Read Friends and Lovers Trilogy 03 - Seduced for Free Online Page A

shaft. This separation was killing him. It wasn’t just the lack of sex. It was the lack of intimate time. The cuddling, the talking, the laughing … Living with Rudy for those few months last summer had been the greatest turn-on, emotionally and physically, of his life.
    There was a pause, some disturbing throat-clearing and then, “Not that I’m not up for polishing the rocket, but … ”
    “
Oui
?”
    “ … Houston, we have a problem.”
    Bracing for an anxiety attack—he’d been getting a lot of those lately—he massaged his chest as a flurry of awful scenarios pirouetted in his brain. “You fell off the ladder and broke something,
oui
? Your arm? Your leg? I told you to hire a professional to clean out those roof pipe thingies.”
    “Rain gutters. And I didn’t fall, nor did I need to hire someone to scoop out a bunch of leaves and sticks. Mission accomplished. Ye have little faith in my manly skills.”
    “I have every faith in your manly skills. I will prove it Sunday night when I let you clean
my
pipes.”
    Normally that crude remark would’ve elicited a laugh, or at the very least an equally crude reply. Instead, Rudy sighed. “About your visit … ”
    Jean-Pierre’s heart sank. There would be no phone sex tonight. By the end of this conversation, instead of breathing heavily, he’d be breathing into a paper bag and dialing the emergency number of his analyst. He summoned patience even as his pulse accelerated and his brow beaded with sweat. Even though he was a costume designer, living in LA he’d picked up a few acting skills purely by osmosis. He could get through this conversation without letting on that he was teetering on some sort of emotional breakdown.
    As Rudy yammered on about faulty wiring or such nonsense, Jean-Pierre started wondering about his own internal wiring. Maybe Dr. Mitchell was right. Maybe it was time to move on. His obsession with Bunny was compromising his happiness.
    Forcing a calm, “But of course, I understand,” past the lump in his throat, he leaned forward and snatched the tissue box from the coffee table. In doing so, his teary gaze fell upon a quote he’d scribbled down recently from an unknown source.
The best relationship is the one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other
.
    Ah, oui
, he thought as Rudy essentially blew him off,
time to move on
.

CHAPTER SIX
    Scottsdale, Arizona
    P laces
!
Camera
!
    An explosion popped in Sofia’s head. She bolted upright, a scream lodged in her throat.
    Action
!
    Disoriented, she scrambled to her feet. Something had hold of her ankles. She kicked out, lost her balance, and went down hard. She laid there for a second, trying to catch her breath, her bearings. Her heart and head pounded in sickening tandem.
    She heard a graphic curse, forced open her heavy lids, just as two hands reached for her. “No!” She grabbed, pulled, kicked, and flipped. He too landed with a thud.
    Before she could peel her leaden body from the floor, he recouped and pinned her down. Skin on skin. Hard muscles. Slick. Wet.
Blood
. She thrashed for her life.
    “Sofia, it’s me. Calm down.” He palmed her forehead. “You’re safe.”
    His deep, commanding voice registered, her vision cleared.
Joe
. A very naked Joe, but Joe. And, thank you Jesus, the wetness was water, not blood. Her heart hammered, and she had to remind herself to breathe as she struggled to collect her thoughts. “You’re soaked.” It was a stupid thing to say, but better than
your semi-hard dick is pressed against my stomach
.
    “I was getting out of the shower when I heard you fall.”
    “That explains why
you’re
naked. What’s my excuse?” Her voice sounded scratchy and a full octave lower than usual. Was she coming down with a cold? What the hell was that god-awful taste in her mouth?
    “You’re not naked. You’re wearing underwear.” He flashed a coy smile. “If that’s what you want to call those matching wisps of satin.”
    Her