Illicit Read Online Free

erotically, as if tasting the name on her tongue. Or maybe his cock was doing the majority of his thinking as she simply tried to reconcile the name with a face from her past. “What did you say your last name was?”
    His grin faltered and he let go of her hand. “I didn’t. Now, how about that drink? You look like you could use a whiskey. Lord knows I need the entire bottle. What do you have to lose? Liquor will erase the chill from your skin.”
    A suspicious, oddly sexy, gleam flashed in her eyes. Peter wasn’t accustomed to people, women especially, questioning him. Damn if it wasn’t a huge turn on.
    “What do you get out of it?” she asked.
    “A drinking buddy.”
    She shifted, head angling toward James for guidance. Yeah, he didn’t think so. Peter touched her silky soft cheek, brought her attention back to him. “You’re a big girl, remember? It’s a drink in a crowded bar. Listen to your gut, what’s it telling you about me?”
    There was no hesitation, no polite one-second pause to think it over. “Instincts tell me you’ve either got multiple personalities, or Greg meant something to you. You’re conflicted, hurting, lonely, and for some reason you don’t want to show it. It’s a dangerous combination mixed with liquor.”
    Accurate and more than a little unsettling. Before he could stop himself, he swiped the callused pad of his thumb along her full, lower lip, if only because he needed to feel if the flesh was as soft as it looked. His voice lowered, and he let the sights, smells and sounds fade into the background. “Come on, Eva, have a drink with me.”
    She searched his gaze, picked through the emotions roiling in his eyes.
    “I should have my head examined for even considering it after what you said to me a few minutes ago,” she muttered.
    Peter rose, cradled his bottle of whiskey in one arm, held his glass in the other. “I don’t speak girl. Is that a yes?” When she made no move to join him, he hiked an eyebrow. “Are you coming or what?”
    Poor word choice, he realized. His cock twitched and he suddenly knew exactly what he wanted. No, needed. Eva coming in his mouth, on his dick. If he could lose himself in her body, perhaps he could forget everything else.
    “Why not?” Eva finally said as she slid off the stool.
    “Peter…” James growled. The single word held a breadth of warning, one Peter had no intention of heeding.
    He didn’t look back at his uncle. “Mind your own business,” he called out and followed the sharp angle of the bar toward an empty table in a shadowed corner.
    From behind him, he heard Eva rap her knuckles on the bar. There was a pause, a short, whispered conversation which he could have heard if it weren’t for the Godawful music playing in the background.
    Peter looked around the room, took in the rustic bar with its wood motif and mounted heads of moose and elk. He remembered killing those animals with his father and uncle when he’d been ten. Too many memories. With half an ear, he listened as best he could.
    Eva said in a hushed voice, “He’s hurting.”
    “Don’t let him fool you. He’s dangerous, you don’t know him,” his uncle rasped.
    “It’s just a drink,” she replied.
    “Eva, it ain’t never just a drink and you damn well know it. Let me drive you home, or better yet, come back to my place. I’ll take care of you, you don’t have to be alone. I still have those papers for you to sign.”
    “Ugh. I can’t look at any more legal documents. Besides, you have enough to take care of without worrying about me. I’ll see you tomorrow at the meeting, okay?” she said, and that seemed to end the conversation.
    A second later, he felt Eva behind him like a wave of sunshine at his back. He looked away from the carcasses he’d been staring at, ignored the various portrait landscapes of mountains and forests. Moving to the back corner, he chose a lone table. He held out a chair, gestured for Eva to sit. She looked over her