He heard her sharp intake of breath and saw her eyes widen on his face as the harsh understanding dawned. “Of course. The meeting is when Robert intends to bestow your reward.” The scorn—the disgust—on her face ate like acid on his resolve. “Money. That’s all this has ever been about to you.”
He had to explain. He had to tell her why this was so important to him. Why he couldn’t risk it. He wanted to help her, damn it, but he couldn’t. Not if he was going to salvage what was left of his honor. People were counting on him. “Damn it, Bella, that’s not all it’s about. You don’t understand—”
“I understand perfectly. How much will it take, Lachlan? I’ll give you everything I have, although I’m sure it won’t match the king’s reward. With most of my husband’s lands distributed amongst Robert’s men, and my own unable to be claimed while I am in hiding, I’m afraid I’ve been forced to rely on the king’s good grace. But when my lands are restored—”
He jerked her hard against him, fury racing through his veins. “I don’t want your damned lands or your money.”
Her blue eyes met his, flashing with angry challenge.
“Then what is it you do want?”
He pulled her tighter against him, his body hardening at the contact. The battle raged inside him. What he thought he wanted. What he wanted. What he could have. All coiled together in a conflagration of pounding emotions he could no longer contain.
You. I want you. But he didn’t know how to say it. How to give words to what he was feeling. How to make everything right.
And then everything went wrong.
Nineteen
“I know what you want.” She moved her hips crudely against his hardness. “It’s all you’ve ever wanted from me, isn’t it? God, you are all the same!” She put her hand on him, molding it around his bulging cock. “If you don’t want my money, then how about my body?”
A blast of heat surged through his loins. In her reckless rage she was the most seductive, irresistible creature Lachlan had ever seen.
“Stop it, Bella.” He tried to unlatch her, but her hand held him firm. “That isn’t what I want.”
She laughed scornfully, the proof to the contrary hard in her hand. She stroked him, running her hand up and down his long length. She leaned closer to him, sliding her tongue over her bottom lip like a hungry cat. “Then what of my mouth, Lachlan? Will that convince you?”
It was no more than he deserved. He’d told her as much, but he’d lied then and sure as hell didn’t want that now. Well, at least not like this. “No, damn it—”
He froze when she dropped to her knees before him and furiously started to untie his braies. “Jesus, Bella, stop! Don’t do that!”
But his protest was weakened by what she was doing to him. Her hand was on him, stroking him, milking him with a boldness she’d never displayed before.
Wrong. The knowledge blared like a flickering candle in his head. He should push her away.This is wrong.
But God, it felt good. He couldn’t stop the groan as heat rushed to his groin. Swelling. Pulsing. Throbbing in her intimate grip.
Wrong. He grabbed the hand that gripped him, putting a harsh end to the sensual motion. “Damn it, Bella, stop!”
She looked up at him, her golden hair a blazing, tousled halo in the firelight. He jerked hard in her hand. Every muscle clenched against the temptation she presented. Those slanted, wide-set eyes, the plump, sensual mouth only inches…
Her eyes narrowed. He knew what she was going to do. Anticipation coursed through him in a hot rush, pulsing at the tip. He’d dreamed of this moment. It might be wrong, but he had.
She licked him. Dear God, she flicked out her tiny pink tongue and licked him. His knees buckled against the wave of pure pleasure, and he had to grab a wooden post to steady himself. The rush of heated sensation was unlike anything he’d ever imagined.
He must have made a sound because her lips curved in a slow, sensual smile. “I thought so.”
She held his gaze, her tiny hand circled around him. His heart stopped, his breath caught, and his muscles tensed in anticipation as her mouth moved slowly over him.Tell her no. Oh God…
She took him in her mouth. Deep in her warm mouth. Her soft pink lips wrapped tightly around him. It was the most erotic thing he’d ever seen; his darkest fantasies come to life.
He knew he should push her away. If he were half the man she wanted him to be, he would. But any further protest was lost in the mindless state of sensual oblivion.
She took him mercilessly, ruthlessly, every movement calculated to bring him to his knees. The warm suction of her lips drew him deeper and deeper into the hot cavern of her mouth, the loving circle of her tongue swirling around his head, the soft hand at his base gently pumping…
It was unbelievable. Mind-blowing. She knew exactly how to taste him, how to suck him, how to drive him wild with pleasure. How had she learned …?
Oh hell. He knew how.
