Read One Night With the Billionaire (Men of the Zodiac) for Free Online Page B

move.”
    “I…can’t.”
    She caught the barest hint of a grin a moment before his lips grazed hers. The pressure wasn’t enough, and when he released her, he left her shaky and aching and needing the heat he’d taken with him.
    Not unlike she’d done to him moments before.
    “I’m sorry,” she said. “My life has been turned upside down, and I’m just so used to everything being under control and this…this is just…”
    “Not under control.” The words came out all sin and sex, and despite their brevity, they managed to completely change her perspective on what it meant to be out of control.
    On how good it could be for him to take her there.
    It didn’t matter that there hadn’t been anything between them—he was deliciously familiar, and there wasn’t a synapse in her body that didn’t recognize that. She had no idea if he used the same lines on every other woman he met, but it didn’t matter. Lines or not, they worked. He made her feel good, and she hadn’t even realized how much intimacy was missing from her career-driven life until his sensual mouth formed those dirty words. With a single whispered seduction, he’d wrecked her.
    “I haven’t dug into what brought you here,” he said, “and I won’t. That’s not my business. But I will say that somewhere along the line, someone forgot to treat you like a woman. Someone forgot you were a fucking goddess.” He paused. Touched her chin. “ You forgot, didn’t you?”
    “I…I don’t think I ever knew that.” Her? A goddess? She’d laugh, but there was nothing funny about the way this man looked at her.
    Like no man before him. But he’d made it clear earlier that he didn’t do relationships, so she’d be a goddess for one night or maybe a handful, and then a castoff, likely. And given the out-of-control feelings she was experiencing now, one night might not be enough for her. Which would be adding a whole new level of humiliation to the national humiliation she’d come to Latitude 13 to escape. No, thanks.
    “Listen to me, Zoe. You’re beautiful, and you deserve more than whatever he did to you. You deserve to be treasured. Don’t you ever give yourself to another man who doesn’t damn well know it.”
    She could only stare, stunned. How could he think so much of her? Every other man in her life seemed to think of her as a commodity of some sort, and here he was, Prince Charming without a horse. Saying all the right things, igniting all the right desires. She couldn’t imagine the practice he must have had getting women into bed, but even with that knowledge, she couldn’t make herself feel like one of the masses. He’d gotten through to her. Made her feel like he really thought she was special, and it felt so good, she didn’t care whether or not he was sincere.
    He took a step away and pushed his hand through his hair. “I guess I should have offered you a drink a long time ago. Will ice water do for now? Or tea?”
    Relief sluiced through her with the distance he adopted. Ryder’s intensity surprised her, more so that it seemed to exist on her behalf. But as hard as that cloud of unexpected emotion swirled, it did nothing to dull her attraction for him. And attraction was an understatement. The man had her vibrating on a new frequency, and whether it was him or the setting or the fact that her life had gone to hell, all she could think about was riding him like a cowgirl on a wild bull.
    “Water would be great,” she croaked. Water and a side of him. Was this what rebounding was? She hadn’t been down this road before, and while her ex wasn’t anything to miss, when the scandal broke, she did miss her boring, normal life. Or she thought she had. A few coarsely whispered words from Ryder had her at a loss for breath. What would it be like for him to touch her? For those hands she’d once coveted to possess her?
    “I’ll get the water,” he said. “And a tablet for you to use, and I’ll meet you back in the guest