The Ultimate Seduction

any longer, refused to allow this man any power over her mind or body-as he'd had in her past.

Resolute and more determined than she'd ever been before, she sprinted to the left and dove for the bed so she could scramble across the mattress. She made it halfway across before she felt a large hand clamp around her ankle and yank her back. She flipped over just as Chad started to move on top of her, his intent clear.

He was going to assault her.

And she was going to fight for her life, without remorse or hesitation. Just as he let go of her ankle, she kicked, hard, and aimed high. Her foot connected with his jaw with a loud crack, and his head snapped back from the impact. Her other foot landed in the middle of his chest, knocking him off balance and giving her the reprieve she needed to get the hell away from him.

'Goddamn whore!' he bellowed furiously, the agony of her dual attack radiating in his eyes.

She rolled away from him and off the bed. As soon as her feet hit the floor she was running out the door and down the stairs. He was seconds behind her, cursing her and promising retribution every step of the way. Before she could reach the foyer and front door, shards of glass be damned, he grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her to an abrupt stop.

She yelped in pain but didn't stop moving, her arms swinging, hands punching, and legs and feet striking any body part she came in contact with. They stumbled into the living room, and she kicked him in the shin, expecting his instant reflexes to cause him to let her go.

No such luck. Another explicit curse filled the air and he shoved her down onto the floor between the couch and coffee table, pinning her there with the weight of his body. He straddled her thighs, taking away any chance she might have had to knee him in the groin.

She wanted to scream in frustration but didn't waste her energy on something that would be of no help to her predicament.

He stared down at her, his nostrils flaring with each labored breath he took. 'I'm going to take what's mine. Right here. Right now.'

'Go to hell,' she said through gritted teeth. 'You're nothing but a hypocrite! You call me a whore, yet you have no qualms about using my body to slake your lust!'

He clenched his swollen jaw and narrowed his gaze to tiny slits. 'It doesn't matter. You're used goods, anyway.'

Grabbing the neckline of her shirt, he ripped it right down the middle, exposing her breasts encased in a thin cotton bra. She fought to fend him off, then ceased her struggles when she caught sight of the bronze statue on the coffee table next to her. As much as it revolted her, she let his hands grope her and didn't issue a protest when his mouth touched down on the upper slope of one breast.

Swallowing the nausea rolling in her belly, she sank her fingers into his hair in the pretense of enjoying his kisses, feigned a sigh of surrender and reached for the bronze statue. As soon as her fingers curled around the cool metal she jerked Chad's head back and bashed the statue against the side of his head. The first hit merely dazed him. The second strike rendered him unconscious.

He slumped on top of her, and with a deep sob she immediately shoved him off and crawled away from his lifeless form, the statue still clutched in her hand. She pressed her back up against the wall just as the sound of a vehicle skidded to a stop in the driveway. Seconds later, two uniformed police officers charged into the house, guns drawn-no doubt sent by the security company when she hadn't answered the phone.

They took one look at her ripped shirt and devastated expression, coupled with the man crumpled on the floor, and came to all the right conclusions. They made sure she was physically unharmed, then proceeded to take care of Chad, locking him in cuffs and rendering him immobile so he'd be no threat when he gained consciousness.

As they called for backup and an ambulance for Chad, Natalie buried her face in her hands. She finally broke down, allowing her emotions and tears to flow freely and releasing the fear, anxiety and pain she'd kept bottled up inside of her for too long.

But mostly, she wept for the empty future without Noah that awaited her after today. She understood now that their relationship had been based on a lie, a fabrication she'd fallen for, deeply and irrevocably, when in reality she'd been merely a responsibility for Noah. He'd taken her into his home to protect her from Chad since she couldn't recall her past, and she'd fallen for the protective ruse. But Noah had never truly been hers. Their relationship, his family, the sense of belonging she'd experienced-it had all been a false sense of security that had now been shattered by the return of her memory.

Despite his tale that they were engaged, she couldn't blame Noah for the affair they'd had, since she'd been the one to allow her own suppressed needs and desires to blossom and take flight. She'd tempted and teased him, instigating those first few erotic encounters and ultimately seducing him into making love to her.

She'd just had no idea how intimately involved her heart, body and soul would become with Noah-in a way she'd never given to another man. And while she harbored no regrets for loving him, neither did she expect him to make her promises of forever. As she now remembered, he'd been a confirmed bachelor before her memory loss, a man who enjoyed his freedom and carefree, uncomplicated lifestyle.

And she was a woman who'd never let a man as close as she'd allowed Noah, for fear of losing her sense of self, as she almost had with Chad. The amnesia had loosened her inhibitions and left her much too vulnerable to love. To Noah.

She swiped at the moisture beneath her eyes and on her cheeks and shored up her resolve. With her memory back and the crisis of being stalked over, it was time for her to move on and start out fresh-no matter how much she dreaded a life without Noah.

Chapter Eleven

The moment Noah pulled into his driveway and saw a patrol car and ambulance parked in front of his house, fear nearly strangled him. He jumped out of his vehicle and ran.

The broken window next to the front door and the shards of glass crunching beneath his sneakered feet as he bolted into the foyer sickened him, adding to his anxiety and dread that Chad had finally gotten to Natalie.

In his living room, he came across the paramedics strapping Chad to a cot, and Noah's stomach lurched when he caught sight of the blood on the other man's face, and his lifeless form. His gaze frantically swept the general area for Natalie, and his chest tightened with apprehension when he didn't find her.

Where in the hell was she? Had they already taken her away in a separate ambulance? Or, God forbid, had she been fatally hurt?

Desperate to know something before he went insane with worry, he grabbed the arm of a passing EMT, and the young man looked up at him in startled surprise. Now that Noah had the technician's attention, he released him.

'Where's the woman?' he asked, his voice hoarse.

The man hooked a finger toward the adjoining room. 'She's in the kitchen with the police.'

'Thank you,' he muttered, and strode into the kitchen, instantly finding her sitting at the table in the corner nook with two police officers taking her statement. Relief at seeing her alive mingled with a stabbing pain in the vicinity of Noah's heart as he took in her disheveled hair, puffy eyes and the dried tears streaking her cheeks. Her shirt was torn, and she was holding it together with one hand.

Guilt swamped him, making him weak in the knees. She'd been attacked, and he hadn't been there to protect her. The realization hit him like a swift punch to his gut. He knew what Chad was capable of and had sworn to keep Natalie safe, yet he'd left her alone and vulnerable to the other man.

Would she ever forgive him for being so careless with her life?

Natalie glanced beyond the police officers in front of her, her eyes widening when she saw him standing there. Both men followed her line of vision, and perceiving Noah as a threat, they placed a hand on their holstered weapons and narrowed their shrewd gazes on him.

'Who are you?' one of the blue-uniformed men asked.

Noah raised his hands, making sure that the officers saw that he was carrying a revolver beneath his untucked shirt so it didn't come as a surprise to them later. 'I'm the owner of the house, and Natalie is my fiancee.'

'Are you Licensed to carry a concealed weapon?' the other officer demanded.

'Yes, sir.' Very slowly, Noah withdrew his wallet, showing the men his identification and his P.I. badge. 'Can I