The Spanish Tycoon's Temptress by Elizabeth Lennox Read Free Book Online Page A

having problems of his own.”  She sniffed slightly before turning back to walk up the stairs.  “My father can’t control me anyway.”
    He leaned down and shook his head.  “Your father…” he started to say something, but then stopped.  He wouldn’t make any progress getting her to his ultimate goal by maligning her father in her eyes.  Not that she would believe him anyway.  Elana had always revered her father, thinking him a saint.  The man wasn’t a saint by any stretch of the imagination, a fact of which he knew all too well since he’d been slowly destroying the man’s business.  What he’d found out about Rufus’ business practices wasn’t very good, but his daughter didn’t need to know that. 
    Why was he protecting her?  Why did he care if she still cared for her father?  He should shove the old man’s crimes right at her, let her live in the real world.  Rufus was unethical and ran with some pretty unsavory people.  If he wasn’t breaking the law, Rufus was definitely skimming that line. 
    She glared right back at him.  “What?  Are you going to tell me that my dad needs to take care of me?  That I’m not old enough or smart enough to make it alone in life?”  She was really working up a steam of anger now.  It was all a defense against letting him inside her apartment, but she didn’t care.  She pulled herself up to her full height, pushing her shoulders back and feigning confidence.  “I’ll have you know that I’m fully capable of running my life exactly the way I want to.  My father has his interests and I have mine.  I don’t ask him for anything!” she finished, poking him in the chest to emphasize her point.
    “All evidence to the contrary,” he replied softly, taking her finger in his large hand and gently pulling it behind her back.  The movement caused Elana’s body to fall against his.  They were standing at her doorway, the dim light from the hallway too far away to give her any insight into what he might be thinking, if he were to actually reveal some of his thoughts through his eyes. 
    But then again, she didn’t really need the light to know what he was thinking.  She was feeling it.  As his strong arm kept her in place, she felt his body respond, feeling that pressure against her stomach and she panicked.  “Let me go, Gaston.  This is not what I want.”
    “Prove it,” he said a moment before his lips touched hers. 
    If he had been hard or demanding, she might have been able to fight him.  But the soft, gentle to uch of his lips against hers set her body on fire, her mind spinning out of control.  She sighed as his tongue touched her mouth.  No matter how much she wanted to avoid this, there was just something about Gaston that had always reduced her willpower to a quivering, demanding need to touch him, feel him with her fingers and hands. 
    When his hands moved underneath her coat, sliding along her waist and ribcage she whimpered with the intensity of the feelings that exploded inside of her.  It was as if his hand were the fire and she were the moth, demanding more, turning into the light and her body shifted slightly to feel his hand on her body more. 
    It took her several moments before she realized that he was no longer kissing her.  When she felt his hand move away from her back and the cold air hit her full on the face, she opened her eyes.  Looking up at him, even in the dim light , she could see the triumph in those dark, sinful eyes. 
    With a shuddering breath, she turned around and unlocked her apartment door.  She was ashamed that she’d let him do that to her, wary of what he might think he could do next.  She’d stop him, or at least that’s what she told herself.  It had been such a short kiss, but that small moment had revealed so much.  Things she didn’t want him to know.  Good grief, those were feelings even she didn’t want to know about! 
    She didn’t look back at him when she stepped inside