Page 17 of Wolf's Keep

It belonged to him. It had to.

“And this?” He tugged at her left wrist, her watch a glaring presence not so easily dismissed.

“Jewelry.” She gave a small shrug of her shoulders. “It’s the new fashion.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

He smiled, but didn’t loosen his grip, nor did he back away. He leaned toward her, his mouth bare inches from hers, dark eyes staring deep into hers, strange shadows flitting behind the irises. She couldn’t look away. Any fear of him had fled, replaced by something far more dangerous. It had her quivering inside her skin, superseding everything. It terrified her beyond imagining she’d not only be unable to resist him, but she wouldn’twantto.

“Never run from me,” he said, his breath warm across her lips and they parted in expectation, traitors to her mind’s will. “I willalwayscatch you.”

In one swift move, he captured her other wrist and pinned her against the wall with his body. Her mind screamed a protest. Her body rejoiced. His knee nudged her legs apart, slipping between them, pressing his muscular thigh against the very center of her. And damn if she didn’t let him.

Where had her moral outrage gone, her hard-earned determination to never put herself in the arms of such a man? They’d deserted her—overpowered by a rapacious libido she never knew she possessed. It threw common sense to the wind and laughed in the face of her resolution to remain unaffected. Her body burned for him and happily broadcast that fact loud and clear. It couldn’t have been more obvious if she’d a neon sign flashing ‘all systems are go’.

With a lick of his lips, he captured her mouth. No soft kiss, no gentle seduction. She’d run. He’d caught her. To the victor went the spoils. He was taking what he wanted.

Dredging up some belated form of courage, she tore her mouth from his, refusing to give him what he demanded—an all-access pass to her mouth, her body. Not so easily dissuaded, he leaned into her neck, the tickle of his beard and his lips whisper soft on the sensitive skin of her throat and inhaled deeply.

Her whole bodyvibratedin response, rolling out the welcome mat. Shifting her wrists into one large hand, he ran the other down her cheek to her chin. A gentle press of his fingers and she was facing him, eye to eye, breath to breath.

“You desire this as much as I,” he murmured.

She gave a strained shake of her head, denying his words, but when he rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip, she couldn’t keep up the pretense. Her eyelids fluttered closed, her lips parted on a sigh, her body providing him all the permission he needed. He recaptured her mouth in his, slipping his tongue between her lips. With delicious hot thrusts, he demanded she respond in kind.

Erin’s resistance melted faster than summer hail after a storm. Her body softening against his, she responded with a fierce need of her own. The voice of caution disappeared beneath the roaring of blood through her veins.

He released her, pulling away, ending the kiss as abruptly as he’d started it, leaving Erin dazed and panting. She leaned against the wall, unsure if her legs would hold her if she didn’t have support.

“Tell me now you did not want that,” he said, his expression triumphant, full of pure male satisfaction.

She scowled, gathering her anger, embarrassed by her easy surrender.

“Of all the arrogance…”

He’d manhandled her, pushed her up against a wall, given her nowhere to go.

“It is not arrogance if I am right.”

“You’re nothing but an ignorant savage.”

Erin clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms. Sheloathedmen like him. Men who had power, wealth and confidence. Men who could turn the charm on when they wanted and turn it off in the blink of an eye. Granted, she’d never met a sword toting chevalier before, but it made little difference. She’d witnessed the damage a man like him could do, over and over again. She’d lived it her entire childhood.

He gave a soft, breathy chuckle. “Savage? Perhaps.” A wry smile tilted at the corner of his mouth. “Ignorant? I think not.”

So sure of himself, his gaze dipped from her face to her breasts, her nipples still peaked, and he licked his lips, causing her belly to do little flip-flops. She glared at him. If he thought she’d fall for his charm because of one kiss—one heart stopping, amazing kiss—that in future she couldn’t, wouldn’t, resist his advances, then he really was too arrogant for words. She wasn’t some tenth-century virginal maid who’d flutter her eyelashes at him and beg for his attentions. He’d caught her off guard, nothing more.

Lifting her chin and locking her knees, she ignored the heat spreading across her cheeks and the way her body betrayed her.Little snitch.

Eyes narrowing, his gaze returning to her face, he placed his hands on the wall on either side of her head, forcing her to look at him, his face inches from hers. Dark, intense eyes pinned her in place, and he thrust out his jaw. Erin wanted to look away but she couldn’t.

“Your clothes are of a make I am unfamiliar with. They are of materials I have never seen before and they reveal much more than is acceptable.”

She opened her mouth to protest but stilled at a stern look from him. The man liked getting his own way. Why did that not surprise her?

“Your accent is strange, your speech patterns I have not heard before and I have traveled much and met many foreigners,” he said. “Your command of my language is poor. You wear on your wrist a device which is not jewelry as you claim, but I believe is a means of marking time. You are not a witch, but you are not from here either. Tell me now you think me ignorant.” He raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her answer.

Erin opened her mouth and closed it again. His insights were unnerving. At her continued silence, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

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