Sinful Attraction by Ann Christopher Read Free Book Online Page A

Right. Thing—
    “Marcus.”
    Screw it. If she thought he could keep his hands off her when she spoke his name with that kind of husky longing, she was sadly mistaken.
    He turned, staring into her stormy-gray eyes. His hands came out of his pockets and went straight to the sides of her head, to the velvety sweetness of her cheeks, the silky column of her neck and the sleek locks of her hair.
    She shuddered helplessly, covering his hands with hers, and there was something so raw and electric about the connection between them that he knew he had to look away from her face or risk being badly burned.
    And so, bypassing the lips he desperately wanted to taste again, he pressed his cheek to hers and whispered in her ear, “I want you.”
    “I want you, too,” she said.
    “Then come to my room with me, beauty.”
    “I can’t. It’s such a bad idea, and I’m smarter than that.” She sighed helplessly. “I’m trying to be smarter than that.”
    “Claudia. Sweet love.” He traced her tender earlobe with the tip of his tongue and relished the responsive croon that hummed in her throat. “It’s not about smart or dumb. It’s about inevitable.”
    She tipped her chin up, surrendering, a hint of a smile touching her lips and—
    With the worst conceivable timing, the elevator dinged and the doors opened.
    Sixth floor. Claudia’s floor.
    She went rigid and stepped out of his arms and out of the elevator.
    Facing him from the other side of what felt like an abyss, she looked breathless and turbulent. “I can’t,” she said again, but there was no conviction in her tone. “I’m not going to jump into bed with some man I just met.”
    “I’m not some man and you’re sure as hell not just some woman,” he said, holding the door open with his hand. The hoarse urgency in his voice was beneath him, but Claudia was worth the dings to his pride. There was no question in his mind that she was worth it. “I’m in 762.”
    Claudia shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
    Buzzing with frustration, Marcus cursed softly and dropped his hand. The doors slid closed in his face, blocking out the sight of her as she hurried to her room.

Chapter 6
    M arcus stalked back to his lonely room, yanked his clothes off and, not knowing what else to do, stepped into his second shower of the evening, with the water turned to polar ice cap. After three or four minutes of this torture, his privates had shrunk back to a size that was manageable, if not completely indifferent to Claudia’s charms. He brushed his teeth, threw on some boxers, glared at the digital clock, which was blinking 10:30 at him in what promised to be a long and miserable night, and pulled out his laptop.
    Since he wasn’t going to sleep, he might as well work. And that meant reviewing his notes and file on Judah Cross’s coveted and extremely valuable collection of memorabilia from his thirty-year career.
    Judah Cross. Yes, he needed to focus on Judah Cross, whom he’d be seeing tomorrow.
    Judah Cross, the reason for his eventful trip out West to Jackson Hole.
    Where he’d met Claudia.
    Claudia.
    He collapsed into the desk chair, flipped his laptop open and waited for it to power up.
    So she wanted to come, but she wasn’t coming tonight. Big deal. Not the end of the world. He’d get over it and there would, hopefully, be other nights. Soon.
    Absolutely no big deal.
    Except that his skin was too tight and his pulse was too fast. His left leg wouldn’t stop jiggling.
    And his laptop was too freaking slow.
    Pushing away from the desk, he turned out the corner lamp. It was too bright with the nightstand lamp already on. Then he found the remote and clicked on the TV, because it was too quiet. Then he turned down the volume, because the commercial was too loud.
    He wasn’t going to get any work done tonight. Any fool could see that.
    He’d just watch some TV.
    Flopping down onto the king-size bed, he flipped channels. CNN. ESPN. Discovery, CSPAN, the networks. Oh, and