Melody Anne - Scorched

Her fury intensified as she watched the small flex of his jaw. How dare he be angry with her! He was the one throwing out nonsensical statements and then expecting her to drop to her knees before him.

Wasn’t going to happen.

“You’re not my king, Adriane. You seem to keep forgetting that. I am an American and an Italian. I don’t follow you, or owe you my respect. Only a man who treats his woman with love and kindness deserves my loyalty. The only thing you will earn from me is pity for the emptiness your life is bound to be filled with, considering you have to force your subjects to honor you,” she told him, wanting to anger him to the point he would storm from the room.

As his face tensed and his dark eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, Rachel wondered whether she had pushed him too far. How well did she really know this man? She couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t send her to the dungeon to be tortured. Was that still done nowadays? If it was, she didn’t want to be the one to find out.

“If you simply succumbed into the obvious lust between us, I would have a pleasant night, but then there would be nothing to look forward to. However, Rachel, be very careful when you push me. I have my limits, and you seem to have a way of reaching them in record time.”

“If you don’t like what I have to say, you know where the door is. Please, be my guest, and feel free to use it. Maybe you can find another room in this giant castle where you are far more welcome,” she replied, not afraid of him or his little speech.

“Maybe I should do that. Would it bother you, Rachel? Would the thought of me in the arms of another woman make you jealous?”

His taunt hit its mark. Rage flew through her. She shouldn’t care — she should be relieved if he chose someone else, but the vision of him lying entwined with another woman as her own belly grew larger with his baby made her want to puke.

That angered her even more.

She closed the gap between them and lifted her hand, intent on striking him, so mad that she wasn’t even thinking of the consequences.

He effortlessly grasped her wrist in his large hand, his hold strong but not punishing.

“We are going to go up in flames when we come together,” he promised as he held her gaze captive and then looked pointedly toward the bed. He was breathing heavily.

“We are not having sex again, Adriane!”

A smile softened the tenseness in his jaw, and his eyes captured hers again and refused to release them. “That’s where you’re wrong, my future queen. We will be having sex — plenty of it. And I’m not a patient man, so be warned.”

A shudder traveled down Rachel’s spine at the pure hunger his statement caused, a hunger that had nothing to do with the rapidly cooling meal she’d abandoned.

Then, as if he hadn’t just been stalking her with his words and eyes, he smiled, his anger seeming to evaporate as quickly as it had appeared. He released her and took a step back. She took in several deep breaths.

This was just another reason to curse the man.

Yes, he tempted her, made her think of the nights she’d spent with him, but she also knew that to do that again would be a mistake — a mistake she wouldn’t be able to take back.

If Rachel slept with him now, he’d assume he’d won, and he’d never let her get away from him. No. It would be much better for her to resist him, to irritate him, even. Then, if she did it right, he wouldn’t be able to get rid of her fast enough.

There was a good plan. Tick the man off so badly that he purged her from his life.

As Rachel looked up into his eyes, a wide grin split her face, making Adriane look back with suspicion.

“What’s going on in that mind of yours now?” he asked.

“I was just thinking it was truly time for the games to begin,” she said, enjoying the worry in his eyes. “Batter up!” Laughter spilled from her. And with that, she took her seat.

“It’s time for bed, Rachel.”

Oh, my, can he speak, Rachel thought.

He’d uttered just a few simple words, and she was ready to melt into a puddle at his feet. She wouldn’t do it, though. She had her pride and she was determined to keep it. Heck, what else did she have at the moment, now that her basic freedoms had been taken away?

But still, his voice was a killer.

“Yes, Adriane, I agree,” she said, sending him a seductive glance, enjoying the leaping flames in his coal-black eyes. “So you should probably leave now,” she finished.

Her little pause — her game — was worth it: she watched his face turn to stone.

Slowly, he rose from the chair, not taking his eyes off hers. Even if she were capable of moving, which at that moment she wasn’t, she was trembling too intensely to try to escape his prowling.

