Seduced by the Beast by Jaide Fox Read Free Book Online Page A

gown.  The motion drew his gaze.  He
followed her hands as they molded the fabric of the gown against her ample
curves.
                She was strangely
subdued, but the quick flash of her eyes as he met her gaze once more told him
that it was a mere facade.  A tempest brewed under that calm surface--one that
would likely kill him if he turned his back.
                “Though I much
prefer the ... alternative, you are most welcome,” he said silkily.
                Doubtless she
knew not how inviting her subtle actions, how it increased the blood flooding
his groin ... else she would cease her movements and hold still.  If anything,
clothed as she was, her charms were only enhanced.  He had yet to feast his
eyes fully on her nakedness--not to the degree he would have liked at any
rate.  Would that he had the time to simply look on her charms for as long as
he willed.
                At the look in
his eyes, Swan felt her body heat with remembrance, at her own boldness and
attempts at seduction.  And the way her efforts backfired on her.  If one could
consider the lustful passion and ecstasy she’d felt remorseful.
                She tried to
quell both the memories and her reaction to them, and to him, and yet she
couldn’t help staring at him, allowing her gaze to roam down his chiseled form
to the bulge cloaked by his brown kurt.  He had been inside her, when she’d
allowed no man to touch her in many years.
                But then, she
reminded herself, she’d not allowed Raphael.  He’d taken, without exactly
gaining her permission.  She hadn’t told him no, for she knew she was at fault
arousing him to that point.  She also didn’t want to admit, even to herself,
that she’d enjoyed it.  Pride demanded she remain aloof an unwilling to concede
her defeat.
                Realizing she was
staring at his manhood, Swan glanced quickly at his face--wondering if he’d
been aware of her assessing gaze.  The perfection of his form made it difficult
to conceive that he was in truth, a beast, and yet the look in his eyes could
leave no doubt an animal lurked inside.  Nor could his actions of before.  Only
a manbeast would dare to force her without the slightest guilt over his
actions.  If she was in her own world, she’d have punished him, but here, she
tread on dangerous ground and was at his mercy.
                How it rankled.
                Privately, she
could excuse him—she knew very well that she’d pushed too far to withdraw
gracefully.  She could excuse herself and say she had not meant to, that she’d
been caught up in her own game, but that did not change the fact that she had
provoked what had happened between them. 
                Regardless of her
own culpability, she was appalled at her continued response to him after what
had passed between them, disturbed that his nearness alone could provoke a
heated response from her.
                The crooked smile
on his full lips answered the question that he’d noticed her perusal, but it
vanished as he followed suit, examining her with equal interest.  As his dark
gaze moved over her lingeringly, she had the conviction that he’d missed no
detail of her appearance; from her tousled honey brown hair curling over her
nude shoulders and near bared breasts, down to the length of her legs exposed
by the deep slits up the side of the gown.
                An answering heat
swarmed her form under that deliberate, sweeping stare, and she reminded of
what he’d done to her and the desire that left her sex moist with want.
                “Do you like what
you see?” Swan asked belligerently, determined to quash any burgeoning feelings
she might have.
                “Is that an invitation?”
Raphael smiled and moved closer. 
                Swan took a step
back before she realized it.  “No, it is not.