You Are Mine by Jackie Ashenden Read Free Book Online Page B

out of the windows, something. Anything to get away from the man standing right in front of her.
    Towering over her. Tall and dark and intimidating as a mountain. A demon. It was all she could do not to whimper.
    But she wouldn’t give into the terror. She never had, not while she was on the streets, not while she was in the house, not when He had had her over and over again, and certainly not now.
    Even so, she couldn’t quite process the fact that the man she’d always thought of as safe wasn’t quite so safe any longer.
    On the surface he was the same Zac she knew, wearing a beautifully cut suit even in the middle of the night, every button done up, the collar of his black shirt perfectly pressed, his dull gold silk tie knotted just so.
    But something had changed. Like a blade drawn from the scabbard, he was all razor sharp edges and bright, glittering danger. A danger she’d never really understood.
    I’m not your fucking pet …
    The smile on his face held no amusement, only a savage intent that made her heart race even faster, panic burning in her blood bright as magnesium. It was the smile of a predator, pure and simple. And the look in his amber eyes … wolf’s eyes.
    She’d always thought the heat in them was anger. But this wasn’t anger. This was something else, something far more intense and far more complicated.
    The world spun as she became aware of other things, other aspects of him she’d never noticed.
    Because you’ve never let yourself notice.
    His height in comparison to hers had always added to that feeling of safety but now … she didn’t feel safe. She felt something she couldn’t quite pinpoint. It was fear yet there was another element in there like … excitement. The breadth of his shoulders too and the hard strength she knew went right down through muscle and bone to the core of him. The kind of strength you could dash yourself against and never make a mark. The kind of strength you could rest on, that could hold you up. Then there was the absolute authority in his voice. God. As if he knew all the answers to every question she’d ever thought to ask. And the answers would take away all the doubt, all the fear …
    Her breath caught, a tight sensation in her chest, a pulse somewhere down low inside her.
    Jesus Christ. What the hell was happening to her?
    These weren’t feelings she’d ever associated with Zac, at least not the Zac Rutherford she knew. But then this man wasn’t the Zac Rutherford she knew. He was someone different. And he …
    Terrifies you?
    No, of course he didn’t terrify her. What a ridiculous thought. Okay, so he wasn’t acting like the friend she’d come to know and rely on for the past seven years, but he was still the same guy underneath that. Wasn’t he?
    â€œGive you everything, huh?” Ignoring the tremble inside her, the dread that dried her mouth and made her breath catch, Eva forced herself to lift her hands and touch him, smoothing the lapels of his suit in a casual movement. “That sounds ominous.”
    She only wanted to prove to herself that these feelings didn’t matter. That she wasn’t afraid and that he didn’t intimidate her.
    She’d never touched him before, not once in all the years she’d known him. Yet as soon as her fingertips met the fine wool of his suit, she understood that she’d made a mistake.
    Even through the fabric she could feel the heat of his body and the hard, tensile strength that was part of him. Like a wall between herself and a raging fire. And if that wall were to collapse, she would be consumed.
    She looked up, unable to stop herself, and as she met his intent, golden gaze, realized she’d only compounded her mistake by looking at him. Because the fire she’d sensed was in his eyes. Burning her to ashes.
    â€œI wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said softly. And