White Satin Read Online Free Page B

had been a love that only fed the resentment. There couldn’t be any more hurtful or frustrating emotion on the face of the earth than loving Anthony Malik, with his leashed stillness and the veil of ice crystals he kept firmly between himself and the world.
    A sexual relationship with Anthony, Dany mused. Oh, Lord, it would destroy her. Ice could burn, and Anthony had the reputation for keeping his ladies very contented—for as long as he kept them. However, his passion for them always cooled.
    She wouldn’t be able to stand it if, with time, he grew bored and decided she wasn’t what he wanted after all. He might even decide to shut her out of his life entirely! She felt the panic rise up within her. She couldn’t imagine an existence without Anthony hovering in the background like a dark, enigmatic shadow. Strong, incisive, alwaysin control. What would he be like if he lost that control? She felt her breasts tauten beneath her sweater and a strange ache begin between her thighs. Desire.
    No! Her relationship with Anthony was too complicated already. She hurried down the hall, her face flushed as if she had a fever. She’d felt that aching melting once before. Six years before, and it had gotten her thrown out of Eden. Anthony had seen it and had rejected her with his usual implacable decisiveness. She wouldn’t risk a second rejection.
    Pete Drissell was coming down the curving staircase as she snatched up her beige polo coat from the bench where she’d left it. “I’ve just taken your bags up to your room, Miss Alexander.”
    “Good,” she said absently as she shrugged into her coat. “I’m sorry to inconvenience you again, Pete, but I wonder if you’d drive me back to New York? I know it’s a long trip, but I’d really appreciate it. Something’s come up that I need to take care of.” It wasn’t a total falsehood; she had to banish this panic and emotional turmoil before she saw Anthony again. Her nerves were screamingwith tension, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to sit across from him at the dinner table in a few hours without falling apart. She needed breathing space.
    There was surprise on the chauffeur’s face but his reply was impeccably courteous. “Certainly. No trouble at all. Shall I get one of your suitcases from your room?”
    She shook her head. “I’ll probably only be gone overnight. I’ll pick up something in New York if I need it.” She didn’t want to wait for anything. She just wanted to get away before she saw Anthony again, before she had to face something she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to handle. She had to regain a portion of that serene poise Anthony had shattered and soothe the raw nerve endings that her own emotional upheaval had brought to the surface. She tied the belt of her polo coat, picked up her shoulder bag, and hurried out the front door, a puzzled Pete Drissell following close behind.
    * * *
    “Are you going to talk about it?” Jack Kowalt asked quietly as he filled her coffee cup from the carafe the waitress had just set on the red-checked tablecloth. His warm brown eyes were narrowed on her face. “Or am I going to be the polite dinner companion and ignore the fact that you’re upset as hell about something?”
    “You’re supposed to ignore it,” Dany said, forcing a smile. “After all, why spoil your record? You didn’t even bat an eyelash when I showed up on your doorstep and whisked you off to dinner.”
    “I was afraid you’d change your mind.” In the rawboned toughness of his face his crooked grin was boyishly appealing. “It’s not often that I see you display any signs of aggressiveness in our relationship. It’s very restful just to sit back and let a liberated woman make the moves.”
    “Is it?” She wrinkled her nose at him. “You may have to coach me a little in the role. I don’t know much about the liberation movement. I’m afraid I’ve always been too busy to pay much attention to it.”
    “So I understand.”