Princess in a Strange New Land Read Online Free PDF Page A

lovers?”
    “I have never treated men as playthings to be cast aside, if that is what you’re implying,” she answered in a huff.
    John stopped, and he was suddenly in front of her, his chest to hers. He leaned in so close that she swore she could have counted his eyelashes if she had so wanted. With a calloused thumb, he gently traced the line of her cheek.
    “I don’t treat women as toys,” he said, his voice deep and rumbling. “I simply haven’t found a woman worthy of my continued affection and attention as of yet.”
    “Ridiculous!” Akna exclaimed, pushing away hurriedly. “You are attempting to toy with me now!”
    She marched away angrily, ignoring the sharp pain caused by the constricting shoes. John caught up with her easily, snagging her wrist with his long fingers. He spun her about, but she twisted in his grip. Grunting, he pulled them both into a sheltered alcove. He grabbed her by the wrists and tugged her close, his eyes earnest.
    “Do not assume that I am treating you like the others,” he hissed ardently. “You are nothing like them.”
    “Indeed,” Akna replied as she tried unsuccessfully to pull away. “I am a dirty savage, a little heathen—”
    “You are none of those things,” John cut in passionately. “You are clever and curious. You care nothing for rank and decorum. And you are beautiful beyond belief.”
    Akna stilled suddenly, her chest heaving.
    “What did you say?”
    “You are beautiful.”
    She looked up then, and was startled by his closeness.
    “Surely you jest. We are not of the same world.”
    “What of it?” John said with a careless shrug, moving even closer.
    “Perhaps this is just another conquest to you? And I am simply a different type of prey to catch and subdue.”
    “Just another conquest, no,” John whispered heatedly, his arm snaking about her waist. “But I have always been searching for the perfect quarry—the perfect woman.”
    “And how will you know if you find her?” she asked, cursing her breathlessness.
    His eyes were deep, dark and hooded as he twirled a lock of her dark hair around his index finger, gently tugging until it sprang away in a perfect coil.
    “I will know soon enough,” he murmured. “And when I find her…”
    He dropped his lips to her neck and inhaled deeply, setting her nerve endings alight.
    “When you find her?” Akna prompted in a breathy whisper.
    “When I find her,” John continued, his voice rough as he leaned back to catch her chin between his fingers, “I will catch her. And I will subdue her.”
    “No one can subdue me,” Akna declared, her eyes brightly flashing.
    “We shall see about that.”
    With that, John gently tipped her face back and pressed forward, his lips catching hers in a seductive kiss. He suckled gently at her plump lower lip before grazing it with the edge of his teeth. When she gasped, he parted her lips with his tongue, sweeping the cavern of her mouth and stealing her breath. His fingers slipped across her jaw and behind her ear to cup the nape of her neck and draw her even closer. He deepened the kiss and moulded his body to hers, revelling in the feeling of her curves pressing against him.
    For her part, Akna had completely forgotten to protest the onslaught of pleasure. With his mouth working against hers in the most delicious manner, she could only let her eyelids slip closed. He slowly backed her up against the cold stone wall, but all she felt was the press of his taut chest muscles against her body. She reached up to twine her arms around his neck, pulling away from the kiss only to gasp for breath. John took this as an invitation to trail searing kisses down her neck to her shoulder, his open mouth leaving a scalding trail of moisture that quickly chilled in the cool air. When his teeth caught her collarbone, her breathing hitched, and she felt him smile into her skin.
    In revenge, Akna slid her fingers into his thick, sandy hair and pulled him close. She nipped at his