A negotiated surrender by Jayne Castle Read Free Book Online Page B

escalating sensuality in him. For the first time she began to struggle, lifting her arms to push against his chest.
    Reacting to the fight in her, as she had known he would, Slade deliberately let his thumb graze the nipple he found under the black material of her gown. At the same time his grip on the back of her neck tightened steadily, drawing her closer.
    "You're not nearly as cold as you'd have me believe, are you?" he rasped. He let his thumb flick back across the rising nipple and Calla couldn't hide the strange shiver that went through her.
    "Slade, I don't want you touching me like this! Take your hands off me!"
    "But I like touching you," he countered throatily, sliding his hands away from her breast, down and around to the base of her spine. "I want to know more about the heat in you that simmers below the surface. Like a fire beneath the ocean!"
    His mouth nipped lightly along her bare shoulder, tasting the skin there as if it were a new and delectable culinary delight. She felt his tongue at one point and then his teeth.
    And for the first time since the disaster of her marriage, Calla knew her body, her trained and disciplined body, was reacting to a man. It was intolerable. If she was ever again to let down her guard it must not be with a man like this! She'd learned her lesson once and She was not about to let herself become blinded again!
    The question of how it could be happening was beyond her at the moment. The crucial thing was to bring it all to a screeching halt.
    "Let me go, Slade, or I'll scream," she said tautly, her eyes wide and full of absolute determination. "For the last time, I do not wish to be pawed by you!"

    Without a word Slade lifted his head and stared down into her ice-cold eyes. She was aware of his fingers flexing at the nape of her neck as the amber in his gaze poured over her like molten gold.
    "I was going to take things slowly with you," he grated hoarsely. "I was willing to give you time. I thought that I'd let you see how much I wanted you in slow doses so that you wouldn't run scared. But you, yourself, wrecked my plans by admitting you already knew how I felt. That doesn't leave me much choice, Calla. I have to leave my mark on you tonight because you've made it impossible to play the game the way I had originally intended. Can't you understand?"
    "I understand you're behaving with classic male arrogance. The little boy in a man's clothes is reaching out for a new toy he feels should be his by right simply because he wants it!"
    "I'm sick of your crazy psychoanalyzing," he flung back. The fingers at the back of her neck did something to the closure of the halter gown and instantly the black material of the bodice fell forward.
    "And you'd better stop referring to me as a boy! Don't you know that only makes me more determined than ever to teach you the difference between men and boys?"
    With a startled gasp of dismay, Calla clutched at the fabric of her dress, holding it desperately in place over her small, curving breasts. Her fury leaped skyward.
    "I'll never forgive you for this! You can forget about the three months I promised you tonight! I want you out of my life this minute!"
    "But I'm not a tame dog you can frighten off with those ice-cold eyes and that waspish tongue!" he warned softly, too softly. His hands were wrapped around her waist now, holding her still in front of him while his eyes traveled possessively over the skin of her upper breasts and shoulders.
    "Is that how you've kept the other men at bay during the past four years?" he went on with derisive humor. "Frozen them to death or terrified them until they ran off with their tails between their legs?"
    "Get out of here!" she ordered, stepping back immediately as she felt his hands loosen from around her waist.
    He shrugged out of his jacket and yanked at the knot of his tie, his eyes never leaving her rigid features.
    "I've told you," he said quietly, reaching for her once again, "I have to leave my mark on