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

only by thin, sheer silk. “Why not then, Sara? And why now?”
    She didn’t have an answer, at least not one she was willing to give him. “Don’t, Andres, please.” The last remaining strength in her arms gave out, and like a warlock, he knew the instant she could no longer resist him.
    Even as both arms surrounded her, drawing her completely against him, his head bent and his mouth found hers. Before, Andres always had kept a tight rein on his desire, offering her only gentleness; now it seemed there was little gentleness left in him. His mouth was hot, hard, demanding. He kissed her with all the untamed force of his desire, and it was like a jarring blow that left Sara reeling.
    She lost something then but didn’t know whatit was. Then she felt it leaving her, torn away by his implacable demand. And even though an answering fire in her matched his demand, even though her senses were vividly alive, her emotions were numbed by the sheer, overwhelming power of his desire.
    It was like a sudden storm that blew up out of nowhere, battering her until she couldn’t even fight to save herself, until she was left bruised and bewildered.
    “You think you know the worst of me, don’t you, Sara?” he muttered against her throat. His big body shuddered once, and he held her tightly. “But you don’t. And you don’t know the best of me.”
    Dimly Sara realized that her arms had somehow wound around his waist, and the knowledge that she was holding him with what strength she could muster was a distant shock. She had to stop this, had to—
    “I could take you now.” He lifted his head, staring down at her with eyes that burned even in the night. “I could, Sara. You wouldn’t stop me. You wouldn’t even try. And with thisbetween us, you couldn’t bring yourself to hate me in the morning. You know that, don’t you?”
    She stared up at him, hearing the voice that had moved a country. Hearing the voice that moved her and tugged at everything she was. “Yes,” she whispered finally. “Yes, I know.”

T HREE

    T HE ADMISSION , MADE with bitter reluctance, quivered in the air between them. She forced her arms to release him, let them drop limply to her sides. Even now, with full knowledge and understanding of the consequences, she couldn’t stop him. And it wasn’t only her body that demanded his with an aching insistence; her heart, too, longed for a consummation that, if not complete, would at least leave her with something when all this was over and she was alone again.
    Andres’s hands rose slowly and framed her face. His eyes still burned, but his voice wassuddenly gentle and deep, and his hands trembled against her flesh. “I know. Heart of my heart, I know. But
you
must know the best of me now, my love. I could never, would never, hurt you that way. I could never take from you anything you were reluctant to give me.”
    “You said it yourself.” Her voice was soft, still, lost somewhere. “I couldn’t stop you, wouldn’t even try. And I wouldn’t hate you for it.”
    “No,” he agreed, touching her lips with his in a fleeting tender kiss. “You wouldn’t hate me. But something between us would be damaged beyond repair. Trust, perhaps. My love, I couldn’t bear it if you gave me only a part of yourself.”
    Sara swallowed hard, a dim and instinctive terror stirring inside her. “You want everything, don’t you, Andres?” That darkness, that blackness in him swallowing her …
    He made an odd, rough sound. “Don’t. Don’t fear that, my love. Don’t fear me.”
    She wondered vaguely if she had stiffened physically, or if he had become even more adept at reading her face, her thoughts. And it was,finally, the bewildered fear inside her that found a voice for itself. “You want too much,” she whispered. “You ask for everything from me, yet you—No. I can’t.” She felt cold inside, and frightened, and she struck out because there was no other way to fight him. “I won’t give my soul