Free Manhattan Millionaire’s Cinderella: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance by Sun Chara Page A

sigh and he stroked her cheek with his fingers. “You can relax,” he murmured, but an underlying seriousness belied his mocking tone. “You’ll be sleeping alone tonight.”
    A moonbeam cast light and shadow on his body…strong, virile, powerful.
    Sexual.
    He was all male, a rare man, this man she married. Nina heard the swish of clothes as he got dressed. She slammed her eyes shut, gulping down disappointment, but it was quickly doused by his harsh words.
    “Get coffee brewing…this won’t take long.” His words clipped, his tone cool. “You’ve got one reprieve” he paused, allowing his eyes to skim over her, “but you’ll make up for it when I get back.” He swept his jacket off the bed, his body rigid, his mouth tight. “And you can quit the sleeping beauty routine.”
    Tension vibrated between them, the connection charged with high wattage emotion.
    “You will deliver,
yeneka mou
, wife.” He bit the word out like it was poison on his tongue. “And you will initiate it.”
    She flinched and drew the covers over her head.
    His chuckle compounded her ire, her impassioned words of denial muffled beneath the bedding.
    “With the brew, my breakfast,
agape mou
.” He strode to the door, the sound of his footsteps echoing back to her. “Make sure the eggs are fresh from the chicken coop, the bacon sliced from the slab in the fridge and the toast from oven-baked bread.” A pause at the door and, “Freshly squeezed orange juice right from the tree.”
    He unlatched the door. “Oh, and don’t forget to make some for yourself.”
    At his parting shot, Nina could no longer curb her tongue. She flung the blanket off her face, bolted upright and clutched the bedcovers over her bosom. “Concern for me?” A brittle laugh, then a break in her voice.
    “I don’t want you fainting” he tossed her a dark look, and his words shot straight into her heart, “doing my laundry, ironing my shirts, shining my boots—”
    “You horrible man.” She punched the pillow with her fist and the motion made the blanket slide, exposing her breasts. Instantly, she yanked it back, a flush suffusing her features, and bit her lip.
    A hiss of sound from his side of the room, then, “—and warming my bed.”
    “Oh, you—” She squeezed the pillow in her hands and took aim.
    He laughed, but the sound held no amusement. “Think you can handle that?”
    She hurled the pillow at him, but by then he’d slipped out the door, and it landed on the wooden planks, plopping to the floor.
    A deafening silence followed his exit, then his chuckle filtered back to her, stoking her indignation and prompting her to action.
    Muttering a string of unsavory adjectives, Nina pounded her hands and feet upon the mattress, venting her anger.
    Five seconds flat.
    The rhythm of her breathing vibrated around her. She flicked her hair from her eyes, tossed the blankets aside and leaped from the bed. In her agitation, she didn’t even feel the cool air smacking her nude body, and marched to the makeshift closet, rifling through her suitcase. She threw on a pair of jeans, aloose fitting blouse and slipped her feet into sandals.
    She stepped to the kitchen shelf, grabbed a rubber band from the dish, and fastened her hair in a ponytail. A glance at her clothes strewn on the floor and the mussed bed, and her pulse skittered. She debated, and then turned away—she’d tidy up later.
    She had to get to him before Cade and his thugs.
    Snatching her purse off the floor, then her hat, she stole out of the door and clicked it shut behind her. Dawn was just breaking, and scents of jasmine laced the air. A deep breath, a burst of sound from her mouth, and she took off at a run.
    “Track her.” Grim-faced, Cade stepped from the shadows, signaled his security and sprinted for the chopper. “I want a report on her every move, action, step.”
    ******
    Nina pounded on the
kafeneon’s
door, her heart lodging in her throat every time she heard a sound.