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Drake was out of bed in an instant, moving toward the sound of her choked cry.
“Alexandria? What is it?”
“I walked into the cot,” she whimpered.
“Are you badly hurt?”
In truth she was not. It had been a sudden painful blow, yet already the pain was subsiding to a dull throb. But it was more than she could withstand after her emotionally taxing day. Hot tears filled her eyes, spilled down her cheeks. Try though she would, she could not control the sobs that shook her.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I never cry … and it is not that bad a bruise … I just can’t …” She shook her head helplessly, covering her eyes with trembling hands.
There was no forethought. Drake reacted instantly, pulling her into his arms.
“Shhh,” he soothed, pressing her head against his chest. He felt her tears drenching his bare skin, her narrow shoulders shaking. “It’s all right, sweetheart … don’t cry,” he murmured, raising her chin with his forefinger, wishing he could see her face. He stroked his other hand down her back, pressing her closer to him.
They became aware of each other at the same moment. He was totally naked. She was clad only in a thin white shirt. She needed comfort. He needed more.
Drake found Alex’s mouth with his own, tasting the salt of her tears. He gave her no time to think or to pull away, for his arms wrapped around her like steel bands, lifting her slight frame off the floor, forcing her against his unclothed, thoroughly aroused body. Alex whimpered again, this time not in pain but in a combination of fear and awakening desire. Drake’s kiss was shattering, weaving dark magic around her stunned senses, paralyzing her resistance. He took her mouth hungrily again and again, each time deepening the kiss, urging her to open to his initial penetration.
And Alex, who had fought him every moment of the day, surrendered, parting her lips to his insistent command. A jolt of pleasure shot through her at the unfamiliar erotic sensation of his tongue stroking hers. This could not be happening, her dizzied mind protested. She did not even
know this man, and yet here she was in his arms, his mouth intimately invading hers in a way she had never imagined. And she was lost … lost.
She could feel the enormous power of his body, the strong, taut muscles of his upper arms as they flexed beneath her tentative touch. Her hands, trapped between their bodies, grew restless. She eased them free, touched the soft dark hair that covered his chest, then slid up to his broad shoulders. The inky blackness of the room could not conceal his harsh gasp of pleasure, the urgent shudder of his body, the shallowness of his breathing, the wild pounding of his heart against hers. His mouth moved more feverishly on hers, taking, giving, promising more.
Drake’s mind had long since given up its battle to retain control. From the moment he felt Alex’s soft, trembling mouth beneath his, the hot need inside him had erupted, overruling all else. Blood surged through his veins, drummed in his temples, throbbed at his loins. And when he felt her hesitant surrender as she parted her sweet lips to his demanding ones, he went wild, devouring her mouth with endless, drugging kisses of fire.
He tore his mouth from hers, pressing urgent open-mouthed kisses down her neck, her throat. Through the thin barrier of the shirt, he could feel her nipples contract with pleasure, their hardened peaks pressing against his burning skin. She tasted like the sea, wild and exciting, luring him closer, deeper into her spell.
Drake groaned, sliding his hands down to her legs, tugging the shirt up until he could feel her skin beneath his searching fingers. She was silken heaven, warm and shivery beneath his touch. His mouth moved hotly to her ear, nibbling lightly at the soft lobe as his hands slid up to cup her naked buttocks.
“I want you, Alexandria.” His hoarse whisper penetrated her sensual haze. “God, I can’t believe how much I want you.”
Alex froze, the full realization of where this was leading sinking in. He was stark naked, darkness or not, and he wanted to take her to bed. Whatever that entailed exactly, it was something that should transpire exclusively between a husband and wife, and only after they were wed. And here she was behaving like a harlot, totally forgetting everything she had ever been taught to believe in, abandoning herself in the arms of a stranger.
She began to struggle, panic washing away the last filaments of desire.
“No … no, please. I cannot … You must stop!”
Drake paused, still lost to his raging passion, stunned by her rejection. “What is it?” His voice was harsh with unquenched desire.
Alex pressed her hands against the hard wall of his chest, desperately trying to break his iron hold. How could she explain her fear, her inexperience, her inability to discard everything she had ever been taught? He would mock her, call her a hypocrite, a product of the nobility. Well, maybe she was all those things, but she could not do this. She was too afraid.
“Please …” She wished she could see his expression. “I don’t even know you. I’m afraid,” she admitted in a tiny voice.
Drake lowered her to the floor, trying to control his ragged breathing. He was moved yet again by the genuine apprehension he heard in her voice. Yet he could think of no explanation for her sudden rejection. Unless … “Why?” he demanded. “Is it because of who you are … who I am?”
“No … no.” Her voice shook from the intensity of the last moments’ emotions. “I told you I cannot … I’ve never …” She trailed off weakly.
Damn her, why did he believe her? Why, despite his unyielding conviction that all women were treacherous, did his mind refuse to doubt this woman’s sincerity? What was it about her that touched some unknown part of his heart that he had never known existed?
Damn her.
Drake released her so abruptly that she almost fell. Without a word he strode over to the desk, scooped up his clothes, and started dressing.
Alex was numb. She wrapped her arms around her shaking body and listened to him thrashing about. What was he thinking? What was he feeling? Suddenly it had become important to her to know.
“Drake?” His name fell naturally from her lips. She couldn’t know the impact that single utterance had on his throbbing body, which still clamored for release.
