He thrust his hips against her again. Like before, he hit the perfect spot, the one that still hadn’t recovered from his last nudge. Fresh heat zipped through her, more intense than before. An ache began to pulse between her legs.
What was wrong with her?
“I meant why me?” Sasha heard the quiver in her voice. “I’m sure you know women who are younger, who don’t have stretch marks and a C-section scar. Who?—”
“I know a dozen Barbie dolls I could call now if I just wanted to fuck. You’re real.” He unclamped one of his hands from her wrist…then glided onto her breast. “This is real.”
He sank his fingers into her giving flesh, dragging his thumb over her nipple. Sasha sucked in a breath. Despite her damp shirt and bra, she felt his touch all the way to her toes. Tingles skittered through her system. Her nipples puckered, beaded. Under his broad palm, he teased one of the buds with another slow caress. His rough breath rent the silence between them. She shut her eyes—and bit back a moan.
She had to be totally out of her mind. Why wasn’t she fighting, screaming her lack of consent?
Her brain told her she’d lose any chance of persuading him to protect her and Harper. Loneliness reminded her how badly she’d missed human comfort. Her touch-starved body shouted the fact that there was something about Nick Navarro that lit up the long-suppressed woman inside her that had fantasized about silken satisfaction with a very capable man.
She was still trying to comprehend the moment—the caress of his talented fingers—when he dipped his head to torment the tight bud of her nipple through the fabric separating them. A pull. A nip. Pleasure seized her. Shivers racked her. So sudden. So shocking.
It terrified her.
“I won’t be forced.” Her voice sounded shaky, splintered.
Above her, Nick tensed and raised a brow. They both knew her body wanted him. Heat rushed through her veins, up her cheeks. But she made herself meet his stare. What was he thinking? What would he do? Had she just made a dreadful mistake?
Slowly, he withdrew his hand, then pushed himself away from her. He sat against the wall. Sasha felt the withdrawal of his heat instantly. Cold seeped into her body again, her damp shirt making her tremble. The guarded, slightly mocking expression on his face wasn’t helping her nerves, either.
“I’ve never raped anyone in my life, including Fiona Normand.”
Sasha backed away to the other wall and drew her knees into her chest. She almost thanked him for lying to her. His false words were a slap of reality, erasing the quick rise of her desire and her loss of sanity.
“You don’t have to deny what happened. I read the testimony. I merely wanted you to understand?—”
“I’m not denying a damn thing,” he growled. “I’m telling you flat out that I didn’t rape her. You need to know that. I don’t want you fighting once I have you naked and under me.”
He sounded awfully sure of himself. Of course he is, idiot. He stands between your daughter and death. He’s got you and he knows it.
Sasha didn’t see any way to avoid becoming his lover. She’d do anything to keep her baby alive.
“The expert testimony of the doctors at your trial found your skin under her nails and your semen in her…”
“I never denied fucking her, but I didn’t force her to do anything she wasn’t willing to do with me and hadn’t done before.”
A million thoughts spun through her head. Her stomach tightened. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does. And I’m telling you the truth.”
“Why would Fiona Normand lie?”
He shrugged. “The town princess told the policemen that the bad man lured her into opening her front door, then he raped her. How else was she going to explain being tied to her bed? Certainly not by admitting that she begged someone like me to bind her to it. It’s all smoke and mirrors to prevent me from investigating her uncle, the very crooked Mr. Clifford.”
Sasha felt her eyes widen. “Fiona is his niece?”
“Through marriage, but notice how the press didn’t mention that? You can thank the cops and reporters he has stashed in his back pocket for neglecting to include that info.”
The press didn’t surprise her so much but… “Clifford is bribing the police?”
“You look shocked to find out the good guys can be bought.” He smirked. “Yeah, he’s paid them to disregard his shit for years.”
“So…” She grappled to comprehend the depth of seedy corruption. “Fiona lied about everything that happened between you to protect her uncle? Why? I’d never protect anyone doing such awful things.”
“If she let her Uncle Walter go down, where would her meal ticket be? So Fiona told him I was pumping her for information about Mike’s disappearance.” Nick smiled grimly. “Clifford set up the rest. Crying rape served the added bonus of preserving Fiona’s precious reputation. She wasn’t willingly having sex with a P.I. who had a record. No, I forced her.” He cut her a mocking glare. “Of course.”
