Flirting With Disaster (5 page)

He pulled harder on her hand and paced faster down the secret hallway running the length of the west wing.

If she wanted a tour, he’d give her a damn tour. “I can’t believe a woman of your intelligence would be attracted to that.”

She stopped in her tracks and his hand slipped from hers. “What do you think you’re doing? This is kidnapping. Are you planning on having your way with me? Raping me in the bowels of your dungeon?” She adjusted her ridiculous hair, ramming the dislodged strands back into the straight jacket of a bun he wanted to rip apart.

He pressed his finger and thumb into his eye sockets. This was not in his plan for redemption. Messing with fire would only get him burned.

“No, I’m not going to rape you. I’m saving you from that asshole.” Why, he didn’t know. Or maybe he did. Penance? He only knew he’d sensed every move she’d made since her arrival.

And he didn’t like it. It was creepy and unacceptable.

Christ, what was wrong with him? He dropped his hand. Had he gone too long without sex?

“He was harmless. A prime specimen of narcissistic personality disorder. All you had to do was play along, and then go on your way.” She drew an alcohol wipe from her bag, tore it open and cleansed her hands. “Why would you even care whom I cavort with. I’m a grown, single woman. I can be with whomever I want.”

Beck grabbed the offending thing and threw it to the ground. “Stop doing that. You’re going to get chapped.” He knew her. Somewhere deep in his soul. And it sucked.

“I’m preventing illness.”

“Let your damn immune system strengthen itself by exposing yourself to a few germs once in a while.”

The woman frowned. Those pale green eyes bore into him like alien x-ray vision. “I was often sick as a child. I suppose a hardy immortal like you doesn’t ever worry about getting sick. You probably relish the thought of swapping germs.”

Those full lips pouted adorably. He didn’t need adorable right now. And he also needed less of that magnificent rack being lifted as she crossed her arms underneath her breasts.

Her hair followed the sexual assault and rebelliously burst free from its iron hold at the back of her head. Those fiery curls tumbling past her shoulders were his undoing. That, and the fact she inhaled sharply in surprise and ran her tongue nervously over her plush bottom lip, which drove him fucking nuts.

“As a matter of fact, I do enjoy swapping germs. Right now, all I want to do is take that smart mouth of yours with mine and shove my tongue so far inside I get to lick and taste every part. I want to share every germ and fill you with everything I have.”

“You do?” Those gorgeous, green eyes widened and her hands dropped to her sides. “I-I mean, you wouldn’t dare.”

He smiled. “You shouldn’t have said that.”

Beck grabbed her hands and pinned them against the stone wall next to her head, trapping her with his body. He stared into her eyes for a fraction of a second, deciding, fighting a primal urge to dominate this sassy, forbidden woman.

He had no idea what the fuck had come over him since she’d arrived at the castle.

And right now, he didn’t care.

He lashed out with his tongue and tasted that pouty, lower lip. It was soft…and oh, so sweet.

She sighed as her head dropped back against the wall, eyes closed.

“You like that,” he taunted the little witch.

“I…I’m not sure.” She opened one eye. “We might have to try it again. I don’t have much experience.”

Oh yes, she was a sorceress.

He growled, then took her mouth with a yearning he hadn’t felt in years. He’d teach her a lesson about being…being…so fucking enchanting.

But it was she, in all her unconstrained innocence, that taught him. She pressed her 1940’s pin-up body against him and took charge of the kiss, nipping and nibbling his lips, sucking like he was a goddamn lollipop. What could she do with that mouth on his cock? He groaned. Her tongue danced and twined with his. Accepting everything he gave, she met him stroke for stroke.

Who knew?

He pressed his erection into her writhing hips. She was a torrid bundle of sensual discovery. A siren wired for sex.

Beck pulled away before he took her right against the wall. He wasn’t that guy. Okay, he used to be, but she wasn’t that girl. He grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway toward his private room.

Jude stumbled. “Wait, wait.” She let go of his hand and bent to massage her ankle.

He grimaced as a lash of guilt swept through him and then lifted her into his arms. Her soft body pressed against his, was going to kill him.

“Put me down. Where are we going?”

“Someplace I can teach you a lesson about the art of restraint.”

“I don’t want restraint.” Indignation sharpened her voice. “I want liberty!”

“Yeah, well I have the feeling Mr. Fit ‘N’ Tan is not the kind of guy you want liberating you.” He caught her knowing smirk in his peripheral vision. “And neither am I.”

He approached his suite door and placed her gently on her feet. She glanced down at his earnest erection, then lifted her eyes to his.

“Ignore that.” He turned the key and then scooped her back into his arms, entering his lair.

Six

“Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl, is simply not giving

the kiss the attention it deserves.”

Albert Einstein

H
e’d hit him. He’d belted the poor, dumb bruiser like it had meant nothing at all.

Except it did to her.

Nobody had ever stood up for her. She’d always had to stand up for herself.

Beast shed his Carhartt jacket, exposing an exquisitely sculpted body beneath a faded LA Dodgers T-shirt and a pair of jeans. Hard muscle flexed across his large shoulders as he arranged logs in the fireplace. The room was small, cold, and simplistic in function. Nothing like the luxurious rooms upstairs. A large bed, two, what looked to be nineteenth century leather rockers, and an end table. A beautiful, rustic wooden table sat in the center of the room, supported by twisted, gnarled tree limbs. It was provocative and beautiful, just like its owner.

