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‘Given that pregnancy is the main objective, sexual activity should be restricted to my fertile cycle.’
It was impossible to ascertain anything from his expression. As a card player he would be brilliant, she perceived. Yet this was not a game.
‘Rather like a brood mare put to stud?’
The softness of his tone was deceptive, and although she was willing to swear he hadn’t moved a muscle his posture seemed to have assumed a menacing ruthlessness.
‘Why not call it what it is?’
His gaze was unwavering, and it took all her courage not to flinch beneath the silent power emanating from the depths of those dark eyes. Evident was a hard intensity that was almost frightening.
‘We occupy the same bed each night,’ he said with dangerous softness.
‘You intend to enforce conjugal rights?’
‘Did you hope that I wouldn’t?’
‘Yes!’
‘Your mistake,’ he refuted simply.
‘That’s—’ words temporarily failed her ‘—barbaric.’
‘I doubt you’ve experienced the true meaning of the word.’
Her chin lifted fractionally, and her eyes blazed with open hostility as she watched his lengthy frame uncoil from the chair.
‘You expect me to walk calmly upstairs with you?’
‘On your feet, or slung over my shoulder.’ He effected a negligible shrug. ‘Take your pick.’
‘You have the sensitivity of an ox!’
‘What did you imagine? Pretty words and romance?’
Danielle stepped ahead of him and made her way towards the elegant staircase. ‘I should be so fortunate.’
Careless, foolish words, she chastised silently as she reached the upstairs lobby and turned towards the hallway leading to the master bedroom.
The nerves in her stomach seemed to intensify with every step she took, and she was supremely conscious of the man who walked at her side.
There was no easy way to ignore the large bed, or its significance, as she entered the room.
Did her step falter slightly? She hoped not. Hesitation wasn’t on the agenda. Without a word she slipped off her shoes, then she crossed to the set of drawers that held her lingerie. There was a beautiful satin and lace nightgown, a gift from Ariane, which she ignored in favour of a cotton T-shirt, then she moved towards the en suite.
A shower might help soothe her soul.
Minutes later she’d shed her clothes, removed her make-up, and pinned up her hair. Then she adjusted the water dial to a comfortable temperature, stepped into the large glassed cubicle, and caught up the soap.
Pride ensured she didn’t take overlong, and, towelled dry, she completed the usual ritual, donned the T-shirt, then re-entered the bedroom.
Only to have the breath catch in her throat at the sight of Rafe in the process of pulling the covers from the bed.
A towel was knotted at his hips, highlighting a toned body that displayed an admirable flex of muscle with every move he made.
The olive texture of his skin was offset by a smattering of dark hair at his chest, extending in a single line to his navel. Lean hips and powerful thighs added to a composite that exuded raw strength. Also apparent was a primitive alchemy that fascinated and disturbed in equal measure.
She looked little more than a teenager with her face scrubbed clean of make-up and her hair caught into a careless pony-tail, Rafe mused, his gaze narrowing fractionally as he perceived her hesitation.
CHAPTER THREE
‘WHICH side of the bed do you prefer?’
One eyebrow arched. ‘Does it matter?’
Oh, hell. What could she say? I’m not very good at this?
She took the few essential steps to bring her to the edge of the mattress, then she sank down onto it, all too aware of Rafe’s actions as he loosened the towel.
She quickly averted her gaze. ‘Could you turn out the light?’ Was that her voice? It sounded as if she had a constriction in her throat.
‘No.’
She was willing to swear she detected a hint of amusement as she felt the faint depression as he sank down onto the bed.
‘Let’s get rid of this, hmm?’
Danielle felt his hands slide up her thighs as he caught hold of the T-shirt’s hem and lifted it over her head. A protest rose and died in her throat, and she crossed her arms across her breasts in an automatic reflex action.
He possessed no such reservations, Danielle observed with resentment, aware of his powerful frame, the sheer size of his arousal.
Dear heaven, how was she going to be able to accommodate him?
A hand closed over her wrist and shifted her arm away from her breasts, and she lowered her lashes in a protective veil. Only to have him tilt her chin.
‘Don’t hide.’
The chastisement brought a tinge of colour to her cheeks and her lashes flew wide. ‘Maybe you’re used to bedding a willing female on short acquaintance,’ she vented as he lightly traced the contours of her breast. ‘But I’m not comfortable getting intimate with someone I barely know!’
Sensation began deep inside and flared through her body, activating a host of nerve cells in open betrayal. Damn him! Did he know what he was doing to her?
Stupid question! Her jaw clenched, silencing the gasp threatening to escape as he teased one nipple, then rolled it gently between thumb and forefinger.
He lowered his head down to hers and brushed his lips against one temple.
‘Please.’ There was a catch in her voice as she lifted a hand and indicated a nearby lamp.
‘I want to see your reaction to my touch,’ Rafe murmured as his mouth trailed down towards her own.
Gentle pressure on her shoulders lowered them down onto the mattress, and she lifted her hands to his chest in an attempt to increase the distance between them. Only to have them freeze as he traced her lower lip with the edge of his tongue, then slipped in to tangle with her own in a slow open-mouthed kiss.
He had the skill to render a woman mindless, and he used it mercilessly in an evocative dance that brought her unbidden response.
She was so caught up with the pleasure of it, she was scarcely aware of the seeking trail of his fingers as they explored her waist, the soft indentation of her navel, then traced a slow path to the juncture between her thighs.
She tensed as he probed the moist cleft, and she was powerless to prevent a protest escaping her throat as he circled the sensitive clitoris, teasing it to such a highly sensitised degree she instinctively pushed against his shoulders.
