His skin was bronzed, sexy and ridged with muscle. And oh, what strength! His stomach muscles formed a vee that pointed her eyes lower, lower still, directly between his legs. She gulped. He was like a savage romance novel warrior come to life, everything about him oozing carnality while screaming with danger.
He stared at her a long while before taking a step toward her.
She recoiled, but the chair stopped her retreat. A slow grin lifted the corners of his full, mouthwatering lips, revealing perfect white teeth. For some reason, the smile seemed less than genuine. Almost predatory.
Her heart galloped before skipping a solitary beat.
“You summoned?” he asked.
Summoned this gorgeous warrior? In her wildest fantasies, perhaps, but not in reality. She hadn’t even known such beauty existed. Besides, the man had a sword that looked like it could chop her in half in less than the time required to blink. He wanted to kill her, or worse, so no! Julia hadn’t summoned him.
“Me? Summon you?” Eyes impossibly wide, she shook her head. “I promise I did no such thing.”
He ignored her denial as if he hadn’t heard her or didn’t care. “What do you wish of me, female?”
“Besides your absence?” She had to escape. Yes! Escape. That was the smart thing to do. With the back door locked and windows shut, she had only one option—the front entrance. Perhaps if she inched around the chair, just…like…this. She managed to take one tiny step to the right. Two.
“If I leave, I cannot kiss your naked body or let you kiss mine.” His slightly accented tone dripped with boredom and still managed to be the most compelling, erotic voice she had ever heard. Honey-rich, warm, like refuge on a stormy night.
Even still, the word naked caused terror to twist inside her stomach.
She gained another step. “What do you want from me?” Each word ripped from the depths of her throat. “Why are you here?”
Annoyance wafted from him. “To please you, of course.”
“I don’t want you to please me. I don’t even want you within a hundred yards of me.” Another step.
He studied her and frowned. “Do I frighten you?”
Never admit your fear. Over and over her sister’s words drummed through her mind. Never admit your fear. Julia gulped, inched to the right just a bit more.
Her sister Faith was a highly respected archaeologist who thrived in high-pressure situations.
Julia licked her lips and said, “Yes. I mean, no! I’m not afraid of you. I’m not afraid of anything.”
“That is good.” He nodded with satisfaction. “For I will never hurt you…unless you command it.”
“I don’t know you,” she continued, babbling now. “I’ve never seen you before. And you’re in my house.” She gave a half-hysterical, half-desperate laugh. “I didn’t invite you, yet there you stand. No, I’m not afraid. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Nothing at all.”
A mocking smile played at the corners of his lips. “Then why, little mouse, are you widening the distance between us, even as we speak?”
She froze, unable to reply. Mouse? Mouse!
“Do you want me to harm you, girl?” he asked, his brow furrowed with confusion.
“No!” She raised her arms higher, placing her weapons of mass destruction—aka her fists—directly in his line of vision. He didn’t seem impressed. “Of course not.”
“Yet you are still frightened?”
Yes! “First of all, people lie. Second, I don’t want you here. I just want you to leave. Please.”
His confusion magnified as he folded both arms over his muscled chest. “I must admit this is a bedroom game I have not yet played.”
“This isn’t a bedroom game!” she screeched. “Leave!”
He frowned. “I am bound to you. I must stay where you are.”
Bound. “Let’s not be hasty,” she rushed on, trying for an easy, carefree tone now. If she stayed calm, he might stay calm, too. Though she was pretty sure she sounded like an asthmatic running through a pollen field, as far from calm as possible. “No one needs to be tied up, okay?”
For a moment, frustration superseded his confusion. “What will it take to convince you I am speaking truth?”
Easy! “You, leaving. Right now. And take your sword with you.”
“You mean leave leave? As in leave this house without you?” He laughed as if she’d just cracked a joke. “Come now, little mouse. No need to continue playing hard to get. I’m a sure thing.”
Queasy, she backed up another step.
“Tell me what you truly desire of me. Caresses? Erotic words? I’ll do anything. Nothing is taboo.”
Mouse again. Julia scoured her mind for something that might keep him from “caressing” her body and talking dirty while he did it. “Look, I just started my period, and I have cramps, and I haven’t shaved my legs in forever. I haven’t had a bath, for that matter. Trust me, you do not want to caress me.”
“Then I will entertain you in other ways.” He released a resigned sigh. “I’m not here simply for your sexual pleasure. I’m here to entertain you, converse with you and protect you. Your needs are my commands.”
What the what? His claims didn’t even compute. A man who wanted only to cater to her every whim? Impossible! “Uh, well…”
He persisted. “Shall I dance naked upon the tabletop? Feed you by hand? Pose so that you may paint my likeness?”
While all of those scenarios sounded quite nice for any other circumstance, they didn’t appeal to her in the moment. “My husband is here. He’s big. And mean. And he hates when other men come near me. He killed the last one who tried. It was a violent death. Very bloody.”
Indifferent, the intruder shrugged. “I’m here for your pleasure. Not his. Besides, your husband’s strength is no match for mine.” His tone held no hint of pride, only fact. “Unless that is your hope,” he added, his pale violet eyes accusing but accepting. “Do you wish me to kill your mate?”
She almost fainted right then and there. “I prefer no one be murdered in my home,” she managed to squeak out.
“It will be as you
