothers.
    Whatever the cause, she figured she could read him. He seemed like a man who’d discovered something that both pleased him and saddened him.
    She was also all too aware that this, being held down and examined, was turning her on, immensely so. She kept her legs together and ignored the pulse of blood in her temples and between her legs.
    “I have to go.”
    When he released her, she tried not to look disappointed. When he said a quiet goodbye and walked away from her, down her stairs, and perhaps out of her life, she had to dig her nails into her skin to stop herself calling him back.
    Rescue a girl, tell her you’re her answer to all her problems then just waltz off without explaining? Didn’t the man know date etiquette? Hero etiquette?
    She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees, rustling up some dignity despite everything. One thought kept returning to her – it was good to know someone thought her worth rescuing. She looked out for Ally, tried to save some money for when they’d need it, to get ahead, but the house was in bad need of repairs and the medicine bills climbed over her head. On the days when life was serving up lemons, she wondered if she was worth more than spit.
    Her nails were chewed down to nothing. She played with the ragged end of one. Didn’t help that she’d almost forever nursed an irrational fear that she’d somehow made her parents die.
    Now her alien hunk had deserted her too.
    His words came back to her: You’ve been watched and studied.
    Creepy and yet strangely reassuring. Should she contact the cops or some alien worshipping society? At least he hadn’t probed her yet. Wait, he had. Willow laughed a little crazily.
    Fuck this. She shoved back