Captivated

She made his blood run hot. She made him boil. She made him hard just at the thought of her.

He was hard for her now, his penis restless, his blood throbbing with the primitive need to claim her in the most elemental way.

Lord Almighty… he couldn't keep his mind off her…he never got to suck her nipples…

Tonight…

The word thrummed through his blood. No more waiting. No more wanting and aching. He was tired of waiting for what was his; tired of fighting his body, tired of the battle for hers.

Tonight…

His penis spurted at the thought; ruthlessly, he got it under control.

A man didn't spend his seed profligately when he had a woman like Drue to service him. He planned to keep her pinned to the bed for a week, a month, a year, naked and begging for his sex between her legs.

Tonight…

He liked the fact that there was a factor of time in his decision to finally give her what she wanted. Always, the anticipation made the thought of the act seem even more deeply erotic.

They had so much time…

And he would take his time once penetration was complete. And he even looked forward to that moment, when all barriers between them ceased to exist and she could encompass all of him, tight and to the hilt.

He made a hissing sound as he imagined it. His manhood ached for it, tellingly, even now.

He shuddered at the force of his craving for it.

Noman should ever be that whipsawed by any woman…

Well, damn, he wasn't in love with her; he just wanted her, naked and writhing beneath his body…

' Master Court '

…and screaming for more

' Master Court '

Damned insistent voice jolting him out of his fantasies.

'What is it, Evie?'

'I got something here you want to see.'

'Come in then,' he said gruffly, shifting in his chair. 'What is it?'

She handed him an envelope. 'A man done give that to Louisa, and she come to me.'

'I see.' He turned it over in his fingers. No identifying marks. No address. 'And who was Louisa to give it to?'

'The mistress.'

The words fell like stones. 'Thank you, Evie. You can go.'

He waited until she had exited the room. And waited still longer, turning the missive over and over, as if the blankness of it would tell him something and he wouldn't have to open the envelope at all.

Three days… not even a week before the betrayals set inhe was a fool, and sheoh, she…

Slowly, he got up and went into his office and closed the door. Slowly, so as not to damage the flap, he slit open the envelope and took out the letter, even knowing what it probably contained.

He had to know. Even though he knew.

My dearest, darling Pet,

I can't stand it anymore. Three days knowing you have been in the arms of that monster and I'm half crazed with anger and jealousy. There must be a way. I cannot bear that he should have you. I cannot bear that I can't.

Remember the things we said to each other? The promises we made? There are other places, other possibilities. You don't have to stay with him. You can come to me. Your father will not suffer, I promise. I swear it. If that is the only reason you consented to this abomination of a marriage, you must believe me. Summerville can never harm your father. On my life I swear it.

Leave him. Marry me, as we had planned from the beginning. Don't stay a moment longer in that hell house. Tell me I may still hope to possess you, my darling love. Tell me you haven't forgotten everything we did, everything we were to each other.

She who delivers this letter to you has promised to be our go-between. Please, please, please answer my prayers, give me hope. Send your lover the one response that will open the gates of heavenfor him and for you.

Your beloved, Gerard

He read it slowly; he read it again. Three phrases jumped out:everything we did, everything we were to each other… Send your lover…

He felt like smashing something. To his credit, he thought, he did nothing. He just sat there, still as a statue, contemplating the cramped writing on the page.

…everything we did…

… everything we were to each other…

… send your lover…

The lying bastard, he thought violently; the evidence was irrefutable that Lenoir had never been her lover. He felt murderous. Uncontrollable. He wanted to teach the son of a bitch a lesson, to keep his hands, his filthy words, away from hiswife.

But he couldn't get aroundeverything they did… Hehad to know. And he didn't want to know. He wanted to kill Lenoir so that one memory ofeverything they did would be obliterated forever.

And he could only think of one sure way to efface it from hers: he was going to pound her body to oblivion and back so that the one thing, the only thing she would remember inside her washim.

He would never let her go, never; what was his belonged tohim, forever. But he had to know.

So now, yes, he would take her so she would never forget to whom she belonged, and because of this betrayal, he would test her.

But he didn't know what he would do if he didn't win.

chapter 6

She lay on the bed, luxuriating after her bath without the confining collar and straps. Evie was off somewhere else in the house, and there was no sound anywhere but the soft swoosh of the palm fan wielded by Evie's daughter.

She didn't want to think; she tried to make her mind a blank so she didn't have to feel, didn't have to remember the bone-melting excitement of what he had done to her, or her body's sense of still being confined by the straps and collar.

How odd it was, as if that were something so erotic that her senses had derived some pleasure from it even if she had felt as if she were bound and displayed solely for his titillation.

Or had she?

Could she have secretly loved the way those straps defined and outlined her sex and thrust her breasts forward?

No, how could she? This was not an affectionate game between lovers; he had made it a situation of domination and control whereby he meant to teach her fully and completely that she had no control.

So why did she feel as if somehow she secretly wielded some power?

Because he was in a constant state of arousal every time he was around her; that had to mean his sex was responding toher. Even if it only meant he wanted to copulate with her, stillhe wantedher. Her body. Her sex. Her heat.