A hollow groan rose and died in her throat as he eased a finger into the moist orifice, imitating the sexual act itself, and she instinctively arched against the increased pressure of his oral stimulation, alternately exulting in it and hating herself, him, for the attack on her emotions.
Danielle almost cried with relief as his mouth left hers and sought a sensitive hollow at the base of her throat.
Not content, he trailed a slow path to her breast, teasing the hardened nipple until she tangled her fingers in his hair and endeavoured to shift his head.
Sensation arrowed through her body as he began to suckle shamelessly before shifting his attention to the other sensitised peak, and she gave an anguished groan as his mouth travelled to her waist, then trailed down over her quivering stomach.
He wouldn’t… But he did, holding her flailing hands together with effortless ease as he bestowed the most intimate kiss of all.
She attempted to use her feet, her legs, to buck against him, but he simply adjusted them beneath his weight, locking her into immobility as he took his time gifting a sensual feast that shattered her equilibrium and sent her climbing to heights she hadn’t known existed.
Did she cry out? She had no idea of time or place as sensation ruled.
He felt her body quiver, heard the husky sounds emerge from her lips, and he levered himself up over her in one fluid movement, nudging her thighs apart as he eased himself into her.
She was tight, despite his preparation, and he took it slow, feeling her stretch, aware of her momentary panic as she attempted to ease the pressure.
His mouth closed over her own, absorbing her startled cry as he withdrew a little before increasing that initial thrust, repeating the action until she took all of him.
Dear heaven. Danielle swallowed painfully against the feeling of complete enclosure as her muscles contracted around him, causing waves of sensation she was unable to control.
Then he began to move, slowly at first, and she twisted her head from one side to the other as the sensation intensified.
She was conscious of him watching her, and, unbidden, her gaze locked with his as he slowly rocked back and forth, increasing the pace until she was able to accept each long thrust.
It happened again, that powerful, almost excruciating, exquisite spiralling sensation that took her so high she felt as if she was going to fall off the edge of the world.
His climax followed soon after, and she witnessed his attempt at control, watched as he lost it, then marvelled at the extent of his passion.
Nothing she’d experienced came close to the primitive emotion he’d managed to arouse. Raw, spell-binding pleasure meshing with complete fulfilment.
It said much for the man who only hours ago had placed his ring on her finger. Was the seduction deliberate? Or was this his usual modus operandi in the bedroom?
If so, she decided shakily, it was little wonder women sought him out.
Seconds later she gasped in shocked surprise as he rolled onto his back, carrying her with him. His eyes were impossibly dark and slumberous with sated desire, and her own widened as his fingers tangled in her hair.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Removing the band from your hair.’
Free, its length spilled down onto her shoulders, and her eyes widened as he finger-combed the thick mass, then he cupped her face and brought it down to angle his mouth to her own in a kiss that tore at the very foundation of her emotions.
So, he could kiss, part of her brain registered dimly. On a score of one to ten, she’d have to accord him a twenty. And then some. Sensual skill…he had it in spades, aware just which buttons to press to achieve a desired effect.
This is a man you profess to hate, remember? For any number of reasons. Uppermost, the diabolical scheme he’d devised, waiving a considerable debt in exchange for several years of her life…and the gift of a child.
With a muted groan she wrenched her mouth away from his and used her hands to push against his chest.
‘I’d like to get some sleep.’ She’d had as much of him as she felt she could handle for one night.
Yet even as she voiced the words she felt him swell inside her, his arousal stretching and expanding until he filled her completely.
He couldn’t, surely? Not so soon?
‘So you shall,’ Rafe drawled as his hands moved from her waist to shape her breasts. ‘Later.’
He teased the tender peaks, brushing his knuckles back and forth, then he traced a feathery path over her midriff, her stomach, to where they were joined.
Her body jolted as sensation flared, and she clutched his chest as he gently rocked his hips in the first of several undulating movements, each more active than the last until she became lost in an electrifying ride that had her crying out as she reached the brink, then tumbled over the edge in a sensual free-fall.
She felt the breath tearing from her throat as she endeavoured to control it, and she had no idea that her skin was flushed with sexual heat, or that her eyes held a dreamy almost witching moistness in the aftermath of passion.
Rafe wanted to roll her over onto her back and take his own pleasure in a series of long hard thrusts that would surely shock. Except he tamped down the desire, equally sure it would leave her hurting.
Unless he was mistaken, she’d had few partners, and unimaginative ones at that.
Or she was a superb actress. Something he very much doubted.
With care he disengaged, then slid to his feet and lifted her from the bed. ‘Let’s go shower.’
Danielle looked at him blankly for a few seconds, then realisation sank in. ‘I’m not sharing a shower with you.’
‘Yes,’ he drawled softly. ‘You are.’
He didn’t give her the option to protest further, merely swept an arm beneath her knees and carried her into the adjoining en suite.
‘Put me down!’
Danielle smote a clenched fist against his shoulder as he reached into the capacious tiled cubicle and adjusted the water-temperature dial.
‘Don’t you dare,’ she warned sibilantly as he calmly stepped in beside her and closed the glass door.
He was too close, too intimidating, too much. After what they’d just shared she didn’t want him in her face, and she particularly didn’t want to have him administer to her in any way.
‘Isn’t anything sacred…even my privacy?’ she demanded seconds later as he picked up the soap and began lathering her skin.
‘Get used to it,’ Rafe drawled as she attempted to twist away from him.
Without success, and she sent him a venomous glare that had no effect whatsoever. ‘I hate you!’
