Grinding his hips into her, he anchored her with his weight. Between them, he laced his fingers with hers. Easing her hands up, he kissed her wrists, one and then the other. Warmth glowed from his amber eyes.
Then a flash of steel.
In one swift movement, he seized her wrists in one hand and forced them above her head, pinning her to the wall. She gasped as her torso extended and her shoulders uncomfortably stretched. He pulled her higher until she stood on her toes.
His expression hardened.
“Fight back.”
Her lungs strained as she took a shallow breath, and her pulse thumped against her sternum. “What are you doing?”
“Settling an argument. You said you can take care of yourself, so do it. If it’s so simple, get me off of you.”
She tugged at her wrists to get them free, but they wouldn’t budge. Jasmine shifted her hips, but she wasn’t strong enough to move him. She struggled against him until she felt a twinge of pain in her shoulders. She relaxed against the wall and shook her head.
“I can’t do it,” she admitted.
“I’m using only one hand,” he murmured, squeezing her wrists as a reminder. “What do you imagine I can do with the other?”
He ran his fingertip down her cheek, past her jawline, and his leather-gloved hand rested at her throat. Slight pressure—enough to feel when she swallowed.
“I could do whatever I wish to you,” he whispered, ghosting his fingertips across the tops of her breasts. “You wouldn’t be able to stop me.” His hand stopped over her heart. “Don’t you see how fragile you are?”
She opened her mouth to argue, but found no fault in his words. Another man would have overpowered her all too easily. Matthew kept her hands over her head, but not to the point of pain. Even with him angry at her, he would stop if she asked him to stop. He didn’t want to hurt her, he wanted to prove a point.
But so did she.
“Matthew?” He lifted his head and met her eyes. “Don’t stop. I want you to touch me, I want you to kiss me—”
Covering her mouth with his, he kissed her hard.
“You torment me,” he growled.
She shifted in his hold, trying to bring him closer, but he held her down.
He removed the glove from his free hand with his teeth, and his bare fingertips roamed over the firm ridges of her corset, then down into the hollow of her hip. Shifting between her legs, he grabbed a handful of her skirt and lifted it.
“You want me to touch you… righthere?” He gripped the naked flesh of her thigh. She gasped and tried to lean into his touch, but he held back. Darkly, he whispered, “I asked you a question.”
“Yes, Matthew, I want you.”
He grazed his fingertip inward, to the sensitive space between her legs—circling where she had touched herself nightly, thinking of him.Exquisite torture surged through her as he touched her enough to tease but not fulfill. She was close to that peak. So frustratingly close. He kept her there, right at the edge.
“You want my body, clearly,but do you care for me?” He rose and kissed her tenderly. “Do you want my heart?”
“Yes.” She leaned her brow against his. “More than anything.”
I love you. The words were on her lips, but he captured them once more in a slow, lingering kiss.
“If you want my heart…” he allowed his words to trail, and his voice turned cold. “Stopbreakingit.”
And he let her go.
Her eyes shot open, and she reached for him, but he stepped away. Without another look at her, he strode from the room and closed the door behind him.
Leaving her alone.
Chapter Twenty-Four
