Smoldering Hunger by Donna Grant Read Free Book Online Page A

Her heels clicked on the cobblestones as she made her way to the street.
    Unable to help herself, she glanced to the spot where she and Darius had given in to their passion. The shadows hid the location, but she didn’t need lights to know where it was.
    For a short time, Sophie had forgotten her past and the betrayals that shaped her into who she was. For a brief space she had just been Sophie—a woman who craved Darius’s touch like she needed air.
    And it had felt so good to give in to that.
    She looked at the ground and swallowed. Damn Darius for showing up again. And damn her own mind for not being able to forget about him.
    When she raised her head, her eyes clashed with chocolate ones. Sophie halted inches from running into Darius. She gripped her purse in one hand and her black medical bag in the other while she wondered what to do.
    “Walk around me,” Darius said.
    She frowned, anger cutting through her. Hadn’t he been the one to come to the hospital, her place of work? Wasn’t he the one in front of her now?
    “Keep walking, Sophie. I’ll find you later and explain,” he said in a low voice.
    She rolled her eyes and walked past him, making sure she ran her shoulder into him hard enough to throw him off balance.
    Why had she romanticized their dalliance? Why had she once more found herself making a man into something he wasn’t?
    Darius had told her he wasn’t a good man. Yet she went and made him out that way. All those nights dreaming of him, of their passion and desire, created a man in her head that couldn’t possibly exist.
    After this run-in, she was sure Darius would be well and truly out of her mind for good. She didn’t have the time or inclination for men like him.
    But still, the idea that her life might’ve been changing was a heady one. As had the thought that Darius could be the kind of man she didn’t think existed.
    She opted to walk home instead of taking her usual cab. The air was brisk, and with the snow coming, it might be her last chance for a while. The stroll felt good despite her feet hurting from two back-to-back shifts.
    Sophie was exhausted by the time she entered her flat. She tossed down her keys, purse, and bag at the entryway table. Then she hung up her coat and kicked off her shoes on the way to the bathroom.
    She was unbuttoning her shirt when she paused to turn on the water for the bathtub. After her clothes were in the hamper, she walked naked to the tub and poured a large portion of bubble bath in before lighting the candles set all around the claw-foot tub.
    While the water filled, she turned on some music and shut off the lights. Her newest favorite was the soundtrack to Outlander. She climbed into the tub with the haunting melody playing in the background.
    Sophie sighed as she leaned back and let the water and bubbles surround her. When the water was high enough, she turned it off with her foot.
    Her eyes were closed as she relaxed. Slowly the tension and stress began to ease from her muscles. Her head lolled to the side. Her fatigue was so great she could fall asleep right there if she wasn’t careful. The only thing that would’ve made everything perfect was wine.
    And Darius.
    With the music playing, Sophie couldn’t help but think of him. She’d come across a few Highlanders while in Edinburgh, but none compared to Darius. She didn’t even have to ask if he was a Highlander.
    It was in the way he held himself, the way he spoke. It was a look that couldn’t be faked or copied. Whatever made a man a Highlander was in his blood, in his very soul.
    Movies and romance books loved to have Highlanders as heroes. Truth be told, Sophie had always found herself drawn to such men. Highlanders valued loyalty, honesty, and family. The alphas who would give their very lives for those they loved.
    At one time she’d dreamed of finding such a man for herself. She hadn’t actually thought it would be a Highlander, however. She’d been content to find her man closer