Scorched

Chapter Eleven

“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.

“What do you want? You have already received a marriage proposal from me, so what is it you’re seeking by holding out? It’s obvious that you want me, so I just don’t understand the point of your coyness.”

Rachel stared at him with bafflement. She’d repeatedly told him no.

“You have seen only what you want to see, Adriane, not what is right in front of you. I won’t deny that I desire you; that would be pointless. However, I have been very straightforward with you when I’ve said repeatedly that I won’t join you in your bed. I want my freedom and I want you to get the hell out of my room!”

“Oh, Rachel, you will change your mind. All you’re doing is putting off the inevitable. And, no, I’m not into rape, so I guess this will be continued tomorrow,” he said, moving toward her and the open door.

When he reached it, she breathed out, thinking he would just walk on through and she would finally be left in peace. She should have known he wouldn’t make it that easy for her. Stopping, so she was forced backward into the doorjamb, he loomed above her.

“Here’s something to think about when you’re aching all night,” he said before dipping his head and taking her lips.

By the time he released her mouth, Rachel was breathless; she hung on to the doorway to keep herself upright.

“Goodnight, my sweet Rachel. This will be continued,” he said, and then slipped outside the doors, leaving her to watch his retreat.

When she was able to move again, she stepped back into the room, closing the doors behind her. She made her way over to the bed and flopped down on it, her body in an agony of frustration and her lips still tingling from his touch.

Two hours later, sleep still eluded her.

“Damned man!” she thundered aloud as she pounded against her pillow, trying to make it more comfortable.

Yeah, it’s the pillow’s fault, she thought sardonically. The sooner she got away from this castle, the better.