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She was a weakness, he knew. A weakness he could ill afford, and yet one he couldn’t deny.
Lifting his head, he thrust his fingers deeper into the convulsive grip of her pussy and waited until her eyes fluttered open before he spoke.
Holding her, possessing her, he stared down at her with all the hunger, all the dominant needs, he could feel rising inside him.
“This is mine.” His fingers owned her pussy now. “You’re mine. For as long as I sleep in your bed and live at your side, this sweet, luscious body belongs to me, Risa. Don’t attempt to deny it, because we both know it would be a lie.”
Panting, her eyes darker, her face flushed, she tightened her muscles around his fingers and narrowed her eyes back at him.
“Bet me.”
CHAPTER 17
RISA FELT THE eyes on her when she entered the restaurant Micah had chosen for his little night out. It was one of the most exclusive in the city. The food was excellent, the service beyond compare, and it seemed everyone she knew in Atlanta was there that night.
Before her mother’s death, Risa had lived in Atlanta with her parents. It was only after her tenth birthday that Jansen had moved them to Virginia, then to Washington, D.C. It was only after her mother’s death that Risa’s life had seemed to turn into a farce compared to her life before.
Suddenly Jansen had become increasingly critical of her looks. Risa had retreated into a shell, spent more and time in her room or on the grounds of the small estate he had bought. Nothing she had done had pleased him.
The past six years, since her return to be closer to her grandmother and to put the past behind her, Risa had stayed well clear of the restaurants that she knew were frequented by those who had known her and Jansen.
Atlanta wasn’t far enough away to escape the crowd Jansen and Elaine had been a part of, though. And their reactions to Risa varied.
She heard the whispers as she moved through the restaurant, her head held high when all she wanted to do was run and escape the furtive, pitying looks and gossipmongering.
Yes, the ugly duckling was dressed in silk, she thought as she caught one woman’s overly loud statement as they passed her table.
Risa didn’t glance left or right; she followed Micah’s lead at her side on autopilot, escaping within herself as she had always done as a child.
God, she hated this.
“Risa. Risa Clay.”
She’d hoped to escape any sort of socializing with the people she had known before her kidnapping and rape. She wasn’t that lucky.
She and Micah were halfway to the table where Ian and Kira were awaiting them when two diners rose from their chairs along the path they were taking.
Risa came slowly to a stop, her gaze moving from James Walters’s long, aesthetic face to that of his wife, Corina. The couple had been acquaintances both in Atlanta and in D.C. James was one of the world’s premier heart surgeons, his wife a nurse who worked by his side.
“James. Corina.” Risa had a trick she used when she was forced to face people who had known her before. A way of staring at them while unfocusing her eyes and blurring the pity on their faces.
“Risa sweetheart.” James caught her hands and bent to place a kiss on her cheek.
He never met his goal. Micah pulled her back gently until she was against his side, his arm curved possessively around her back.
An awkward silence filled the next second.
“James, Corina, this is Micah Sloane,” she introduced him into the silence. “A friend of mine.”
“Just a friend, love?” Micah asked under his breath as though they were indeed more than what they actually were. In the space of a second she wondered exactly what they were.
“Micah, this is James and Corina Walters. James is a premier heart surgeon, and Corina the miracle nurse that works by his side.” Corina glowed at the compliment. “James, Corina, Micah’s a SEAL with the U.S. Navy stationed here in Atlanta at the moment.”
“A SEAL, how utterly exciting,” Corina murmured. “Was he the gentleman with you the other day when that nasty character tried to kidnap you? The news said a shot was fired, frightening that vicious person away. We tried to call, dear, to make certain you were okay, but you weren’t taking calls.”
Risa swallowed tightly. “Micah frightened him off. If you’ll excuse us…”
“Risa, darling, we were frantic to get hold of you and make certain you were well,” James
