The Price of Scandal by Kim Lawrence Read Free Book Online

face. ‘Fine? Now there’s a surprise—considering how rich the English language is, your vocabulary seems painfully limited.’
    ‘I’m a bit cold.’
    ‘ A bit cold …I’m assuming you graduated with first-class honours in understatement. I am no expert on such matters, if you discount a year of pre-med, but I do not think that lips are meant to be blue.’
    Neve lifted a shaky hand to cover her tremulous lips and stared up at him, trying to imagine him as a doctor and getting bogged down by the bedside-manner section of the job. ‘I said I’m cold.’
    ‘I am cold. You,’ he decided, ‘are in danger of succumbing to hypothermia. And we will get on a lot better if you spare me the incessant stoicism,’ he observed, sounding bored.
    ‘I don’t want to “get on better” with you.’
    Ignoring the childish retort, he lifted a hand and gestured for her to come to the fire. When she didn’t respond he crossed the room and stood looking down at her for a moment before planting both hands heavily on her shoulders.
    Holding her eyes, he steered her towards the glass-fronted wood burner. His sloe-dark gaze remained trained on Neve’s paper-pale face as he dragged a small armchair across the slate-flagged floor.
    Neve’s knees folded under the pressure of the hands on her shoulders as he urged her into it.
    Severo dropped into a squatting position and began to unzip the snow-coated oversized jacket. He peeled it away to reveal the bright pink sweater she wore beneath.
    Neve roused herself enough to make a token protest when he began to remove the saturated sweater, but he rather predictably ignored her.
    ‘I’m not helpless,’ she protested, feeling perilously close to it. Also perilously close was his chest and quite stupidly she wanted to lay her head on it.
    ‘ Dio mio , woman, do you ever stop complaining?’
    The sodden sweater made a squelching noise as he tossed it carelessly on the floor. Without the padding she was revealed as slim and sleek with surprisingly generous curves that were in perfect proportion to her delicate petite frame.
    Her outraged blue gaze flew to his face. ‘Do you ever stop issuing orders?’ she countered in husky exasperation.
    He flashed her a mocking grin. ‘Some are born to lead, others to follow, preferably in silence.’ Though her voice with the sexy little rasp was actually quite easy on the ear.
    ‘And I suppose these born leaders in your world are all m…male.’ The words emerged through clenched teeth she couldn’t seem to stop shaking.
    Under the sweater she was wearing a thin cotton tee shirt that clung damply, revealing not only the outline of her spine and heaving ribcage, but the lacy pattern of her bra and the clearly defined outline of her nipples thrusting through the thin fabric.
    It was the last detail that riveted Severo’s attention and sent a kick of lust through his body. The more he tried not to think about a breast fitting perfectly in his hand, the more he saw it there. The more he saw his mouth moving over the smooth silky flesh, teasing…tasting.
    Closing off this line of thought abruptly, which was not as easy as it should have been, he inhaled, drawing air into his lungs through flared nostrils. Along with the oxygen meant to clear his head came the scent of her skin and the light floral fragrance she used and he remained painfully aroused.
    When he didn’t respond Neve lifted her head. Following the direction of his stare, she let out a yelp, covered her chest with her hands and promptly felt a total fool.
    ‘Relax, cara ,’ he said, thinking, Good advice, Severo, take it.
    ‘I’m cold,’ she said defensively.
    His lashes swept downwards, brushing the dark bands of colour that highlighted the sharp chiselled angles of his cheekbones.
    ‘I’d noticed.’
    Deliberately redirecting his gaze, he snatched a woollen throw from a nearby sofa and dropped it casually in her lap.
    ‘You have nothing I have not seen before.’
    His