Dare to be Mine (14 page)

As Daniel walked behind Elyssa, his
fingers removed his coat from her shoulders, the chill meeting her skin at
once. Elyssa was grateful for the flame blazing in the fireplace. Daniel's
fingers trailed a path about the neckline of her nightgown as he stepped in
front of Elyssa, his jaw clenching as he dared remove her robe. It fell in a
soft heap at her bare feet and Daniel ignored the quick stab of guilt at the
realization her feet must be freezing.

He casually removed his jacket and undid
the top few buttons of his shirt. For all that there was a definite chill in
the
air,
Daniel wondered if Elyssa felt the same heat
coursing through her veins as he did. Returning to the conversation at hand,
Daniel continued, "You used my father, which I can understand––considering
the bastard he is––but more unforgivable, you used me, darling. And that is a
very bad thing."

Through all the hard feelings and
accusatory looks, Elyssa still thought she saw a flicker of raw hurt in
Daniel's eyes, though he guarded it well. She still didn't know what made
Daniel think she was out to steal his money, but she had to assure him how
wrong he was. She knew firsthand the pain it caused to be used by someone you
thought cared for you.

Tentatively reaching out, Elyssa placed
her hand on Daniel's chest. She felt his muscles instinctively tighten, sensed
the battle within as he dared not openly flinch from her touch. He would not
allow her to see that her mere touch affected him so.

"Daniel, I would never steal from
you, you must believe that. And it pains me that you think so little of me, for
I had just been coming to realize something." Shocked at herself by
admitting such a thing aloud, Elyssa made
herself
continue. Her voice was soft and unsure tears falling unhinderedethi, for fear of Daniel’s rejection. “I
fear I have fallen in love with you."

"Ha!"
came
the loud reply of rebuke at that declaration. Daniel slapped her hand from his
chest. A sneer set in his face, Daniel said, "After the times I tried
convincing you that fate had brought us together, only now do you conveniently
agree with me. It is too little, too late, Elyssa. Your lies will not save you
now."

"It is no lie!" she cried.
"I spoke the truth when I told you it is lonely living at
Greystone,
and that I do not love my husband, God forgive
me!"

Grabbing her chin,
Daniel bit out, "Stop playing the martyred wife, do you hear me?"
Elyssa's eyes widened in alarm as Daniel released his grip and proceeded to
remove his shirt, buttons flying as he jerked it off in angry haste.

He backed Elyssa up the few steps it
took to reach the bed. With determination glowing in his dark eyes, Elyssa
tried to utter something to stop him, though nothing came out but a whimper. He
easily pushed her down across the bed and knelt above her. Elyssa fleetingly recalled
the same position they'd been in the first night she'd ever seen him. Lying on
the wet ground while Daniel knelt above her, ready to conquer her, body and
soul. That same conviction shone in his glare, except that now his eyes
reflected not lust, but anger.
Retribution.
For a
wrong she'd not committed.

Daniel easily ripped Elyssa's gown, the
sight of her lush breasts nearly his undoing. She was so damned
beautiful,
it seemed almost a sin to denigrate her body. But
Daniel reminded himself she'd been using that delectable body to entice other
men to do her greedy bidding long before he'd ever come along.

Elyssa cried out, trying to shield the
sight of her chest but Daniel pulled her hands above her head, easily holding
her captive, his feral smile sending a quiver through her entire body.
"You mean to rape me then?" Elyssa cried in disbelief. His wicked
smile faltered a bit as he contemplated her words. He wasn’t out
to abuse
her nor rape her. He wanted to conquer her body
once and for all, and that was something he had no doubt Elyssa wanted also.
The times she’d teased him, made him want her....she had known all along
who
he was.
Had repeatedly played him for
a fool.

Well, the tables were turned now and it
was she who could bloody well be tears falling unhinderedethiused by him. He would see that she enjoyed it
just as much as he, having suffered all those months married to his bastard of
a father. She had been wanting this from the moment they’d first run into each
other, and it was insulting that she insisted on keeping up the pretense of
being offended by his advances.

