Lion of Midnight by Aliyah Burke Read Free Book Online Page A

in his body stand at attention. Grateful for the length of his wool pea coat, Nikolas fought the urge to adjust himself as his cock hardened. Damn thing gets any harder, and I’ll be able to sword fight with it. He’d been in a constant state of arousal since he’d first laid eyes on her. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been around attractive women; he had, plenty. Nevertheless, none had affected him like this spitfire before him.
    He knew she was attracted to him. She tried to hide it, but she couldn’t, not completely. Although, her determination to ignore her fascination was amusing. It was as if she didn’t realize there wasn’t a choice in the matter for her. She was not just an answer for his many, many years of an emotionless and lonely existence—she was the answer. Therefore, there was no way in hell he was going to let her go.
    His mouth turned up at the corner before he asked, “And your name?”
    She flashed him another smile, and his heart melted. He wanted to kiss her so badly. It was amazing how despite the century he was currently in, when faced with the woman he knew was his, he wanted to act like his brother, Marcus, had with Kit. Demanding. Taking what he wanted. And, at the time, he’d thought his brother crazy for letting Katrina to get under his skin as she had, but now…having met this enchanting vixen before him. Nik understood. One hundred percent.
    “Cleopatra Laurens.” She held out her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nikolas Andreyevich.”
    He hesitated for a moment. Something foreign flickered in her eyes, and the serene expression slid from her face as she reacted by retracting her hand.
    No!
    Nikolas reached forward and grabbed the hand she had offered, grasping it with his larger one. Even with the gloves they both wore, he swore he could feel the heat from her touch, and it was unlike anything he’d experienced before. As if their touch ignited a heat from a universe of its own making.
    “Yes, yes, it is,” he said sincerely.
    He was reluctant to relinquish his hold on her. However, the second time she tugged on her hand, he did. Pulling his gaze up from her lips to her eyes, he was struck by the myriad of emotions in the dark depths—humor, sadness, amazement, and most definitely, passion.
    “Thank you,” she said lightly. “Hard for me to walk when you’re holding my hand.” Her gaze dropped to the floor as she realized what she’d insinuated.
    “Guess we’ll have to work on it, then, so it becomes more natural,” he responded lightly, keeping his eyes on her face. It didn’t take long before he was once again looking into her rich gaze.
    One eyebrow quirked as she smiled, displaying a cute dimple in her left cheek. “That’s one way to interpret that.” She glanced around the now empty museum. “Thought I was getting a private tour of this place.”
    Nik nodded. “Wherever you want to go. If there is a preference, please let me know, and we can start there. But, first, can I take your coat?” he questioned as innocently as he could manage. He was determined to be able to enjoy perusing her body without the hindrance of trying to see through the leather coat.
    She scrutinized him for a few seconds, and he was pleased to see the assessing look in her eyes. However, he didn’t want her to hesitate to trust him. He held her gaze and waited for her to make up her mind. Inside, he crowed with victory when her hands went to the first of three buttons on her coat.
    He watched intently as she exposed her top to him. She wore a V-neck sweater in a gorgeous shade of arctic blue. Breaking eye contact, she removed her gloves and put them in her pockets. Nikolas was there to help her out of the coat. As his hands settled upon her shoulders, he had to clench his jaw to keep from behaving as he longed to do so. Remain a gentleman was fast becoming his mantra. And, from the way this woman filled out a pair of jeans and the sweater she wore…he was going to be taking a