Page 56 of The Duke With the Dragon Tattoo
So he kept reminding her.
Sighing, she slid her chair back and pushed to her feet. She approached him cautiously, as she did those wounded, wild animals, and his demeanor contained just as much lethal ferocity.
She’d wanted to run her fingers across his winged tattoos, hadn’t she?
Here was her chance.
After rolling up her sleeves, she perched behind him on the tub, picked up a cloth and soap, and dawdled by creating more lather than necessary before she touched the cloth to his back.
Anxiety had leached the heat from her fingers, and the warmth of his water-heated skin immediately radiated through her, lancing up her arm. She’d been right, he was solid as stone and smooth as marble. The feel of him was as familiar as it was foreign. She’d washed him before, long ago. She’d run her fingers over these very same long, lovely muscles. Sometimes, her fingers found a ridge beneath the artwork. Scars, she realized. Wounds. Ones he’dcovered with ink and time. He’d been scarred as a boy, but not like this. They were everywhere. Some of them shallow and wide, others long and deep.
Who had hurt him like this? Who would dare?
Mortimer?
“Heroes and villains…” he mused, a husky note was added to his already resonant voice. “Must men be defined thusly? There are none of either in the animal kingdom. There are only those who eat, and those who are eaten. The strong prey on the weak. There is an order to things. You adapt and survive… Or you die.”
“Yes,” Lorelai conceded. “But you are not a beast.”
“Am I not?” His chin touched his glistening shoulder. “That may be the kindest thing anyone has said to me in ages.”
“I meant you are human.” She’d not meant to show him kindness. Had she?
“Some believe man to be a higher form of animal. The king of beasts.”
“You certainly are a predator,” she accused. “And I have become your unwilling prey.”
“Think that if you like.” His jaw hardened as he stared forward again. “I’m a conqueror. You are the conquered. To the victor go the spoils. You’re the one who’s lived among wild creatures your whole life, you should understand how this works. How many beasts apologize to their mates after taking them? What happens, Lorelai, when a powerful male creature wants a female? Does he woo her with flowers and poetry and pretty manners? Does she entice him with a dowry and a family name? No. The male fights off every other who would have her, he dominates them, kills them if he must. Then, he claims her. And she lets him, because he has proven himself the strongest. He can protect her and their offspring. It is the way of things in the wild, and so it is with us.”
Lorelai’s trembling fingers dropped the cloth, and it slowly disappeared beneath the opaque surface. She was glad he wasn’t looking at her, that he couldn’t see her chin wobbling. Or her thighs trembling. “It doesn’t have to be thus,” she ventured.
He twisted his torso to spear her with his frigid glare. “But it is. I was hoping you’d understand.”
Her distress increased, and she loathed the tear that escaped her. “As a girl I thought… Iknew… Ash would be the man I offered myself to when I came of age. I hate that, in the end,you’regoing to be the one who hurts me. Who treats me like Mortimer treated Veronica. I never thought in a million years you would cause me that kind of pain…”
“I won’t!” he hissed vehemently. “Don’t you fucking dare compare me tohim.” He slammed his lips shut, as though his outburst surprised even him. Frowning, he seemed to consider something for a long while. So long, in fact, her nerves stretched to the breaking point.
“What do you mean?” she prompted. “Are you saying you won’t require me to… we won’t consummate…” Lord, the heat of her blush could have immolated her right where she stood.
“Oh, we will,” he vowed as the dawning of an idea swirled behind those dark, wicked eyes. “But what if I offer you a reprieve of sorts? A pirate’s promise.”
“Are pirates any good at keeping promises?” she breathed.
“I suppose we’ll find out.”
Why the change of heart?she wondered. “What are your terms?” What was his objective?
Her question seemed to encourage him. “Iwill not takeyou. Not by force. Not until you ask me to.”
What? Considering the stance he’d taken since he returned for her, this didn’t make any sense. “I don’t understand.”
“Don’t you?” he challenged. “You were always a curious girl. I don’t imagine that’s changed. What if, instead of making you my offering, I offermybody foryouruse?”
Mouth suddenly dry, Lorelai stood. “What if I don’t want it?”
Wings flexed as he stood and turned to her, revealing all of himself. His skin like molten gold shaped over the cold, tempered steel of his chest and decorated with brilliant color. The flare of his shoulders were molded into the fascinating mounds of his biceps before tapering down to sinewy forearms laced with thick veins.
Lorelai did her level best not to follow the obdurate ripple of muscles down his torso, arrowing right to the lean hips and his—