"Darling," Daniel scoffed,
"I shall have to do no such thing. I would wager that a touch here, a
seductive caress there, and you will beg me to finish it."

Elyssa would have slapped him if Daniel
didn't still have her arms pinned down, and he laughed bitterly at the thought
he knew was going through her mind. Still, it was extremely difficult to ignore
the stab of lust at the sight of her nakedness, and Daniel already felt himself
hard and ready at the sight of her lying beneath him.

"I shall give you one last chance
to come clean, sweetheart.
Time to confess your sins, little
one.
You married my father for his money, didn’t you?"

"Yes. No! That is to say my parents
forced me into marrying Percy. I had no say in the matter!"

"So you deny that you have enjoyed
the fruits of his wealth, of his home?"

"How could anyone deny such a
thing?" Elyssa cringed at the condemning look on Daniel's face and cursed
herself for her ineptness in speaking the right words. "But I have been
miserable! It is not a marriage of love, not at all. You know that. Percy
cannot stand the sight of me."

"I would venture to agree it is not
a marriage of true love, for all that you repeatedly do your damndest to
torture me with your body. Still, I find it quite impossible that my father, or
any man for that matter, could withstand the sight of your perfect body,
darling."

Daniel ignored Elyssa's denial at that
false accusation and he reached down to scorch a path about her exposed breast
with his tongue, her breath catching in shock, and Elyssa hated her body's
inability to remain unaffected by Daniel. Her insides quivered at the feel of
his lips upon her flesh. His mouth tortured her other breast just so before he
lifted his head to look her mockingly in the eyes.

"So, it was not you who used my
father, but rather he who stole your happiness? And you truly expect me to
believe he abhors the very sight of you?" tears falling unhinderedethi

Elyssa nodded her head in agreement,
hoping against hope that Daniel would release her from such a compromising
position. She could feel his hardness against her thigh, her breathing shallow.
She hated the humiliation of it all, yet
curse
her
wantonness, she desired yet again the feel of his mouth upon her.
Wanted him to be the first to introduce her to the ways of making
love.
But surely Daniel would find her naivete quite tedious when
compared to all the worldly, beautiful women he'd no doubt lain with. And how
the hell could she even be thinking about lovemaking with a man presently
entrapping her beneath him, anger and punishment in his every word, his every
glare.

Daniel believed not one word of her
innocent pleas, but was helpless to continue his onslaught. Once again, his
father had found a way to torment him, only this time the old man had outdone
himself. He'd used Daniel's infamous weakness for beautiful women against him
in an effort to antagonize him.

How his father must hate him to use his
own wife, young and beautiful, in a seductive ploy against him. How could Percy
even have allowed the thought of another man looking at his wife in lust, much
less touching her and kissing her? And to do that to his own son....such
perverted hatred. Percy must have known Daniel would fall beneath Elyssa's
spell, just as he must have when he first met her. Percy knew Elyssa would go
only so far in their torment of Daniel without crossing the marital line. How
they must have mocked him over his weakness toward her!

Daniel knew her words would continue
false, that Elyssa would remain true to Percy if nothing else, simply for his
money, unless she truly did love his father. But he wanted––no, needed––to hear
her rebuke Percy aloud. Even if he suspected she was lying. He wanted to hear
that she was really a prisoner of Percy's hatred, just as he had been all his
life. He needed to hear that Elyssa did not love his father, but rather him
instead, even if they could not legally be together. He ignored the madness of
that thought, the ridiculous notion that he and Elyssa shared anything
tantamount to love.

His grip tightened about Elyssa's wrists
as Daniel accused, "He is making your life miserable, is he?" Elyssa
choked back a cry as she nodded in agreement.

"He has kept you a prisoner in this
farce of a marriage, has he?" Hopeful that Daniel was finally beginning to
understand her plight, Elyssa whispered, "Yes."

"You hate him, don't you?"
Guilt at voicing such a thing aloud, Elyssa shook her head in denial.
"Don't you? You wish him dead, don't you?" he hissed. Definitions */
thi

"Yes!" Elyssa cried brokenly,
guilt wracking her as the tears fell unhindered.

