Mysterious Read Online Free

thought about the implications. She was so distracted by his smile, and by the way his fingers were absently stroking her neck. His technique was very sure, very smooth, and very effective. Briefly Jennifer wondered if he found the soft skin of her neck especially appealing—if he was touching her because he couldn’t help himself, or because he touched all of the women he was about to make love to in just such a manner. She gave herself a mental shake. It didn’t matter.
    "D.C.?"
    "What? Oh . . . no. Washington State." She was going to have to do much better than this. Concentrate. Jennifer! Oh, but how? This man completely rattled her. He made her forget, and as nice as that would be, she couldn’t allow that to happen. Her life depended on it, and now maybe his did too.
    "Lucky you. I’ve never been there, but I understand it’s a beautiful state."
    "Yes, yes, it is."
    "How long have you been here?"
    "I told you before." She bit her thumbnail. For a man with seduction on his mind, he was asking an awful lot of questions. "I haven’t been here too long."
    "No," he corrected her gently. "You didn’t say that. You said only that you were relatively new to the area. What exactly does relatively new mean?"
    She would have to be careful what she said to him, Jennifer reminded herself. On top of everything else, he had an excellent memory. Again she asked herself, Why this man and why now? Such damn rotten timing!
    The tips of his fingers had settled into the hollow of her collarbone and were moving in slow circles. A shuddering sensation zigzagged up her spine. Worst of all, she knew he had felt it.
    "What were you doing in that bar tonight, Jennifer?" he whispered.
    Inexplicably her attention centered on his lips instead of on the question. She didn’t answer.
    "Whom were you waiting for?"
    His bottom lip was slightly fuller than the top, clearly outlined and beautifully shaped.
    "Why did you come over to my table?"
    His voice swirled into her, deep and warm, reaching to parts of her long untouched.
    "And why did you want to come here?"
    Still she did not answer, so transfixed was she by the man beside her and the way he looked, the way he sounded, and the way he was touching her.
    "You’re an enigma, Jennifer. A beautiful, complicated enigma. I have about a hundred questions I’d like to ask you. But even if I did, I have a feeling you wouldn’t answer." His fingers exerted pressure on the back of her neck, and he pulled her a little closer to him.
    Before she could think about what she was doing, she put her hand on his chest, and then immediately wondered why she had done it. Had she placed her hand there to act as a barrier? Or had she placed it there because she wanted to feel the powerful beat of his heart underneath the broad strength of his chest. In the end it didn’t matter, because he took her hand and tenderly kissed the palm. "Relax," he said on a soft breath, "I’m not going to hurt you."
    Her lips parted. Deep in her soul there was something telling her to go with this incredible feeling flooding her being. But she knew she couldn’t. . . shouldn’t.
    Ever so lightly his other hand skimmed over the pure white cloth that shielded her breasts and began to rub the bare skin just above the neckline. "At this moment I would give a million dollars to crawl underneath this skin of yours and find out what’s going on inside of you."
    "You’d be disappointed." she whispered, the words nearly choking in her desire-clogged throat.
    "I don’t think so, but why don’t we find out."
    This man was a stranger, yet his hands felt so good on her body. And then there were his lips. They curved into a smile and descended slowly to hers, and at their touch the hard cold knots of disquiet inside her began to dissolve.
    He was tasting her with his tongue, taking her breath with his mouth, melting her with his hands. She gave way and flowed more fully into him. At her response he lifted his mouth and stared down at