Shades of Gray by Kay Hooper Read Free Book Online Page A

deliberate. “I suppose I should follow the rules this time. Play the game. Agree with you—or allow you to think I do.”
    “What are you talking about? It
is
over—”
    “No, it isn’t. We both know that, Sara. It didn’t end when you ran away, it just stopped.”
    “We made a deal!”
    “Yes. That you would remain here willingly for a month. I’ll keep my part of that bargain. In a month, if you wish to leave, I won’t try to stop you. And if you leave, I won’t interfere inyour life again. That was my bargain, Sara. I’ve never, at any point, agreed that it was over between us.”
    Sara halted, jerked her hand away, and turned to face him. Her eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, and she could see him fairly well. He had also turned to face her, his head a little bent, and the shine of his dark eyes was like the surface of bottomless twin lakes, mysterious and potentially dangerous.
    As evenly as she could manage, Sara said, “I’m leaving Kadeira in four weeks, Andres.”
    “Unless I convince you to stay.”
    “You can’t. You won’t.”
    He reached out suddenly and caught her in his arms, pulling her hard against him. “Can’t I?”
    Sara caught her breath and then lost it, dizzyingly aware of strong muscles and the hard heat of his body pressed to her own. In the first shocked moment she couldn’t draw away, couldn’t even try. Two years ago Andres had not taken advantage of the strong physical attraction between them, had not used desire to swayher. Not then. But this time, she realized hollowly, this time he would.
    “No! Andres—”
    “You’ve given me no choice, Sara,” he said huskily. “I’m fighting for my
life
. And a soldier uses every weapon he can find.”
    “
Weapon
,” she repeated bitterly, pushing against his powerful chest in an attempt she knew to be useless. “Is that how you see it, Andres? Sex is just another weapon to bend someone to your own will, to get what you want?”
    “You’ve made it a fight,” he told her, his voice growing ragged, strained. “I didn’t want it this way, but if it has to be, I know how to fight.”
    “You won’t win, not this time!” Sara didn’t try to wrench herself free, because she knew only too well that his strength would defeat her, but she kept her arms stiff and fought to hold on to the anger.
    “Won’t I? Look at what you’re wearing, Sara.”
    She went still, catching her breath and forcing her voice to remain steady. “I told you I wasn’t dressed. I didn’t expect to see you, to come out here—”
    “You could have changed,” he said softly but insistently. “But you didn’t, did you, Sara?” One hand remained at the small of her back, holding her easily in place, while the other slipped between them and toyed with the thin ribbon tie of her negligee. “A woman wouldn’t wear this to walk with a man she hated, would she? Not something like this, meant to be worn in a bedroom. And not his favorite color. It is green, Sara; I saw that while you stood on the balcony. My favorite color on you.”
    She could feel his touch between her breasts, toying with the ribbon until the negligee fell open, and she could feel her arms weakening, the strength of them slipping away. She couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe, and the warm night was suddenly hot, closing in on her. “No.” Her voice emerged in a whisper. “I just wasn’t thinking. I—”
    He traced the vee neckline of her gown slowly with his knuckles, the soft caress trailing fire, and the hand at her waist held her lower body tightly against the hardness of his. She was melting in the heat, the heat of the night and of him.Melting, and she couldn’t seem to stop it. She tried to think, tried to remember why this was wrong, why she couldn’t let it go on, but her thoughts were fogged, sluggish.
    “You never let me see you in something like this before,” he murmured. His hand brushed the full curve of her breast, separated from his flesh