Read Jaq’s Harp for Free Online

say.”
    “If I want to.” She gave him her lopsided grin and opened the door a crack. “All clear.”
    He jerked his hands back from where he’d nearly swatted her ass and followed her out the door.
    The familiar click of heels came down the hall.
    They were going to get caught. If she found out what he was really doing here, Madame Ochre would string him up by the balls.

Chapter Three
    Ignoring the antique furnishings, expensive paintings, and gilded accents in the grandiose hallway, and ignoring her bitter anger over Merry’s illness, Jaq gripped Harp’s hand and darted into the stairwell. She hoped her question came out in a whisper but couldn’t tell as her pulse pounded in her ears. “Do you think she saw us?”
    “She’s probably coming to see what’s taking me so long. But she stopped to talk to someone at the end of the hall.”
    For a second, Jaq let herself drink in the sight of Harp. Lean, muscular build snug in his jeans, black tousled hair, dark brown eyes that softened when he looked at her. Wanting to touch every sharp plane and angle of his face, she ignored the urge and turned from him to peer back the way they’d come.
    Down the hall, the sun shone brightly, more vivid and warm than she’d ever seen. The rich and expensive carpet ran down the hallway, exhibiting more wealth here in the servants’ wing than in any lander’s home. Even his room had been nearly as large as her apartment and, though sparsely furnished, the expensive woods had screamed wealth. His sheets had been luxurious and looked as if they’d be soft to the touch, but he’d been hard, masculine, heartbreaking, as he’d leaned on his bed with that dangerous glint in his eyes.
    His warm breath tickled against her ear, and she leaned into him for a second. His nearness brought it all back. As if he’d never left, they clicked. His mere presence made her more complete, powerful, as though she could do anything from making him beg for her touch to climbing into the sky.
    But she had climbed into the sky. On her own. Even if she’d been out of sorts and not quite whole for the past year, she didn’t need him.
    She stole up the steps. He’d follow.
    The wide foam-covered treads muffled their steps. The circular walled-in staircase rose up and up, windows letting in the light. On each landing, a pot full of bamboo decorated the otherwise utilitarian stairwell. She didn’t dare look out, or down toward the ground. They didn’t talk until they’d gained a level. The door to the stairs beneath never opened.
    “If she saw me, we’ll have company soon. She’ll want to know why the guy who’s supposed to be singing in the dining room is running off into the stairwell with a girl.”
    “And you say you haven’t been sneaking off with girls?” She nearly missed the next step as she kept plodding on.
    “Nothing. No action in months,” he groused, but she ignored him.
    She hadn’t gotten any either but she couldn’t quite believe a man as virile, as responsive to women as Harp, wouldn’t have gotten a piece of tail now and then.
    Following rumors of a girl who knew several languages, he’d found her on the streets and rescued her from despair by offering her a place at Mother. Only five years older, he’d seemed so much more experienced but kept his distance for a few years. Later, when she’d matured as a woman and an agent, they became friends and he made her whole, shared himself with her—body, emotions, and all. He was her first live-in lover, the first man she’d ever really wanted, and he’d been quite adept at making her crave him to pieces.
    Then he’d ripped her heart right out of her body without warning. No fucking warning. Things had been perfect. Too perfect. He just woke up one morning, rolled out of their bed, and said goodbye. Off to deep cover, baby. It’s been real.
    She’d had a few disastrous dates since him. That she’d not been able to get hot and bothered was all Harp’s fault. She’d