Bound By Temptation Read Online Free Page A

see those pitch black eyebrows rise. “You know her?”
    The question came slowly, thoughtfully. No doubt the clever bastard was connecting too damn many dots and drawing himself a picture.
    “Emma Janssen?” Lucas asked, striving for a casual tone and failing miserably.
    “That’s the one.”
    “Then yeah—” Lucas worked to smooth the roughness from his voice “—I know her.”
    Smooth, soft skin gliding beneath his hands…her body coiling beneath his as her orgasm rolled through her…her throaty cries echoing in his ears…
    He shook the memories away with a shudder. Oh yeah, he knew her. In every sense of the word. For the past three months he’d been trying like hell to forget just how …intimately…he knew her.
    Shoving tense fingers through his hair, he scowled. “You want to tell me what the fuck’s going on?”
    Another of those long meaningful pauses. “How well do you know her?”
    “She’s a friend.” Although that assessment no longer described their association. Lucas cleared his throat. “She lived next door for a couple years. I haven’t seen her since she moved.”
    And damned if avoiding her hadn’t been an exercise in mental control—forcing himself not to return her calls, forcing himself not to track her down, forcing himself to leave her the fuck alone.
    Letting her go had taken more grit and determination than plowing through BUD/s and SQ Training combined. After one taste of her, or more like three incredible nights, she’d possessed him—taken over his body, mind, and soul.
    If he hadn’t gotten the call to bug out that Monday morning…if she hadn’t moved before he’d returned home—hell, he’d have settled in as a fixture in her bed. A fixture in her life. The male half of a couple. They would have tumbled into a relationship.
    He hadn’t even realized how far he’d fallen until he’d gotten some distance from her, until her taste and scent and feel of her skin against his were no longer available to short circuit his brain. Only then had he realized where they were headed and what a disaster it would be.
    He was military, and she was not. She had no clue what hooking up with him would put her through. Hell, she didn’t even know he was on the teams, or what his job actually entitled. She had no clue how many sleepless, agonizing nights she’d face if they became a thing . She had no clue what it meant to date an operator, or Christ almighty, marry into the teams. Fuck, most of the time she wouldn’t even know where he was or what he was doing. Just like his mother and sister-in-law, she’d spend her days and nights terrified a black SUV full of somber faced men decorated in ribbons and medals—or God forbid, white collars—would pull up in front of their house.
    He’d watched far too many relationships, including his parents’ and brother’s, disintegrate because of the uncertainty inherent in his chosen profession. Love and hatred were interchangeable when fear twisted love into bitterness and betrayal. No way in hell was he putting them through that, even if it meant cutting her out of his life completely.
    His brush off might have stung, but it had been kinder than the alternative. Even compassionate, given that her feelings hadn’t had a chance to develop yet.
    And the decision had been the right one. He was still certain of that. Better to break things off early, before emotions dug in to fuck things up. Because Emma wasn’t the kind of woman to indulge in careless affairs. She wouldn’t be able to keep her heart separate from the fucking.
    “So you slept with her,” Rio said, his voice dry. “How long did that go on?”
    Lucas twitched. Hell, he’d actually forgotten Rio was on the phone. A perfect example of the problem with Emma. She sucked him in so thoroughly he lost focus when she was around. Or, apparently, mentioned.
    “None of your damn business,” Lucas retorted, his hand tightening around the cell.
    Don’t ask…don’t