Soldier of Fortune Read Online Free Page A

hills. They decided to concentrate on that area of the city.
    There was so much to see that Gabby’s mind seemed to overload. They wandered around the ruins of the Forum first, and she just stared and stared like the eternal tourist.
    “Just imagine,” she whispered, as if afraid the ghosts might hear and take offense, “all those centuries ago Romans walked here just as we’re walking today, with the same dreams and hopes and fears we feel. I wonder if they ever thought about how the world would be in the future?”
    “I’m sure they did.” J.D. stuck his hands in his pockets, and the wind ran like loving fingers through his crisp, dark hair. With his head thrown back like that, his profile in relief, he could have been one of the early Romans himself.
    “Have you ever read
The Annals of Imperial Rome
by Tacitus?” she asked.
    His head jerked around. “Yes. Have you?”
    She grinned. “I was always a nut about Roman history. And Greek history. I loved Herodotus, even though he’s been bad-mouthed a lot for some of his revelations.”
    “It is fascinating reading.” He smiled amusedly. “Well, well, a historian. And I never suspected. I thought your knowledge of other countries was limited to those sweet little romance novels you read.”
    She glared at him. “I learn a lot about the world from those books,” she said, defending herself. “And about other things, too.”
    He cocked a dark eyebrow. “What other things?”
    She looked away. “Never mind.”
    “We can go and see the catacombs later, if you like. They’re south of here.”
    “Where the early Christians were buried?” She shuddered. “Oh, no, I don’t think so. It’s kind of an invasion of privacy. I’m sure I wouldn’t want someone walking through my grave.”
    “I suppose it depends on your point of view,” he conceded. “Well, we’ll drive up to the Colosseum then.”
    “What was the other thing you mentioned, the Ninfeo di Nerone?”
    He looked down at her with dark, indulgent eyes. “The Sanctuary of the Nymphs. You’d have fit right in, with your long, dark hair and mysterious eyes.”
    “I wouldn’t have liked the debauchery,” she said with certainty, her green eyes flashing. “The morals in Rome in Nero’s time were decadent.”
    “A lot of terrible things happened here in the early days. But if you think about it, honey, terrible things are still happening. Like Martina’s kidnapping.”
    “The world hasn’t really changed very much, has it?” she asked sadly, watching the disturbance in his features at the thought of Martina and what she might be going through. She reached out and touched his arm gently. “They won’t hurt her, Jacob,” she said quietly. “Not until they get the money. Will they?”
    “I don’t know.” He caught her arms and jerked her against his hard body, holding her there and staring intently into her eyes. “Frightened?” he asked on a husky note.
    “No,” she lied.
    His dark eyes held hers. “We’re supposed to be lovers on a holiday,” he reminded her. “Just in case anyone is watching us…”
    His head started to bend, and she caught her breath. Her eyes dropped to his chiseled mouth and she suddenly became breathless.
    “Haven’t you ever wondered?” he asked tautly, hesitating when he saw the shock on her young face.
    Her eyes fluttered up to his fierce ones and back down again. “How it would be to…to kiss you?” she whispered.
    “Yes.”
    Her lips parted on a rush of breath. She felt her breasts pressed softly against his shirtfront and was aware of the hardness of warm muscles against their hardening tips. She felt trembly all over just at the touch of his body.
    His hands slid up her arms, over her shoulders and up her throat to cup her face and look at it with searching eyes.
    “For the record,” he murmured quietly, “is it a distasteful thought?”
    That did shock her. She couldn’t imagine any woman finding him distasteful.
    “It’s not that at