Daniel released her arms, despising
himself for forcing Elyssa to deny any loyalty toward his father, for surely
she only agreed to gain her freedom. He hated himself for the tears spilling
down her cheeks.

Daniel reached down and kissed the
corner of her mouth. Elyssa tried to jerk herself from beneath Daniel. She
nearly freed herself from his clutches before Daniel pulled her back securely
beneath him, the look of anger quickly returning to his eyes. "We have yet
to finish what we started, Elyssa."

“Go to hell,” she cried.

"You little whore," he bit
out, his fingers biting into her arms. "You
laid
with my father, someone you admittedly despise. And you shall damn well finish
what you started that first night you threw yourself into my arms!"

Jerking her nightdress up past her
creamy thighs, Daniel undid his pants, not even bothering to completely remove
them before he entered Elyssa with a quick thrust, his mouth capturing her
cries as he ruthlessly kissed her.

The abrupt shooting pain was unexpected
and Elyssa's fingers left marks on Daniel's arms as she held onto him for
support. The pain subsided quickly enough and for all Elyssa's anger and hurt,
she was helpless to feel a liquid heat begin spreading through her very core at
the exquisite feel of Daniel inside her.

She had already fallen in love with him.
How could she
not
still feel anything for him, no matter that he was
presently acting the ruthless
cad.
He was obviously
hurt and confused. Hell, she was confused herself, and a long way off from
understanding how all this could have happened.

It was surreal, lying beneath Daniel,
dull pain on the brink of pleasure. He had rid her of her virginity yet it had been
so swift and merciless she didn’t know whether to despise him or fall further
into the chasm her heart had already fallen prey to. Any further deliberations
fled as Daniel’s thrusts came faster and harder, the fury on his face leashed
solely upon her. Elyssa closed her eyes to block out the sight of him briefly.
Until her traitorous eyes demanded she
stare
into
Daniel’s beautiful face as he continued driving tears falling unhinderedethi inside her.

She had wanted this since the moment
he’d touched her that stormy night. Had ached deep down with a need that only
he could quench, though she’d not known the entirety of what that entailed. And
now that he was inside her, she knew the heaven she’d been searching for.

The beginnings of a quivering so acute,
so near but so unattainable, felt like nothing Elyssa had ever dared hoped for.
She was helpless to raise her hips to meet Daniel's thrusts. For all that she
should despise him for taking her this way, for not believing in her, Elyssa's
heart treacherously went out to Daniel.

He was wrong about her. All wrong. But
she'd heard enough to know that Daniel believed his father capable of such
wickedness. Indeed, she'd heard snatches of the rumors herself from servants
about the way Percy had wronged his son. She’d never even heard Daniel’s name
spoken, never known it. She knew only that Percy had all but dismissed his son
from his life, cutting him out of his will. She could see how such treatment
from a parent could taint one’s outlook on life. Could see how Percy's cruelty
toward his only son could make Daniel so suspicious and vulnerable.

Daniel saw the look in Elyssa's eyes
change from fear and revulsion to pity and love. He felt her affections shatter
through his hardness and the realization was staggering. Her fingers splayed
across his back. Daniel knew not if it was merely another of her wiles or if
Elyssa truly did care for him, but her sweetness was his undoing.

Daniel cried out Elyssa's name as he
reached his release. He had wanted her for so long, had desired her from the
moment he'd first seen her. Daniel was angry at himself for losing his patience
their first time and for being done with it so damned quickly.

He guiltily rolled from atop Elyssa,
lying on his back, his eyes closing as he struggled to calm his breathing. A
moment later Daniel felt Elyssa's fingers touch his chest tentatively, felt the
softness of her lips against the corner of his mouth. Perhaps she was the
temptress he'd first believed her to be. Her tender touches, whether sincere or
not, only proved that she was a seducer of men. Opening his eyes, Daniel turned
toward Elyssa to berate her facade of caring. His words were silenced, however,
as he caught sight of blood on the sheets between them.