Black Jack by Lora Leigh Page A

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    open, then started the car and pulled out.
    Her mother would go ballistic. No doubt Desmond had someone following her. The fact
    that he did so bothered her. There was something different about the way she felt about him
    now versus her feelings for him in the past.
    He had been her beloved uncle. He had spoiled her all her life, but there was a distrust now
    that she couldn’t seem to shake.
    Actually, she seemed to distrust most people now.
    She drove to the house Travis had taken her to the night before.
    She was hurting. She felt as though her insides were being shredded by that report. As
    though her soul were cringing in shame.
    He was the last person she should run to . . .
    But she needed the sense of security she had felt in his arms the night before. She needed
    the mindless pleasure, a few stolen moments to forget that whatever or whoever she had been
    for six years, that others had seen her as a whore.
    Clenching her teeth, she turned into the driveway and pulled the car to a stop. As she turned
    off the ignition, she wasn’t surprised to see Nik as he opened the front door and stepped onto
    the wide stone porch.
    Long white-blond hair was pulled back from his imposing features. Icy blue eyes stared at
    her as a small smile tipped his lips. He just didn’t seem to be a man she would sleep with.
    Familiarity gleamed in his eyes, though, as well as in his expression.
    Tightening her fingers around her purse, she moved up the short walk to the house and
    stepped onto the porch.
    “Is he here?” she asked, her brow arching inquisitively.
    “He’s been waiting for you for several hours.” Nik nodded. “I’m surprised you escaped
    your uncle so easily, though.”
    Lilly shrugged at the comment. “I didn’t try to escape, I merely walked out.”
    And strangely, no one had seemed to notice. That was odd in and of itself. Since her return,
    her mother had been waiting for her each morning when she came from her room. Some
    mornings, she’d actually brought her breakfast in bed. This morning, though, the house had
    seemed deserted.
    “Come on in, Lilly.” Nik stepped back, his large, muscular body shifting with animal-like
    grace as she stepped past him.
    The front room he led her through was the modern, upscale room she had met Desmond in
    the night before. Beyond that was another living room, just as cold and uninviting. The short
    hall was warmer, with honey-toned wood floors and tall windows on one end. Turning into
    another room, Lilly was pleased to see the décor change. This was an area she hadn’t seen the
    night before.
    This room was carpeted in a rich dark honey brown, the walls were a soft pale green, the
    cherry furniture was polished to a warm hue with large cushiony chairs, a sofa and a couch,
    arranged beneath a skylight.
    “Nice,” she commented when Travis rose from the couch to greet her.
    He was dressed in jeans and a loose white shirt. His feet were bare, his demeanor relaxed
    though he seemed tired. He seemed more approachable than he had the night before, and he
    had been very damned approachable then.
    She tossed her purse on a table as she passed by it, strode across the room, and, much to her
    own surprise, moved to him, lifted herself against him, and sealed her lips to his.
    It was like a narcotic she had to have.
    Immediately his arms went around her, his head tilting, his lips slanting over hers, as
    sensual, sexual need began to consume her.
    She could stop, she assured herself though a part of her knew better. He truly wasn’t vital to
    her. But she didn’t want to stop. She was suddenly starved for the taste of him, the touch of
    him. She didn’t feel as though a part of her had been ripped from her very being when she
    was in his arms. She somehow felt complete, which made very little sense if even half the
    report she had read the night before was correct.
    At that moment the report was the farthest thing from her mind. This wasn’t a business
    deal. His kiss,