Free Hard Core (Onyx Group) by Jennifer Lowery Page B

She’d been attracted to other men, but
never like this. Not to the point she ached. Like right now, and he wasn’t even
alert to take the blame.
    Traitor. Alana ignored the voice in her head and drew
the cloth over his muscled shoulder, then down his arm. On impulse she let her
fingers brush his heated skin, hot beneath her touch. Taut and smooth over hard
muscle. Except for the scars and scrapes from his beating. Which only served as
a reminder of who he worked for.
    Properly chastised, she dropped the cloth into the bowl and
rose to her feet. She would never know this man beyond here. Soon he would be
gone.
    She turned away and began to clean up the mess inside her
hut, Cristian pushed firmly out of her mind along with her hopes and dreams.
    * * * *
    Slade opened his eyes and looked around. Wood hut. Thatched
roof. Bare essentials. Right back where he started. How he’d gotten here, he
didn’t know. The last thing he remembered was tying the pretty young doctor to
her chair while she cried in her sleep. He didn’t want to remember that.
    He didn’t want to care.
    Now, how the hell did he get out of here and finish the job
he’d been sent to do?
    Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the hut, warming it
like a sauna. The humidity was unbearable. It dampened the sheets and made
breathing hard. God, he wanted off this godforsaken island.
    The good news, he felt stronger. Fatigued, sore, but not so
weak. He tossed back the sheets and swung his legs to the floor. At least he
had his pants this time. And his boots. No shirt. Vaguely, he remembered it
being cut off him when he first arrived. By the same red-haired doctor who’d
haunted his dreams the past few nights. Real or hallucination, she’d never left
his side.
    She’d also stuck him with a needle. He couldn’t trust her.
And she had probably already sent word to Ross that he was here. He didn’t care
if Ross showed up. It only made his job easier, but he wouldn’t involve the
doctor in his mission. Not even as collateral damage. He didn’t work that way.
    The sooner he got back to the task, the sooner he’d be able
to leave this place. First, he needed to get back to his camp and arm himself.
His base was well hidden, so he didn’t worry about Ross’s men finding it.
    With a grimace he pulled his boots on, did a quick search for
the homemade knife he’d found last time, came up empty and moved toward the
door. He could hear people moving around outside, children playing, women
talking. The wooden walls of the hut were paper thin, full of gaps and easily
penetrable.
    He wasn’t worried about being seen--he had been trained to
move undetected. With little to no sound, he opened the door and stopped short.
A slender woman sat on the stoop. Soft green eyes turned up to meet his, her
long ponytail swung over her shoulder. His gut tightened.
    Dammit, she was one enticing woman. A beautiful threat.
    “Caught ya,” she said, fully aware she blocked the doorway.
As was her intention, he guessed with a scowl.
    She rose to her feet and faced him. Her gaze dropped to his
boots. “Decided to wear those this time, huh?”
    Laughable, that she thought she could stop him. She had
mettle, he’d give her that.
    “I haven’t given you a clean bill of health.” She placed a
hand on his chest and gave him a nudge. He didn’t move.
    Her eyes narrowed and her jaw set in a stubborn line. She
was clearly in this for the long haul.
    “Look, mister, you aren’t going anywhere until I clear you.
What you do after that is your business. Until then, you belong to me.”
    Slade’s heart pounded. You belong to me. Why did
those words affect him? He belonged to no one.Her hand burned like fire
against his skin. He looked down to where it rested over his heart, small and
delicate against the muscles of his chest. Her skin was soft, her fingers long,
slender, feminine.
    An image of her bathing, naked except for bra and panties,
threw him where he didn’t want to go. Not many