DEVIL’S EMBRACE by Catherine Coulter

“You will be silent.”

She drew a shattered breath and saw from the corner of her eye that members of the crew were watching them.

He drew her close to his chest, and she winced, for her back was still tender.

“What is it you intend, my lord? Another beating so that I will learn to cower before your wrath? I will see you in hell first.”

“Come, Cassandra. Don’t make me carry you.”

She thrust her chin up defiantly, but fell into stiff step beside him.

Her step lagged at the cabin door, but he shoved her inside, and ground the key in the lock. His fingers closed over the silver buckle on his belt.

“I will not submit to this beating, my lord. You will have to tie me down.”

He stared at her. “By God, you witless little fool. You honestly believe that I—”

He got no further, for at that instant a heavy book struck his shoulder.

“Witless, am I, my lord?” she yelled at him. “You will see that I am not helpless.” She grasped two more weighty books from the library shelves and flung them at him with all her strength. He raised his arm and knocked them aside.

He strode toward her and Cassie, with a sob of anger, abandoned the books, clutched the huge ivory candle holder from atop his desk, and flung it at him. He ducked it, vaguely wondering as he heard one of his prized possessions crash heavily to the floor if the ivory had cracked.

He reached her behind the large mahogany desk and she lashed out at him. Her fist connected with his belly.

“That is quite enough, Cassandra,” he said, and pinned her arms to her sides. She tried to kick at him, but he pulled her so tightly against his body that she could not move.

Her heart beat wildly and her breasts heaved against his chest. She had believed—still believed—that he was going to beat her.

“Cassandra, look at me.”

He shook her slightly. Reluctantly, she raised her head. Her face was drained of color, yet there was defiant anger in her eyes.

“Why would you think that I would beat you?”

Although his tone was gentle, Cassie felt her stomach churn, for she knew she was impotent against him, impotent in all things.

“You are cruel.”

“Like Barbarossa?”

His expression was impassive and she felt uncertainty about herself, and about him. “Why do you mock me?”

“I do not mock you, cara, nor was it ever my intention to beat you.”

“Don’t lie to me. You were furious at me and you were taking off your belt.”

“Yes, I was angry at your vicious tongue. But understand me, Cassandra, I would never thrash you because you behave like a stupid child or a raging termagant. As to my belt, it must be removed if I am to strip off my clothes. It is my body you need, cara, not a beating.”

“No.” She twisted frantically against him to break his hold. She felt the hardness of him against her belly and color surged to her cheeks.

“You are worse than Barbarossa.”

He merely smiled at her and leaned against the desk. He spread his thighs and pulled her between them. He held her hands behind her with one hand, and let the other move casually over her hips.

“Why hold yourself so rigid, my love?” he whispered, his warm breath against her temple. “Think about how you will feel very soon now. We have been apart for much too long a time.” His fingers continued their gentle probing, and she felt his hard member through her gown and petticoats, throbbing and hungry for her.

His voice, deep and sensual, sounded again in her ear. “Think about my mouth moving over you. You are so pink and soft, cara. You taste so sweet.”

Cassie reared her head back. “Damn you, I will not let you seduce me with words. I will not listen to you.”

She felt his mouth close over her, and the now familiar gentle probing of his tongue against her lips. His fingers caressed the back of her neck, then moved slowly to the bodice of her gown. She felt him pulling away the velvet ribbon that bound her hair. He released her mouth, and his lips trailed over her throat, and up to nibble at her ear. She felt a sudden bolt of heat burn through her. She was scarce aware that he no longer held her hands behind her, that her arms of their own volition tugged at his shoulders to bring him closer to her.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *