Read Make Me Tremble for Free Online

might any of the other luxurious playthings that are scattered around me?”
    She started slightly. She hadn’t expected him to say that. The realization also struck her that by “playthings” he might have been making a veiled reference to his other lovers. She laughed and set down her glass of wine.
    “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”
    “Would you like me to go easier on you?”
    “No,” she said, shaking her head. Her smile faded. “Of course I’m wondering about it. I don’t really know how the mind of a brilliant, billionaire software magnate works.”
    “Neither do I. Is there a handbook?”
    “I’m just trying to figure you out, Jacob. Is that so terrible? You
have
asked me to sleep with you.”
    He picked up his wineglass and took a sip, seemingly unaffected by her wryness. His gaze became hooded as he stared out at the sparkling water.
    “What’s wrong?” she wondered, sensing his withdrawal. Had he changed his mind about what he’d offered last night? That he would help her forget her loss . . . for a little while, anyway. Now, as she wondered if he’d changed his mind, she suddenly was confident about her own decision.
    He was rare. Different. Maybe she was acting out or behaving impulsively in the past year. Maybe she was just running away from the sense of meaninglessness and loss that had filled her life. But she experienced the opposite of loneliness and frustrated anger when she was with him.
    She felt excitement and connection.
    He was worth the risk.
    “Nothing’s wrong,” he said, setting down his wineglass. “Have you decided, Harper?”
    “I think so,” she said. She held his stare and nodded once firmly. A muscle twitched in his cheek.
    “I think you should tell me more precisely exactly what it is you’re afraid of,” he said.
    She hesitated, but then thought,
What the hell.
He asked, didn’t he?
    “I have a history of getting involved with men like you, and regretting it.”
    He leaned back in his chair.
    “Men like me?”
    “Powerful. Accomplished. Full of themselves.”
    His brows went up. “That’s what you think of me?”
    “No. Which has me a little confused, to be honest. I mean . . . you’re obviously powerful and accomplished.”
    “It’s just the
full of himself
part that you’re unsure about?” She was glad to see his small smile. He hadn’t been offended by her admission.
    “You’re confident. But that’s not the same thing, is it?”
    “Why do you suppose that is?”
    “What? Why are you confident?” she asked, confused.
    “No. Why do you suppose you’re drawn to powerful men?” He put air quotes around the word
powerful
.
    “I don’t know,” she admitted quietly. “I wish I wasn’t, to be honest. I was trying to reform my ways. And . . . then you walked up to me on that beach . . .”
    He stood and reached for her hand, taking her off guard. She stood alongside him, her breath locked in her lungs.
    “It’s a sexual thing. Your preference in men.”
    She inhaled shakily at his typical conciseness. “I guess. Yes But it’s
only
a sexual thing. I don’t want to be run roughshod over or patronized or discounted outside the bedroom.”
    “No one should be running roughshod over you or discounting you
in
the bedroom, either,” he said, his mouth going hard. “That’s not what your preference signifies.”
    She could only stare up at him, mute. She wasn’t so sure she understood what he meant, but she was curious . . . no,
hungry
to know.
    “And about what you said earlier: I don’t think it’s unusual that you want to know me,” he said, reaching up to cradle her jaw with both hands. He leaned down and brushed his mouth over hers. She inhaled his scent. Her body flickered in excitement. He’d held her that way last night, too, both hands cupping her face. It made her feel special, somehow. Cherished.
Hot
. “It’s just that I have a feeling you
will
know me,” he continued, his voice a deep, rich