“Why fight the inevitable? We both know what’s going to happen. You may be telling me no with your words, but your body is certainly saying yes,” he whispered as he reached her side and circled his arms around her, pulling her up against him.

A shudder passed through her as she tilted her head to look into his eyes. “Obviously, you’ve never taken a self-defense class, Adriane. No means no,” she told him, proud of herself for not yielding to his embrace.

“Mmm, maybe we’ll have to go to one of those together.” He bent down and ran his lips across hers in a seductive caress. “There’s more than one way to seduce a woman, Rachel,” he said, his tone filled with promise.

The satin material of her robe caressed her aching nipples, and heat pooled in her core. It would be so easy to succumb, so easy to let him lead her to the bed right behind them. He’d set the scene well, and she felt herself falling for his charms.

The man was…powerful.

His hands smoothed along her back, catching the end of the short robe on his way up her rounded backside, forcing a whimper from her throat before she was able to stop it. She was already pregnant. What was the worst that could happen if she spent a night in his arms?

Maybe it was just meant to be. Maybe this was the way their night was supposed to end.

As he leaned down and his mouth took hers, Rachel couldn’t seem to pull back, couldn’t seem to convince her muscles to react. She was melting, and it was even better than she remembered.

His hands stroked her barely covered skin while his mouth devoured hers, dancing along her lips before plunging inside and conquering her tongue.

Only Adriane had ever inspired this pure ecstasy that coursed through her. Why did women ever need drugs? All they needed was a man like Adriane to fly higher than they’d ever been before. When he moved his head down and sucked on the skin of her neck, she was turned on, tuned in, and dropping fast.

She knew she should be saying no, but she couldn’t bring her voice to work.

Need.

Pure, unadulterated, hungry need boiled within, and the worst part was that the guilt was dissolving, leaving her as surely as his touch was filling her.

As he pushed his hips against her and she felt the evidence of his desire, she whimpered again, knowing how good his arousal felt inside of her. Just one night, she begged her conscience, one night to feel this pleasure again.

As his fingers skimmed up her sides, then slid slowly down her neck and entered the gap in her robe, her breasts seemed to grow even fuller, and she arched toward him, wanting their weight cupped in his palms.

“You are more perfect now than you were a few months ago,” he whispered, need dripping from each word. “And you were perfect then.”

She was so hot, so wet where she ached to have him most. He was good, the ultimate seducer.

When his fingers found her bare nipples, her body jerked against his. He squeezed the sensitive flesh with just the right amount of pressure, and her knees went weak as she leaned back, wanting his mouth to follow his skillful hands.

Dropping to his knees before her, he untied the sash and held her robe open. “I have big plans for you tonight, Rachel,” he promised before leaning forward and running his hot tongue along her stomach.

As much as she was turned to mush, the action seemed to wake her up. As she looked at the top of his dark head while he kissed the place where their baby lay safely, reality rushed to the forefront.

Who was she and why was she allowing this to happen?

This man had gotten her pregnant, then had her followed, then kidnapped her right before her brother and best friend’s wedding. She’d repeatedly told him she wouldn’t make love to him, wouldn’t sleep with him again, and then at the slightest of touches, she was falling all over herself to climb into his bed.

No!

With a strength she didn’t know she possessed, Rachel lifted her foot and pushed him back, catching him off guard. He fell backward, landing hard on his delectable ass. Then she stepped back, grabbing her robe and closing it, tying the sash with a vicious tug in a double knot that was sure to stay together.

“Rachel?” he asked, looking more perplexed than angry.

“No, Adriane. No. No. No. I told you this wasn’t happening, and I meant it!”

“I don’t understand,” he said as he slowly rose to his feet. “You weren’t acting so put out fifteen seconds ago.”

Trembling with unfulfilled desire and a new rage, Rachel stared back at him, her features set, her determination high.

“That was a moment of weakness that won’t happen again. Unless you’re OK with rape, this night is officially over. Now get out of my room!” she said as she made her way to the door and wrenched it open, turning to look pointedly at him while she waited to see what he would do.