In the Bed of a Duke Read Online Free PDF Page A

answers.
    It also felt good to finally have a flesh-and-blood target for his temper. What had seemed a simple undertaking had already cost him dearly.
    “Answer me,” he demanded.
    But instead of obeying, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye a second before sheattempted to stab him with what appeared to be a knitting needle.
    He raised his elbow and deflected the blow. He’d heard these Americans were little more than savages. She was proving the point, and he was too damn tired for nonsense. He squeezed her wrist until she was forced to drop the needle, but that didn’t stop her from fighting.
    Charlotte Cameron was taller than her sister and surprisingly strong. Instead of listening to reason, she bucked and twisted like a madwoman. Her strength was no match for his. He leaned all his weight upon her, using his legs to keep her from kicking him. She arched, attempting to throw him off—and he found himself settled intimately against her.
    Just as he realized where he was, what position they were in, she froze, also aware.
    In spite of himself, Phillip went hard.
    She felt the movement. Her expressive eyes came alive with shock. She opened her mouth to scream. He clamped a hand over her lips. “Don’t,” he warned in her ear. “Answer my questions and I’ll let you go. Untouched.”
    Her response was to attempt to take a bite out of his hand. He yanked his hand back, her teeth skimming his skin. She got one wrist free to knock the side of his head with the heel of her palm with enough force to hurt.
    The thin hold he held on his temper snapped. “Damn you and damn your sister,” he said. He grabbed her wrist and forced it back. His life had been peaceful until he’d run into Miranda in the lending library that summer afternoon. Ever since that moment, everything had gone to hell. The Cameron sisters had made him appear weak, and he couldn’t let one of them escape unscathed.
    Still, he did not strike women.
    And so Phillip took the only course open to him. He kissed her.
    It wasn’t the path he wanted to take, but it was either this or strangle her…and strangely, he really had no choice. Instinct guided him, even as his conscious mind said no.
    Her mouth was open when he brought his down over it. He was not gentle. He didn’t want to be. This kiss was punishment. His intention was to break her to his spirit, to overpower her into submission.
    It became a war of wills.
    But only for a moment.
    Phillip was many things—duke, diplomat, legislator…but he was first and foremost a man. A man whose desires had not been slaked in years of self-imposed celibacy. His secretary Freedman and others had warned him it wasn’t wise for a man to be alone. Phillip hadn’t agreed. He was arational man. He’d never had difficulty controlling his lust.
    Until now.
    His body responded to this woman with a force that was staggering. His brain went blank. He no longer cared about questioning her. Instead, his interest shifted to lips that God had fashioned to be kissed…and the knowledge that only the leather of his breeches and thin material of her dress and undergarments separated his sex from hers.
    Her skin smelled spicy sweet and inviting. His thumb rested over the pulse point of her wrist. He could feel the rushing, anxious beat of her heart. It mirrored the rapid pounding of his own as if they pulsed together, and he was lost.
    He shifted his hold, capturing both her wrists in one hand, freeing his other to explore. He’d forgotten the feel of a woman’s breasts crushed against his chest. Or the pleasurable curve of her waist to the flare of her hips designed for a man’s pleasure.
    Freedman was right. There was a thing a man had to have. Although Charlotte Cameron was the first to inspire this overwhelming, primitive drive inside him.
    The nature of their kiss changed. There was an unexpected connection. Desire sparked into a flame. She was hot, and moist, and suddenly very willing.
    He released her