Read All That He Desires (The Billionaire's Seduction Part 2) for Free Online Page A

occur in the presence of air that unlock the flavors. The decanter helps do that.”
    “Aren’t you just a font of information,” I cooed. “I had no idea you were such a connoisseur.”
    “I am.” He smiled and locked his gaze deep into mine. “And I’m all about savoring the experience.”
    Heat fluttered in my belly, and I held my breath. Which wasn’t much of a comeback, I’ll grant you.
    He ripped open the cellophane package, pulled out the Jokers, and tossed them aside.
    “No wild cards?”
    I had kind of been hoping they would help me out.
    He rolled his eyes. “No. No training wheels.”
    I pretended to pout as he shuffled the cards, but then I got mesmerized by his hands sorting the cards. They were so fast, and so capable… so large and powerful…
    He slid the deck over to me. “Cut?”
    “Uh… what?”
    “Cut the deck? Unless you’re not worried that I’m a card shark.”
    I took a third of the cards off the top and replaced them on the bottom. “No, I’m not. And it’s technically a card sharp. ”
    “Ooooh… aren’t you a font of information,” he said mockingly.
    I pushed the cards across the table. “Deal.”
    The first hand ended quickly: I won with two pair, aces and nines.
    He looked at me expectantly as he shuffled the cards again. “So… what will it be? Question or clothing?”
    I looked at his firm chest peaking out beneath the ‘v’ of his unbuttoned shirt, and my mouth started to water… but I wanted to know a few things first.
    Plus, I figured, his shirt’s coming off sooner or later anyway.
    “Question.”
    “Okay… just be sure that whatever you ask, you can handle the answer,” he cautioned me with a friendly smile.
    For some reason, that filled me with a little dread. But I pushed on anyway.
    “Why is Johnny so concerned about your safety?”
    “He’s my bodyguard.” He grinned. “ That was easy.”
    “That’s no answer,” I snapped. “You promised you’d give me the truth.”
    “I did,” he insisted.
    When I continued to glower at him, he relented. “There have been some attempts on me in the past.”
    My eyes bugged out. “‘Attempts’? What kind of ‘attempts’?”
    “Mostly kidnapping,” he said casually as he dealt out the next hand.
    I beckoned with my fingers like, SPILL it.
    He tilted his head back so it rested on his chair, then sighed and stared at the ceiling. “I thought you were going to ask things like, ‘How many women have you slept with?’”
    “I’m not sure I could handle that answer.”
    He grinned, which seemed to break his suddenly dark mood, and looked back down at the cards. But not at me, I noticed.
    Then the grin went away and his voice dipped lower as he answered.
    “My father was kidnapped five years ago in Mexico. I was the one who went to the ransom meeting, not sure if I was going to get killed or kidnapped, and worried sick the entire time that I’d never see him alive again. Even though I hate the old bastard.”
    A chill went up and down my spine as he spoke. I hadn’t prepared myself for this.
    I don’t think he had, either.
    “Is he… is he okay?” I whispered.
    Connor looked up with a bemused expression. “He’s fine. Still a total asshole, still making everyone around him miserable. Shortly after that incident, I hired Johnny. He’s never left my side since.”
    He paused for a second.
    “Sometimes I forget why I hired him… like tonight.” He tapped the table and muttered, almost to himself, “Sometimes it’s good to remember.”
    Then he gave a wry smile and picked up his cards. “Prepare to get naked.”
    9
     
    As it turned out, I won the next hand, too. Three jacks.
    “Damn it,” he swore, throwing down his cards.
    “You know what that means,” I said.
    “Clothing, right?” he asked in a fake hopeful voice.
    I shook my head ‘no.’
    He breathed out heavily, then smirked. “Well, I guess I used up all my luck earlier tonight when I got lucky.”
    When I got lucky.
    Holy