Mastered(13)

She glanced around, trying to find the source of the voice. She turned back to Maddox because suddenly Maddox didn’t seem to be so bad. And Maddox had been nice to her. Well, except for the kidnapping and not-allowing-her-to-leave part.

But Maddox had melted away, the elevator door already closing, leaving her alone with whoever the mysterious Mr. Donovan was.

Shit, shit, shit.

Realization struck her that she’d just jumped from the frying pan into the fire and there was no one to save her this time.





Evangeline glanced nervously around the room, shivering as a feeling of power surrounded her. She could swear she smelled the man, and it was intoxicating.

“Um, Mr. Donovan?”

Once again she glanced anxiously, trying to pinpoint his location.

And then she saw him. He stepped from the shadows of the far corner of the room, and her eyes widened in surprise and in pure female appreciation. Whoa. Now she got it. She understood the rules and who they were inspired by. If Mr. Donovan ran Impulse, it certainly made sense that someone as beautiful as him would surround himself by equally beautiful people.

She stared in fascination as he regarded her intently, his dark eyes raking over her, making her feel suddenly exposed and extremely vulnerable. She swallowed hard because she could swear she saw a flash of interest in his arresting liquid brown eyes. Maybe Eddie had hit her because clearly she was out of her mind. But it was a nice fantasy.

He wore his hair short, and he had a polished, sophisticated look that screamed wealth and power. His features were sharply defined, with a hard set to his jaw. He had a broad, muscled chest and shoulders, and was a lot taller than she was. She’d have to stand on tiptoe just to reach his chin!

Her gaze was drawn to his mouth. Over and over again, she came back. After checking out a different feature, her gaze flitted back to the hard line of his mouth, and she felt all tingly imagining what his mouth would feel like on her skin.

Heat scorched over her body followed swiftly by mortification for even entertaining such ludicrous thoughts. As if a man like him would even give her the time of day.

Then suddenly he strode forward, a determined, pissed-off look on his face, and she braced for the inevitable confrontation.

To her complete shock, he gently grasped the arm that Eddie had bruised, and turned it so he could inspect the extent of her injury. Fury blazed in his eyes, but he didn’t let go of her arm, though his hold was infinitely tender.

Chill bumps erupted and raced across the arm he was touching, and a peculiar sensation welled in the pit of her stomach. Her vagina clenched and her nipples tingled, suddenly hypersensitive, and became rigid points. She had the urge to cross her arms over her breasts because she was sure he could see the imprint of the puckered ridges through the thin material of her dress.#p#分页标题#e#

What the hell was happening here? Had she entered an alternate reality? This was so not her. She didn’t spaz and become a walking hormone around a man—any man. She didn’t have time for men, and the one time she’d made the time . . . well, it was obvious what that got her.

And suddenly the beast was unleashed, and she tried to take a hasty step back, but his firm yet gentle grip on her arm prevented her from doing so.

“What the hell were you thinking coming into a place like this?” he demanded, fury lacing his every word.

She immediately dropped her gaze, shame and mortification seizing her in a grip that rivaled Eddie’s earlier assault on her arm.

“I know I don’t belong,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “I know I’m not good enough to be in a place like this. Where only beautiful and rich people come.”

Her voice grew more resigned and subdued with every word. She could barely speak for the humiliation knotting her throat.

“I’ll just go now. I’m sorry I was a bother. I caused a . . . scene. I won’t be back. I promise. You won’t ever have to worry about me showing up here—or anywhere—again.”

She tensed in his hold, fully expecting him to let go and let her walk out. When his grasp remained intact, panic kicked in and she looked frantically up at him, blanching at the rage in his eyes.

“Please. Let me go. I swear to you I’ll never come back.”

His expression was carved in stone, that hard jaw she’d observed earlier much more noticeable now.

“Then why did you come?” he asked bluntly, making her cringe at his crassness.

Was he really going to make her spell it out to him? Give him a play-by-play of her lack of worthiness to grace the premises of his club? And damn her propensity for always blurting out the truth, no matter how painful. It was a flaw she would be thrilled to be rid of. But no. Before she was even cognizant of what she was saying, the whole ugly story came pouring out.