Someone To Watch Over Her. Margaret Watson

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ again she felt the jolt of attraction. This time it shimmered through her whole body, pooling low in her abdomen until she felt like a violin string quivering with tension.

      “Just realistic,” she managed to say.

      The smile lingered in his eyes as he continued to stare at her. Then slowly the smile faded. “That leaves the other possibility. Money. Would you or your parents be able to pay a ransom?”

      She nodded tightly. It was something her father and mother had feared for years. “Yes. My parents would be able to pay a ransom.”

      “Even a sizable one?”

      “Yes.” Her voice was curt.

      “I’m not going to ask them for one,” he said. “I’m just trying to establish a motive here.” He leaned back and watched her. “So you don’t know anyone named Simon, but your parents could pay a ransom. That must mean that they have a lot of money.” He paused. “Have there ever been kidnap attempts before? On you or anyone else in your family?”

      “Yes.” She looked away. “Someone tried to kidnap my brother years ago.”

      “Did they succeed?”

      “No. He managed to get away. But since then, my father has had very elaborate security for both of us.”

      “Yet someone managed to get through it and grab you.”

      “I told you, one of the kidnappers had worked for my father and had managed to figure out how to get around the security.” She hesitated. “And there isn’t as much security on the island. My family are the only people who live there. We’ve always felt safe on the island.”

      Marcus nodded, his eyes unreadable. “Then we have to assume that you were kidnapped for a ransom. Is that what you think?”

      “Yes. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

      “Do your parents have enemies who might try to hurt them by kidnapping you?”

      “Anything is possible, I suppose,” she said slowly, weighing the possibility. “But I can’t think of anyone.” She looked at Marcus. “A wealthy man always has enemies. But I don’t know of any that would do this.”

      “Do you have any enemies of your own?”

      “No.” The very idea was ludicrous. “I’ve lived a very sheltered life, Mr. Waters. All I’ve done is go to school and study.”

      “My name is Marcus,” he said, his low voice strumming across her nerves. “And it looks like you have some enemies now.”

      “Yes, it does.”

      She was caught in his gaze, held like a deer in the headlights of a car. She couldn’t get away, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to. Her heart stuttered in her chest and sped up, and butterflies danced in her stomach.

      What was happening? She had never felt like this around a man before. The realization that she was attracted to Marcus Waters both thrilled and frightened her. She had no experience with men, let alone a virile, sexy man like Marcus. She had no idea what to do.

      To change the subject, she plucked at the T-shirt she wore. “What happened to my clothes?”

      “They were covered with sand and salt. They would have irritated your skin, so I took them off and gave you a bath.”

      She swallowed, her skin burning beneath the thin shirt. “You gave me a bath?”

      “I couldn’t let you stay in those clothes.”

      She was uncomfortable, knowing that he had seen her naked. Heat flared in his eyes as he watched her, and she knew that he was thinking about the same thing. A flush started at her feet and swept up her body.

      “I’m sorry,” he murmured, but she could see that he wasn’t sorry at all. And suddenly, shockingly, she wasn’t sorry, either. Blood pounded in her head, and desire swept through her veins. “Don’t be,” she whispered. “It’s all right.”

      What was wrong with her? She shuddered, then buried her face in her hands. It must be the shock of what had happened. She had never felt like this before, never ached for a man to kiss her. For God’s sake, he had seen her naked, and rather than being upset, she was thrilled at the thought!

      “It’s all right,” Marcus murmured, and he wrapped his arms around her. “You’re safe now.”

      His tenderness, and the comfort she drew from his embrace, opened up a hidden place in her heart. “I hated being so helpless,” she said fiercely. “I’ve never been helpless in my life.”

      She could feel him smile into her hair. “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” he said.

      She raised her head to look at him. “You’ve probably never felt that way. I’m sure you’re always in control.”

      The smile faded from his face. “You’re wrong,” he said quietly. “That’s how I know how you feel. You’re only in control when you can’t be hurt. And I was hurt once, a long time ago, by someone I loved. I felt just as helpless as you do now. And that’s one of the reasons I didn’t call the police. I wanted you to know that you were in control again.”

      “That’s very thoughtful of you.”

      For a moment she saw need and vulnerability deep in his eyes. Then they hardened. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not a thoughtful person, Jessica.”

      But he was. She had seen the careful way he’d moved around her, trying not to alarm her. She’d noticed how he always left her an escape route. From the moment she’d woken up, he’d tried to set her at ease.

      She shuddered, remembering her fear, and he wrapped his arms around her. He held her gently, but her skin burned where he touched her. Her stomach lurched and her heart jolted in her chest. Instinctively she stiffened against him, but he smoothed his hand down her back and held her more closely.

      “You’re shivering again. It’s all right, Jessica. It’s just the adrenaline. No one can hurt you now.”

      He thinks you’re upset about being kidnapped. She told herself to push away from him, to tell him the truth. She was upset about the way she was reacting to him, a total stranger.

      But he wasn’t a stranger any longer. He had rescued her and taken care of her. He was willing to help her. No, Marcus Waters wasn’t a total stranger.

      And even though she told herself to move away from him, she leaned into his embrace. He stroked her hair and murmured in her ear, and she quivered in his arms. He was trying to comfort her, and she was becoming aroused.

      He would be appalled if he knew, she thought. But just as she told herself to move away, to put some distance between them, she felt the tension in his arms, heard the thundering of his heart against his chest. Was it possible that he was feeling what she felt?

      She raised her head to look at him and was stunned at what she saw in his face. Need, naked and raw, glittered in his eyes. For her. She drew in a sharp breath, unable to look away.

      The СКАЧАТЬ