Mirage Beyond Flames (Coriola) Read Online Free Page A

company. Although maybe it’s not such a bad idea. Hold on, I’ll be right there.”
    What the hell is he doing here at this hour? she asked herself once more, while she was hastily wrapping a towel around herself and put on a pair of beach slippers.
    The driveway leading to the gates was quite long and Linda, her hair and skin wet, began to feel the cold brought by nightfall and the pool’s chilly water. Once she reached the gate, she looked at Gerard through the thick bars, then introduced the code to disable the alarm.
    “How do you know my address and what are you doing here at this hour?”
     
    Chapter Four
     
    Gerard couldn’t distinguish much in the deep darkness. Nevertheless, he spotted the towel, which revealed a pair of long legs, smooth shoulders and arms that held the fabric in a shriveling pose. In the moonlight, her skin had a pearly glow. The water drops dripping from her hair were lost somewhere behind the fist that gathered the towel to her chest.
    He clutched hard one of the gate’s bars, trying to control the incredible reactions triggered in his body and mind by this semi-nude nymph, toward whom he felt a magnetic attraction.
    “You forgot your sunglasses at the clinic. I took your address from the register book and came to return them to you, along with this.”
    He outstretched his other hand revealing, in the low light, a single white rose.
    “Can I come in?” he asked. “I swear my intention s are as innocent as this rose,” he went on, joking.
    She appeared hesitant, but considering she was probably half frozen, she opened the gate then stepped aside to make room for him. He knew he was watching her with an almost tangible intensity, the glow of his eyes defying the darkness, but was helpless to tear his gaze away.
    He handed he r the sunglasses and the flower. She took them with a shaky hand, murmuring:
    “Thanks, but you shouldn’t have bothered.”
    “It was no bother, on the contrary. I was hoping you’ll invite me for a coffee and you look like you could use something hot.”
    As though she completely agreed, Linda indicated the house’s direction and they both headed to the building.
    Gerard co ntinued to watch her discretely from the corner of his eye. As the lights from the windows revealed a clearer image of the woman beside him, it was increasingly hard not to touch her. He felt an acute need to enfold her in his arms, to warm that suave skin with hot kisses. Did she feel the same attraction or was she as cold and distant as she seemed? He would have given anything to know what she was thinking right in that moment, but she kept walking without sketching any gesture that could reflect her mindset.
    “Do you live alone?” he asked, before he remained completely deaf to the voice of reason and do something he wasn’t sure he should.
    “No.”
    Her answer overly surprised him. According to the sources from the clinic, Linda lived alone, the rest of her family was in Italy - her birth-land.
    “With whom, then?” he asked again, seeing she didn’t plan to elaborate in regard to this subject.
    They finally r eached the front door, which had been left open. A white cat was waiting on the steps, obviously bothered by the presence of a nocturnal intruder.
    “With him,” Linda answered, indicating the cat, who permanently seemed to wink at somebody. “His name is Pirata and he’s my best friend,” she added smiling and signaling him to come in.
    In the living room, she invited him to sit on the sofa.
    “Please, wait for me a few minutes, I’m gonna go change.”
    “No problem, no rush,” he replied. “If you show me where the kitchen is, I can make some hot chocolate.”
    Linda looked at him a bit surprised, then guided him to the kitchen.
    “You’ll find mugs up in that cupboard, the chocolate is here, on the right,” she explained. “I usually heat water in the microwave.”
    “Go and dress,” he said. “And please dry your hair, I wouldn’t want you to