She shivered as he worked in complete silence. “That table is beautiful. Where did you get it? The patterns of the rings are stunning.”

“I made it.”

She jolted. He was an enigma. A talented, handsome, mysterious libertine. “I don’t even know your name.”

He flinched.

“I can’t keep calling you Beast and Count. It’s rather presumptuous.”

He glanced over his shoulder, those golden eyes piercing her. “You’d be smart to keep considering me a monster. I’m not a good bet for whatever you’re up to.”

Her lips twisted. Did he know what she had planned? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He stood, his eyes traversing her body as she sat on the bed, filling with interest as his gaze stilled on her bosom. She glanced down, expecting to find her clothes had surreptitiously fallen off.

His eyes returned to hers. “I get the feeling you are up to no good. And, for some reason, I keep ending up in the position to set you straight.”

“You had no reason to ‘set me straight’ today. I had complete control of the situation.”

The Beast’s brows lowered. “Like last night when you propositioned me?”

Her heart clenched and her spine tightened. Did she? Oh God, she didn’t remember. “I-I assumed that was what you were interested in when you approached me.”

He shook his head and his beautiful lips lifted at the corners. “I don’t make a habit of taking advantage of drunk, distressed women.”

“I’m not distressed,” she lied. “I may have been a tad bit intoxicated, but I’m hardly distressed.”

The Beast laughed. It was a stunning sight. She couldn’t help but search out those canines just to be sure. Things in this castle all seemed so…strange.

“Honey, you make a nun during Catholic school detention look like she’s channeling Richard Simmons.”

She shot him a sneer, then stared down at her hands. Her ankle throbbed, but she couldn’t help the smile that crept over her lips. Her Beast had studied her well.

He sat next to her on the bed, the heat from his body warming her.

“Beckette. My name is Beckette.” He lifted her ankle onto his lap, removed her shoe, and ran his hand over the minor swelling that had started. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m a bastard and tend to hurt people when they get close. It’s my curse. That’s why I don’t do emotional attachments.” He smirked. “As if I were even capable.”

Like finding two almonds in a bite-size Almond Joy, her future flashed brightly in her mind. Yes, he’d be
the one
.

Her heart beat wildly as she reviewed the ramifications of what she wanted to do…seduce him. Seduce Beckette, The Beast, the man of mystery and beauty. She wanted this emotionally stunted, beautiful man to be the one to take her virginity, father her child…without him knowing, of course. She didn’t need a man. Not that he’d want her. He was a perfect stranger, never to be thought of again
. 

She was ovulating. She’d always had her menses schedule plotted in her brain. Now all she had to do was get him to take her to bed.

It was ludicrous. It was unethical. But she was desperate.

Our little bundle of joy will be arriving in May!

She pulled her foot from The Count’s lap, then stood and slid off her other shoe. She paced the small room without a limp. Her nerves had numbed the pain. He watched her, humor lighting his secretive eyes. This man was dangerous, hardened, disreputable. Perfect for an unscrupulous mission.

But he was also smart. She needed to include that in her calculations.

“I’m fine, really.” She stood with her back to him and covertly unbuttoned the top of her blouse. Cleavage. Men liked cleavage. She turned and tried to swing her hair in the sultry way women did. Her head thudded against a gourd lantern hanging from a shelf.

Smooth.

He leaned back on his hands and smirked, his eyes zeroing in on her burgeoning breasts. She had a good bosom, she’d been told. It’d be advantageous to use her positive attributes to the best of her ability.

She noted his body language—visual interest, pulsating carotid in the neck, relaxed posture, erection.

All promising signs.

* * * *

Beck almost came in his jeans, right then and there.
“Yes, you are.”

What was this naive, little tabby cat up to? Parading around his fucking bedroom like some vixen in heat.

She placed her hand just above that magnificent rack and took a deep breath. “Okay, how do we do this? Do I pay you first?”

He practically choked. Was she serious? Beck examined her flawless face. Yeah, she was serious…and nervous as hell. “Depends on what you’re looking for, sweetheart.”

Jude paced back and forth in front of him, driving him nuts with the wiggle in her hips. “Sex. I’d like to have sex with you.” She faced him, her eyes wide and pleading, then held her palm in the air, facing him. “Nothing crazy. Just plain missionary would be acceptable. Do you have a current health history on hand?” Her little ass twitched as she rushed to her huge backpack and dumped it on his bed.

The woman had everything to survive the apocalypse. She grabbed a banded file the size of an envelope then whipped out a piece of paper. She held it toward him in her trembling hand. “Here’s mine. I always carry it.”

Beck just stared. The woman was certifiable.

And fucking innocently sexy as all hell.

He didn’t do innocent, but this game was an amusing distraction from his frustrations. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as she stood there with that damn health history.

“Do you like to be tied up, Jude?” he whispered.

Her eyes widened.

“Because I charge more for bondage, and threesomes are definitely out. I only work one-on-one. If you’d like to incorporate sex toys, it will be an extra fifty a night. Seventy-five if I have to provide batteries.”