Notorious by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online

“You … belong to me. It has to happen.”
    Her teeth bit into her lower lip as the tension rose to unbearable heights. It had to break.
    But it didn’t.
    She arched up against him. “Sabin, make it—”
    She cried out as the tension exploded in searing brilliance.
    “That’s right, love,” Sabin’s voice was low, exultant. “Now, just a little more.” Several fierce thrusts and then he suddenly froze, throwing back his head, his strong throat arching as a shudder tore through him. He collapsed against her, his big body shaking.
    After a moment he looked down at her, his breath coming in gasps. “My God, it tore me apart. I thought I—” He broke off, his expression clouding with concern. “Are you all right?”
    “I don’t know.” She wasn’t sure of anything. Sabin still held her, enthralled both physically and emotionally, but tendrils of painful reason werebeginning to flow. The television flickered blankly above them, casting its blue light over the shadowy room. She gazed at it in dumb fascination as Sabin’s words returned to haunt her.
    He moved off her and stood up. “We have to talk.” He picked up his navy blue shirt and draped it around her, thrusting her arms through the sleeves. The shirt smelled of soap and spice, she noticed vaguely. He buttoned the top button, got up again and moved across the room to turn on the desk lamp. He turned to look at her, his expression grim. “We need to get a few things straight. One thing in partic—” He broke off as he saw her face. “What’s wrong? Stop staring at that damn screen and look at me.”
    She couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t look at anything but the flickering blue light. Sabin Wyatt was sitting there naked beside her. She had let him make love to her in the most intimate way possible between a man and woman. No, not love. It had been lust. She felt the muscles of her stomach twist in rejection at the thought. “It was all true,wasn’t it?” she whispered. “About Ben, the tapes. All of it. It was … real.”
    “Of course, it’s true.” He shut off the television set. “Mallory, I don’t know what the hell’s happening.”
    The blankness of the screen released her. She dragged her gaze away and struggled to sit up. “I have to … I can’t stay here.” Waves of darkness began to wash over her as she stood up and stumbled toward the door. “Real … Mistake. I can’t stay …”
    “Mallory!”
    Why couldn’t she make her legs work properly? She felt as if she were wading through mud.
    She reached for the knob of the door but it wasn’t there.
    Nothing was there.
    Only blackness.
    Sabin looked tired.
    At first, Mallory thought she must be mistaken. Since the moment she had first seen him, she had been conscious of his overwhelming vitalitydominating everything and everyone around him. Yet now deep grooves lined either side of his mouth, and he was staring at the headboard with a blind weariness that was unmistakable. “You’re tired. You … should go to … bed.”
    His gaze shifted quickly to her face, and he tensed. “That’s a weird thing for you to say. The least I expected was ‘Go to hell, Sabin.’”
    “Give me time. I just woke up. I’ll get there.”
    “I don’t give a damn if you flay me alive. I’m just glad you’re finally awake. You scared the hell out of me.”
    “Did I?” She sat up in bed and lifted her fingers to rub her temple. “Lord, I have a headache.”
    “You’re lucky you don’t have more than that.” Sabin picked up the brown pill vial from the bedside table. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to mix pills and booze?”
    “I didn’t mean to do it. I didn’t think … It was only a few swallows.”
    “Enough to do the damage.” Sabin put the vial back on the table. “Your Dr. Blairen was mad as hell.”
    Her gaze flew to his face. “You called him?”
    “What did you expect me to do? I carried you back here and found the pills. For all I knew, you might be in a