Rage & Killian by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright Read Free Book Online Page A

humiliation.”
    “Because…” The words stuck in her throat.
    “Lucie?”
    She heaved a resigned sigh. He wasn’t going to let it go. Not until he coerced her into revealing the painful truth.
    “Because I had a crush on you,” she grudgingly muttered.
    The violet eyes shimmered with flecks of gold as the dawning sun splashed through the windows.
    “A crush?”
    She grimaced. She might as well confess the rest. If she were being honest, she probably owed him.
    “Don’t act surprised. You had to sense that I watched you from the trees.”
    “I thought you were plotting my death.”
    “I was young and impressionable, and I was fascinated.” Her gaze ran over his lean, perfect features. “You were so gorgeous.”
    “True.” He grunted as she elbowed him in the gut. “Ow.”
    “But it was more than that,” she finished her confession. “You had a…kindness that I desperately wanted for myself.”
    His teasing expression melted to one of regret, his fingers sliding over the curve of her shoulder.
    “I would happily have been kind to you if you hadn’t bolted whenever I got near you,” he murmured.
    She believed him. Rage might have been spoiled, but he’d never been deliberately cruel. His nature was to protect the weak and vulnerable.
    “I didn’t know how to tell you,” she admitted with a wry smile. “So instead I struck out.”
    His fingers drifted down her collarbone, his enticing musk scenting the air. “From now on, I have a better way for you to express your feelings for me.”
    She instantly stiffened. It was one thing to confess her feelings when she’d been an idiotic youth. There was no way she was going to share the fact he’d never left her dreams.
    “Who said I still have feelings for you?” she belligerently demanded, ignoring the fact that she was lying naked in his arms. “That was a long time ago.”
    He chuckled, not fooled for a second. Damn him.
    “Fine, then I’ll show you how I feel,” he murmured, lowering his head to brand a path of tiny kisses over her brow and down the length of her nose. Then, at last reaching her mouth, he nibbled at her bottom lip. “In fact, I intend to show you how I feel several times a night for a very, very long time to come.”
    His words were no doubt the empty promises he made to every woman. We’ll be together forever, blah, blah, blah.
    But they didn’t feel empty.
    They felt like a pledge that resonated deep in her heart.
    Instinctively, she lifted her hands to press them against his chest. “Rage.”
    He raised his head, staring down at her with a fierce determination. “Do I frighten you?”
    “Yes,” she admitted without hesitation. “This is all happening too fast.”
    She caught a glimpse of his cat lurking in his eyes…hungry, possessive. Then, with a visible effort, he gained command of his animal.
    A rueful smile touched his lips. “I know.”
    “I need to check the trace.” Lucie muttered a curse, slipping out of bed and heading into the shower.
    A charming Rage was as lethal as a possessive Rage.
    Twenty minutes later she was scrubbed clean, with her hair braided and wearing her usual uniform of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Adding a pair of jogging shoes, she returned to the bedroom to discover that Rage had used the guest shower and was already dressed and waiting for her.
    His beautiful face was carefully bland as he folded his arms over his chest. Smart male. The intimacy of the night had left her feeling raw and unnervingly vulnerable. One smartass comment and she would have him tossed out of her house.
    Without a word, she left the bedroom and headed back to her hidden computer office. Acutely aware of the male prowling a few inches behind her, she slid into her chair and forced herself to concentrate on the computer screen that was blinking with success.
    “I have a hit,” she murmured, resisting the urge to give her trusty computer a pat.
    Not everyone understood her habit of treating her equipment