Timeless (Pandora Book 1) by Kali Argent Read Free Book Online

index finger, urging her face up to his. “Tell me what I’m feeling.”
    The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and electrical currents rippled down her spine from his touch. The muscles in her shoulders tightened, and though it had been a while, she recognized the familiar flutter of desire in her lower belly.
    “What do you want from me? I don’t know what to do, Vane.”
    “Close your eyes,” he instructed, his deep, velvety voice like a balm to her frayed nerves. “Good. Now clear your mind and don’t think.” He released her chin and skimmed his fingertips down the column of her throat. “Just feel.”
    The problem with this plan, however, was that she felt too much. Her breasts tingled with a heaviness she hadn’t experienced in ages. The muscles in her stomach tightened, and a lump formed in her throat, making it difficult to breathe, let alone think.
    Blood roared in her ears as her heart thundered in her chest, and her tongue felt too big for her suddenly dry mouth. The woodsy scent of a smoking campfire wafted from Vane’s sun-kissed skin, intensifying until she could almost taste it. A rush of wet heat pooled between her thighs as she blinked opened her eyelids to rake her gaze over Vane’s chiseled jaw, down his thick, corded neck, and across his muscles shoulders.
    Sweet baby Jesus, the man’s muscles had muscles, and the way his black shirt clung to him highlighted every damn one of them. Charli couldn’t deny she found Vane attractive, but given the circumstances, her arousal felt too…extreme.
    “Lust,” she whispered, and her cheeks flamed with the confession. “For me.”
    If he found embarrassment in her words, he didn’t show it. “Yes. What else?”
    Her eyebrows drew together, and the muscles in her back tensed. “Anger.” Charli stopped and shook her head. “No, not anger. More like…frustration.” Her pulse stuttered before picking up a different rhythm, and her breaths became quick and shallow. “Fear. You’re afraid.”
    “Good.” The warmth of his touch lingered, even after he pulled away and crossed his arms. “I’m not afraid, though. Concerned, maybe, but not afraid.”
    Typical guy answer. Charli ignored him. She had more pressing questions to address. “How did I do that?”
    “Because you’re different, Charlotte. You’re special.”
    She’d been called many things in her life—odd, quirky, eccentric—but never special. “Okay, let’s say I believe you.” She didn’t, not fully, but in her desire to keep him talking, she decided to play along. “Is that why Don wants me?”
    “Yes.”
    He hid it well, but Charli still detected the hesitancy in his answer. “There’s more to it. What aren’t you telling me?”
    “There’s a pendant, a red diamond, that’s been passed down through your family for generations. It’s very rare, very valuable.”
    “I must have missed the memo, because I don’t have anything like that.” She’d never seen pictures or heard stories about such a jewel, either. “Don thinks I have this diamond?”
    Restlessness overcame her—whether hers or Vane’s, she didn’t know—and she suddenly needed to busy her hands. So, while she waited for him to speak, she gathered the ingredients to prepare the icing for the cinnamon rolls.
    “Can I help?”
    Charli smiled but shook her head without facing him. “I’ll mix. You talk. Tell me more about this jewel I’m supposed to have.”
    “It’s special, like you.”
    Slamming the mixing bowel down on the stainless steel counter, Charli fisted her hands at her sides and spun toward him. “Stop it! Stop being vague and only giving me half answers. I’m not stupid, Vane, and I’m not going to fall apart. Whatever it is, I can handle it, so just tell me the truth.”
    “Fine,” Vane growled. “I followed your would-be suitor here through a time rip from the year 2984 on the planet Nekron.” He dipped his head in sarcastic half bow. “Handling