Uncaged by Alisha Paige Read Free Book Online Page A

because of the captain though he seemed near death only two days before. He tried the front door. It clicked open and he smiled. Wren had given him full access to her home and her bedroom. He tiptoed through the parlor, heading for the stairs when something caught his eye. A rectangular shadow fell across the landing where the moonlight streamed across the marble floors from a high window. Bruce peered into the darkness, looking for whatever was causing such a black out. The parlor was practically bare. He wondered for a moment if Wr en had acquired a pianoforte. She’d talked of doing so and of her love for music. The prospect suddenly excited him. He had become quite skilled with the i vory keys as a boy . How he’d love to play a duet with her. He felt like a lad on Christmas morn as he strolled into the parlor. He hit his shin on a low lying coffee table, hissing out a curse as he made his way to the object. Black shadows enveloped him. If he could only remember where the damn lamp was located. He reached for the object, hoping to hear a tinkling of the keys, but instead he felt clothing. His eyes had adjusted some. He blinked and blinked again and then knelt down closer. A hideous odor assaulted his senses and he snapped his head back. Ever so slowly he reached out again and this time felt a hand.
                  “Bloody hell!” he hissed.
                  It was a dead body, lying in waiting for the wake perhaps. Bruce fumbled around the tables and chairs, looking for the lamp. He nearly knocked it off the table before lighting it. A golden glow illuminated the casket across from him. White, unruly hair shot off of the pillow. Even in death, the man looked insane. The captain lay across from him. Relief flooded him. It could have been Wren. He had been afraid she’d been exposed. The captain had developed scurvy on the ship and later acquired tuberculosis. 
                  “Wren,” he breathed, forgetting the dead captain as he bolted upstairs and flung open her door.
                  She lay curled on her side, hugging a pillow. He let out a shuddering, ragged breath as he shut the door behind him, making a small clicking noise. Wren sighed in her sleep, smiled sweetly and then rolled to her other side. Bruce thought his heart would burst from his chest. He was no longer exhausted from the long trip, only excited and relieved that she was safe. He decided right then and there, he would not leave her again. If he had to devour all the local hogs in order to stay near her, he would. Anything could have happened. He couldn’t bear losing her like he’d lost his lioness. He crossed to the other side of the bed and sat down, stripping down to nothing before lying down. He pulled her to him. She moaned softly. Bruce couldn’t wait until dawn. He’d have her now and she’d love every moment of it.
                  She sighed when he caressed her breasts, pulling up on the sheer batiste that separated his hand from her warm skin.
                  “Bruce?” she whispered, her voice still hoarse from sleep.
                  “Yes, darling, I’m home.”
                  “Mmm.”
                  Bruce chuckled, scattering hot breath across the back of her neck. Her scent drove him mad. She smelled of lavender, her hair like fresh cut gardenias. His hand shook with anticipation as he palmed her knee, her thigh a nd moved upward, cupping her. She was already damp for him.
                  “Oh how I missed you,” he growled, rolling her onto her back and straddling her.
                  Wren reached up and touched his cheek. Her eyes gleamed in the moonlight as she stared up at him, her face awash with tenderness.
                  “I missed you far more, I assure you, sir.”
                  He kissed the tip of her nose and then each velvety eye lid with u tter