Free His One Desire by Kate Grey

some of the people from her meeting today, and he
saw with a surge of anger that she was flirting with the guy on her right.
    Some might have thought she was simply talking to him, but
Luke knew better. He might have gone ten years without seeing her but he still
knew Kali better than any woman on the planet. She was flirting deliberately
and a little anxiously, because she hardly ever flirted and she wasn’t sure of
herself.
    And because she wasn’t sure of herself she had no idea that
she was, in fact, doing such a bang-up job that the guy—Eric, he thought—was
staring at her with dog-like devotion. Luke would have felt sorry for him if he
wasn’t so pissed off.
    Apparently walking away from him again and again wasn’t
enough. Kali had now decided to attach herself to some other man as a way to
put distance between them.
    As though she felt the same magnetic pull that he did, her
head turned and she met his eyes. She turned hastily away again, leaning
towards Eric and putting a hand on his knee.
    Luke’s hands clenched into fists. He stood there for a
moment, and then he turned around and walked away.
    He went back to his suite and ordered a steak from room
service, but instead of eating he paced back and forth, his emotions ratcheting
up with every step.
    It was good that he’d left the dining room. That was the
wrong time and place to say to Kali what he needed to say. But after dinner,
the network had reserved one of the patios outside for cocktails. She’d be fair
game then.
    On the dot of nine he was outside, prowling around the patio
like a caged animal. People started to filter through the French doors that
opened out from the dining room, mellow from dinner and ready for drinks.
    There she was. She was still with Eric, her hand on his arm
and her expression more relaxed—probably because he hadn’t been at dinner and
she thought she was safe.
    She was wearing a green silk dress, and Luke was willing to
bet Tom had picked this one out, too. It clung to her slender curves like it
had been made for her, the neckline low enough to show the enticing valley
between her breasts, and when Eric shot a look in that direction something
snapped inside him.
    Eric’s quick glance at Kali’s cleavage wasn’t a monumental
event in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough to push him over the
edge. A primal voice howled that Kali was his, that no other man could look at
her that way.
    He knew his reaction was sexist as hell but he didn’t care.
As Luke strode across the patio towards them, all the tension and frustration
of the last two days coalesced into a fierce rush of carnal intent.
    Kali and Eric were at the bar now, facing away from him. He
put a hand on Kali’s shoulder and she jumped, spinning around to face him.
    “Luke,” she said blankly.
    Eric turned, too. Oblivious to the tension crackling in the
air, he stuck out his hand with a big smile. “That was a great reading today. I
really hope you end up working with us on
Ghosts
. Maria and I were
saying that you really captured the—”
    “Yeah. Do you mind if I borrow Kali for a minute?”
    Eric blinked. “Uh—”
    “Thanks.”
    He circled a hand around Kali’s wrist, and then he was pulling
her after him across the patio and onto the walkway that led to one of the
outdoor pools. The pool area was dark and deserted, and the shed where the
towels were kept would give them all the privacy he needed.

 

Chapter Six
    Kali’s heart was in her throat as Luke pulled her along
after him, his grip on her wrist almost hard enough to hurt.
    All of her consciousness was on that point of contact
between them. There was something there that she wanted. Something that called
to her on a wordless, primitive level.
    He opened the door to a small shed and pulled her inside. As
he kicked the door shut and crowded her back against the shelves, something
happened to her body that she’d never experienced before.
    She felt herself go pliant.
    The shed was