Page 67 of Dangerous Passion

Golden-brown skin, corded muscles so pronounced they cast shadows, even here sleek and strong. With her nose so close to his skin she could smell the essence of him above the keen smell of sex—a dark, fragrant spicy scent, redolent of musk, unlike anything she had ever smelled before in her life.

In a dark, crowded room full of men, she would be able to pick him out blindfolded, by scent alone.

And certainly by touch. No other man she’d ever seen had his deeply muscled physique. One brush of her fingers and she’d know him. No other man on earth could feel like that.

He reached over and punched a button. With a gentle whir, the curtains started sliding open.

It took her a minute to find the strength to turn her head toward the window. By the time she did, the curtains had opened all the way, letting the morning and New York come into the bedroom.

It was still snowing. Not a storm like last night, just gentle flakes hovering in the air more than falling out of the sky. Clouds hung so low over the city they hid the tops of many of the skyscrapers. This high up, it looked like the sky was close enough to touch.

“It’s still snowing,” she said dreamily, turning her head back into his neck, one hand over his heart.

Drake sighed, the huge deep chest filling with air, lifting her up. “Yes, love. Everything becomes more difficult in the snow.”

True, but the world wasn’t made for ease. “And everything becomes more beautiful in the snow.”

She could actually hear his smile. “Yes, duschka. Very beautiful. I never noticed that before you.”

She smiled against his neck, happy to have given him something, if only an appreciation of the beauty of snow.

She drifted, thinking of nothing at all, feeling warm and safe in his arms. She was beginning the luscious slide back into sleep when Drake said quietly, “Duschka.”

“Mm.” If he wanted to talk, he was going to have to do it to a semi-comatose woman because she was way too comfortable to pay attention to whatever he wanted to say. Something serious, from the sound of it.

No, she didn’t want to talk about anything serious, not right now. Now was her time out of time.

Another enormous sigh as Drake’s big hands shifted to cup her shoulders. He lifted her torso slightly so he could look her in the eyes. “I need to tell you something, something you won’t want to hear. It is time for you to know, because we need to be making plans.”

Itwasserious. Any hint of a smile had gone, and his face was drawn in tight lines, as if in pain. Grace dropped the smile. Whatever it was, it had him worried, so it worried her.

She folded her hands on his chest and rested her chin on them. Whatever the bad news was, she wanted to be touching as much of him as possible while hearing it. “All right,” she said quietly. “Shoot. I’m ready.”

He shut his eyes briefly, then opened them, gaze fierce as an eagle’s. “These … problems we’re having. They’re not going away. Ever.”

She said nothing, just watched him.

“The people who are after me are not going to quit, love.” His hands on her back clenched lightly, as if reasserting ownership. “Particularly not now, not when they have you as a bargaining chip and when they know what you mean to me.”

She spoke through a suddenly tight throat. “And just what do I mean to you, Drake?”

“Everything,” he said promptly, eyes never leaving hers. “You’re everything to me.”

He lifted himself slightly to her, hard stomach muscles clenching, so strong they actually lifted her up as he brought his mouth to hers for a hot, biting kiss that went on and on. She’d just climaxed but her body started waking up, bit by bit, each time his tongue touched hers.

His body was already awake. His penis had only softened a little after his climax, but with the kiss he surged into a full erection, lengthening and hardening in powerful pulses that sent shivers through her.

Grace melted.

Drake broke the kiss, easing back down. The pupils of his eyes had expanded so much the irises looked black. A deep flush rode his high cheekbones and his jaw muscles bunched.

“Later,” he growled. “We’ll have all the time we want later. But now we need to make plans. I told you my enemies aren’t going to give up and I will not give you up.”

Grace’s heart gave a huge thump in her chest. Something big, something dangerous was coming. “So—what’s the answer?”

“We disappear,” he said simply, his eyes never leaving hers.

At first Grace didn’t understand. The words garbled in her head.Dis a tear?Or was itwe’d appear? Appear where?

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