Tempting the Fire by Sydney Croft Page B

weren’t drugged,” she said, and as though she’d heard his stray thought about moving closer, she took a couple of steps, bringing with her the 64

    heady scent of aroused female.
    “We had to have been.”
    Her gaze sharpened, and her scent turned bitter. “Why? Because you couldn’t possibly want to have sex with me without the aid of chemicals?”
    A low growl erupted in his chest, surprising him as much as what came out of his mouth. “You’re mine. Trust me, I want to fuck you ten ways from Sunday.”
    He cursed, punched his pillow so hard it popped and feathers exploded from the end. “Dammit! Goddammit! I don’t know where that came from. I don’t know what I’m feeling, I don’t know why I’m feeling it. And why the ever-loving fuck can I smell every change in your moods?”
    Suddenly, her hands were on his shoulders, and she was pushing him back down flat on the cot. For some reason, he calmed instantly, as though she were pulling all his strings and he liked it. “Calm down, Chance,” she whispered.
    “Please. You’re going to attract the guards.” Her fingers tightened, digging into his skin, and he nearly groaned from the sheer pleasure of being touched. “I know you’re frustrated and confused.”
    “You need to get away from me,” he said, even as he gripped her waist and pulled her down on top of him. “Get. Away.” The words were there, but he was holding her so tight she couldn’t leave if she wanted to. His rational mind screamed at him to get rid of her, but his body and instincts beat the fuck out of his thoughts.
    “Get away, or what?” she challenged, and he pressed his hips into her, his rock-hard cock showing her exactly what. “Oh, no.” She shook her head. “You took all control from me earlier. I’m going to take it back on my terms. So let go.
    Now.”
    For some crazy reason, he did. He obeyed like a fucking pussy-whipped loser. Oh, he still wanted her, wanted to claim her, mark her, fill her with his seed.
    But she was absolutely right—she had control here.
    “Marlena, look, I don’t understand it, but I need you. I don’t want you to go. I just …”
    “Shh.” She slid her palm over his chest and down his abs. And then lower still as he held his breath and watched helplessly.
    He could stop her now, tell her he wasn’t sure this was the best idea.
    He didn’t trust his voice, but his body had already betrayed him. Badly.
    And when she ripped open his pants and put her hand around his hard cock—man, oh fucking man, he hoped she wouldn’t stop.
    She stroked him, up and down, and his hips began to rock to the rhythm she set.
    “I don’t understand any of this either,” she said. “I was afraid of you when I first came in here. I admit it. I nearly ran out. But I’m not anymore.”
    “You should be, but holy shit, keep doing that.”
    A little smile tilted up the corner of her mouth, as she moved her other hand between his legs to caress his balls. When she rubbed a finger along his perineum, 65

    he swore he saw stars.
    “Marlena … don’t stop, okay?” he breathed, and Christ, no one had better interrupt them or he’d kill—“Fuck. Stop. I can’t—”
    She shut him up with a finger against his lips. “You can. We’ll figure out what’s going on afterward. But right now, we’re doing this.”
    Well. Okay. Far be it from him to argue with his mate.
    Mate?
    His woman. Yeah. His woman.
    Fuck. Whatever. She was his, and like she said, they’d figure out the rest later.
    MARLENA BENT AND PRESSED HER LIPS TO CHANCE’S,
    DETERMINED to prove that she was still in control … of her heart, at least, if not her body.
    The kiss was electric, made her gasp into his mouth. Within seconds, she was crawling onto him. His hands slid along her back, holding her, pulling her closer to him, kissing her like he needed that to live. The kisses intensified, his tongue dueling with hers, and her body responded to his touch, despite hearing the chains