Mallory Rush - [Outlawsand Heroes 02] by Dead or Alive Read Free Book Online Page A

destructive emotions she saw in him now.
    Her gaze full of empathy, Lori cupped his cheek.
    "I know what you're feeling, Noble, and it's a terrible thing. But hate has a way of eating a person alive, consuming them and taking over, until it poisons even the good things left in life. In the end, the person you're really hurting is yourself. Let it go."
    He turned his lips into her palm. A soft, lingering kiss, and then he moved away. With the towel cinched at his waist and covering his thighs, he paced the small area of floor, reminding her of a sleek, lethal animal trapped in a cage.
    "Your words bear consideration, and without doubt they hold much truth. I cannot, however, relinquish my thirst for justice, nor my sense of honor. If a man will not uphold the dignity of his family name, then he is no man at all." He speared her with a fierce, prideful gaze. "I am a man, Lori."
    And what a man he was. Never had she beheld a man such as this, a magnificent warrior who thirsted for blood even as he held to his principles. Lord, but he must have been hell to take on in a courtroom. Lord, but he must be the devil in bed. And Lord, she'd better stop thinking such things and get him into those clothes that were sure to raise his suspicions.
    "Stay with me tonight, Noble. We'll have dinner while we talk... about all kinds of things. I'm really tired of eating alone and I'd love nothing better than to have you for company. Besides, you've had a hard time of it and I'm sure you could use the rest."
    "My dear, keeping company with you provokes many ideas, but rest is not among them." His low chuckle was seductive. "However, I accept your kind offer. In return, I offer you the promise of my protection—which includes guarding you from my less honorable nature."
    Lori was a little sorry to hear this, but she delighted in his chivalrous flair. It induced her to indulge a feminine skill she hadn't tried out in years.
    "My, what a gentleman you are," she replied, almost tempted to curtsy. "You have quite a way with women, Mr. Zhivago. I'm not entirely sure that you're safe with me."
    She half expected him to laugh. Or maybe one up her in their flirtatious exchange. What she didn't anticipate was his head-to-toe devouring regard. It gave her the shivers.
    She shivered even more when he bent low and whispered in her ear, "a gentleman I might appear to be, but appearances are often deceiving. I would very much like to have my way with you, and my way would be anything but gentlemanly."
    His low growl of warning caused her to step back.
    She slipped on the wet floor and he caught her with an arm around her waist, a hand bracing the pedestal sink. Noble went still. Too still.
    She turned her head, followed the path of his shrewd gaze. It was on her electric toothbrush.
    Oh no. Doomsday was here and she was nowhere near ready to take it on. And she certainly wasn't ready to take on a man who obviously thrived on reason and control—both of them about to be ripped from his grip.

 
     
     
    Chapter 5

     
    He narrowed his eyes at the anomaly he saw, and then at Lori. "What is this?" Noble demanded.
    "It's—it's a... fancy toothbrush. From—"
    "France?" he supplied as he urged her aside and lifted what bore only a minor resemblance to a toothbrush. There were bristles, but they were made of a white, unnatural substance he had never seen. And they were attached to a sleek, long, thick handle, possessing a most peculiar veneer. On it was a flat square with arrows beside it, pointing to the words on and off.
    When he made to push the square to the on sign, Lori grabbed his hand.
    "Don't," she said frantically.
    He shook off her grip, and with an upward press of his thumb, the instrument began to hum, pulsating in his palm, which had begun to tremble slightly without assistance. The bristles quivered and so did his stomach.
    He had grown beyond fear of man and death. But this, this perversity of nature, left him chilled. He instinctively threw down