Free Fire and Desire (Arabesque) by Brenda Jackson Page A

Tell me, how’s Trevor Grant?”
    Corinthians laughed as she stretched out on the bed. “Trevor Grant is doing fine, I guess.”
    “Did you see him today?”
    “Yes, we attended the same dinner party tonight.”
    “Umm. And you’re alone now?”
    Corinthians raised a brow. “Yes, why?”
    “Then I bet the brother isn’t doing fine. I bet he’s taking a cold shower about now.”
    Corinthians smiled at Brenna’s assumption. She could actually hear the shower running in Trevor’s room. But that didn’t necessarily mean the shower he was taking was a cold one. “All right, Brenna, let up, girl. Pull back.”
    “If you insist. But if I were you I wouldn’t let him get away, Corinth. Good men are hard to find.”
    Corinthians chuckled when she remembered something Trevor had said yesterday. “I bet I know where a few of them are.”
    “Really? Where?” Brenna asked, more than mildly curious.
    Corinthians scooted over in the bed to the side closest to the wall. Trevor’s shower, she noted, was going full blast. “In the Marines.”
     
    Nothing like a cold shower to cool a man off, Trevor thought as he dried off his wet body before placing a towel around his waist. There was only so much temptation that a sane man could take. And tonight he had nearly reached his limit. His lips twisted into a smile as he made his way out of the bathroom. Tonight Corinthians had been all grace, finesse and elegance. It hadn’t been the flowing gown that covered, yet tantalized every curve of her body. Nor had it been the way she’d had her hair fixed atop her head in a bevy of curls that crowned her features with innocence. To his way of thinking, it had been the way she had carried herself, so vibrantly alive yet the carefully controlled, dignified and proper lady.
    The envious looks he’d receive from numerous men had stunned him with the knowledge of just what he hadn’t realized until tonight. There were two sides to Corinthians Avery. One was the wanton seductress, who had appeared half-naked in his hotel room that night, and the other was the prim-and-proper Ms. Avery. He couldn’t help but wonder which Corinthians Avery he liked best. He then decided he liked them both. And deep down he knew he wanted them both.
    Trevor bit back a groan when thoughts of having her sent blood rushing through his veins. When he had walked her to her room, it had taken all the control he could conjure from years of military training not to take her into his arms for a repeat of last night. He couldn’t run the risk of tasting then devouring the sweetness of her mouth again, without being tempted to taste the rest of her.
    He leaned back against the wall to get his bearings. This kind of sensual attraction was a first for him. Never had he been so captivated with a woman. And if that didn’t beat all, this magnetic pull had lasted nearly two years. Even knowing that she was in love with another man—a man who happened to be his best friend—hadn’t stopped him from desiring her, hungering after her. And that realization cut him to the core.
    Reaching down, he picked up his overnight bag and began filling it with the things he needed for his overnight stay in Buzios. The only reason he had accepted Thetas’s invitation was because the look Corinthians had given him had dared him to. He shrugged. He was a sucker for a dare, especially one from Corinthians.

Chapter 7
     
    S omeone was in her room.
    That thought suddenly registered in Corinthians’s groggy mind and she came awake instantly. She sat up in bed and frantically glanced around the room. It was dark and she couldn’t see a thing. Fear knotted inside of her. She pushed aside the covers and was about to ease out of bed when someone pulled her up from behind. A large, rough hand covered her mouth, effectively silencing the scream she was about to make.
    “Don’t make a sound. We have to get out of here. Now.”
    Trevor’s deep voice cut through Corinthians’s near