Tempt the Devil Read Online Free PDF Page B

She tensed as though scenting a predator.
    â€œMy lord, I told you my rules about this house.” Her fingers curled against the desk’s wooden lip. How delightful that she was nowhere near as self-possessed as she wanted him to think. It made him feel less helpless against the inexorable pull of attraction.
    His approach didn’t slow. “I can wait until tomorrow night for…satisfaction.” He almost purred the last word. “But perhaps a kiss on account?”
    Her chin’s defiant angle was unmistakable. “I should have outlined my requirements in a lover more fully this afternoon.”
    â€œI’m all ears, madam,” he whispered. Very deliberately, he placed each hand on the desk next to each of hers. He wasn’t touching her but his body created a cage around her. “You have my complete attention.”
    Without a hint of a blush, she glanced down to where his erection strained against his trousers. She was no innocent, his mistress. He liked that. He’d been innocent once, and the tragedy of it had left him broken and ruined.
    She was on edge and unsure, and he liked that too. He fought the urge to press himself against her. This close, he smelled her skin’s delicate perfume. Lilies. Roses. Honey. Something warm and female that came from her and not a glass vial. His nostrils flared as he drew that delicious fragrance deep into his lungs.
    â€œI don’t kiss, Lord Erith.” Her voice lowered and the husky contralto vibrated in his bones. “At least not on the mouth.”
    He leaned forward to catch another wash of her scent. Oh, she was glorious, this woman. “You’ll kiss me.”
    Her mouth formed a stubborn line. “No, I won’t. This, my lord, is how I conduct my liaisons. My time is my own, I’m completely faithful and I don’t kiss.”
    He was an inch from tasting the creamy skin of her neck. A tendril of hair had broken free of the severe hairstyle. He reached to brush the stray lock aside. She stiffened under his touch.
    â€œSo many rules, Olivia,” he murmured. “Rules are made to be broken.”
    â€œNot mine.” She strove to sound forbidding but her unsteady voice betrayed her. He was close enough for her breath to brush across his face. He caught a hint of rich brandy and tobacco. “If my requirements seem onerous, it’s not too late to cancel our arrangement.”
    â€œNow, that would be a pity.” He let his fingers drift to her nape. “When I’ve taken such trouble over you.”
    He bent and placed his mouth fleetingly on her neck. Her skin was so soft there, like living silk. The honey in her scent left a sweet flavor on his tongue. She was exquisite. He couldn’t remember wanting a woman more. His heart kicked into a pounding gallop.
    Just one taste. Although the desire raging in his blood urged him to devour her whole. He raised his head and looked into her guarded whisky-colored eyes. Her lips were slightly parted, hinting at hot darkness within, and he heard the faint puff of her breath. His cock jerked and pressed against the front fall of his trousers. His fingers tightened in the soft hair at the base of her skull.
    â€œI’ve never kissed a woman wearing trousers. The decadence is rather stimulating.”
    He watched that slender throat move as she swallowed. “You’re not going to kiss a woman wearing trousers now. Itold you, I don’t kiss on the mouth. I can’t believe you mistake my wishes.”
    â€œAh, your wishes, Olivia. I look forward to hearing more about those.” He smiled as his pleasure in her mounted along with his arousal. “I’ll have you to myself tomorrow night. What harm a sample now so I wander home with sweet dreams?”
    In her remarkable eyes he caught a flash of something that might have been fear. The thought nagged at the edges of his mind but not enough to stop him. Be damned to her rules.