Lightning Strikes (The Almeida Brothers Trilogy #3) by Trevion Burns Read Free Book Online Page A

he looked over his shoulder and caught her eyes, but Nina couldn’t hold his gaze.  Not when his bare back was beckoning her, so wide and rigid, covered in strong lines that he didn’t even have to flex to bring to fruition.  He looked like someone had carved him into existence, and she had to look away.
    The guilt of knowing what she’d just done in the shower to the thought of that face, that body, and even that borderline abusive attitude, had left her feeling like some sex predator.  She feared he could see it every time he looked at her.
    He kept reminding her that she should be worried.  That he could be a killer.  A sadist.  A man who wouldn’t hesitate to tie her wrists to the bedpost the moment she drifted off to sleep.
    She bit her lip, confirming that she was crazy when her mind actually celebrated that last idea.
    Oh, that Aries lawyer.  How wrong he was.
    He was the one that should be afraid.
    “Thanks for hanging the clothes,” she said before holding up the plastic toothbrush.  “We should keep these toothbrushes.  Who knows how many days it’ll be before we’re able to get back home.  We might become backpackers against our will.”
    “Come tomorrow; we won’t become anything.”  Jack finished hanging the last of the clothes and turned to her, clasping his hands.  “Because we are going to get on a train and leave one another’s lives forever.”
    “We’re going to be on the same train, to the same city.  You don’t have a dollar to your name, and you refuse to call any of your Greenwich Village friends for help.  Of course we’re going to be in each other’s lives.”
    Jack pressed his lips together and held her gaze; then he looked toward the bed.  “I’m going to sleep,” he said, staring down at the carpet and moving across the room.  Pulling back the sheets and blankets on his bed, he snuck a look at her.
    When he saw disgust gleaming in her eyes, he followed her gaze back down to the bed, and cursed under his breath, leaping backward.
    Ants.  Hundreds, maybe millions, of ants had collected over a giant red stain in the middle of the white fitted sheet.
    “Jesus,” Jack cringed, jolting and slapping his bicep as if he could already feel the ants crawling on him.
    Nina shook her head and backed away, even though she was on the other side of the room.  She pointed to the bed.  “I don’t even want to think about what that stain is, and why those ants are so attracted to it.”
    “This place is a goddamn dump.”
    “Well, you did ask the receptionist for ‘a room, any room, I don’t care which one.’ ”
    “Looks like she took my words very literally,” Jack mumbled.  Staring at the bed as if the ants were planning some sort of sneak attack, he leaped toward Nina, joining her on the other side of the room with his lips poked out.
    “You look like a little boy right now.”  Smirking, Nina moved to the other bed and pulled back the sheets on that one.  “My bed looks good.”
    “Lucky you,” Jack grumbled, plopping down in the desk chair and slamming his forehead on the desk.
    “Come on,” she said, climbing under the sheets.  “Don’t be silly.  You’re not going to sleep at that desk.”
    “I’m sure as hell not sleeping in that bed.”
    Nina pushed back the sheets and blankets on her bed , running her hand along the small sliver of space next to her.
    He lifted an eyebrow.  “Absolutely not.”
    “I’ve already promised you that I won’t violate you in your sleep, Aries.”
    “But you have no guarantee that I won’t violate you.”
    “I trust you.”
    “Never trust a lawyer.  Especially not one as great as me.”
    “But you’re not arrogant, right?” She chortled.  “Get in the bed.”
    “No thank you.”
    “Well, at least…” She leaned forward and began to tug the bedding from where it had been tightly tucked into the corners.  “At least take the comforter.”
    “That’s not necessary…”  Jack held a hand out