Dark Possession Page 0,92
soft as the best mattress she'd ever lain on. Because she was afraid, she stayed in a sitting position.
Manolito caught her calf in his hands, drew down the zipper to her boot and pulled it off. "You may as well be comfortable, MaryAnn."
There was a command in the firm touch of his fingers, but gentleness in his voice. She made no objection, just let him remove the boots and set them aside so she could draw her knees up. He sent her a faint, mocking smile and stretched out, fingers laced behind his head.
"I thought I'd be afraid up here," she admitted, to break the silence. To find a safe subject.
"You are afraid."
"This is an unusual situation." She snuck a peek at him over her shoulder. He lay like an offering, casual and lazy and very deceptive when she could feel heat radiating off his body, when she could see the ripple of muscle and the bulge he didn't bother to hide. His features were stamped with raw desire, his eyes devouring her.
He brought one arm down to his side, the fingers curling against her thigh, rubbing back and forth through the thin royal blue silk. "I am your lifemate, MaryAnn, your husband. There is no need to fear the things I want from you. Like your hair and your skin and whatever dwells within you, what is between us is as natural as breathing."
"I don't know you well enough to give you that kind of trust. A woman like me needs to trust a man completely to give herself to him like you're asking."
"I do not ask." There was a faint smile in his voice.
For a moment she thought he was saying he didn't want her, but then she realized he meant he would demand what he wanted from her. She rubbed her chin on the top of her knees, contemplating instructing him in human law.
The fingers along her thigh bunched in her skirt, continuing to slide up and down in mesmerizing strokes. "I am not human, sivamet, and more than anything else, I wish to bring pleasure to my woman. What is wrong with that?" He sounded genuinely puzzled.
"Maybe I don't want that."
His laughter was low and sexy, playing over her body with the same mesmerizing stroke as his fingers. "But you do. It is what you fear most, but it is also what you want most. As I know you are sale in my keeping, there is no reason to deny you what you want-or need."
"I'm afraid that may take some time." His touch was light, but the heated silk against her skin made her muscles bunch in reaction.
"I do not think so, MaryAnn. When you lie beneath me, when my body is in yours, you trust me more than when we are apart."
Color swept up her neck and into her face before she could control it. She couldn't deny it. She would have done anything he asked of her. She had and more. But it was too much, too soon. She moistened her dry lips with her tongue. "I'm not ready yet."
"Fair enough."
His answer was so unexpected she turned to look at him. It was a mistake. His black eyes glittered with possession, with raw lust.
He patted the mattress of flowers. "Lie down beside me. We'll talk."
There was no hint of compulsion in his voice, at least she didn't think so, but she still found herself lying down beside him. Thigh to thigh. Hip to hip. She stared up at the sky and watched the mist sparkling above them and searched for a topic that would lead to a real discussion, one that might reveal more of who and what he was.
"Do you like living here?"
"I have grown to call this land home. I love everything about it. The rain forest, the cattle ranch, the people, even the horses. I was not the best of riders when we first began ranching." He laughed softly at the memory. "I have not thought of that time in years. We knew nothing at all, but wanted to appear human. Fortunately, we had the Chavez family to aid us. We had the money and they had the knowledge. We have worked closely ever since."
"I would have liked to see your first ride on a horse."
"I did not spend a lot of time in the saddle. I wished to be macho like the Chavez brothers so I didn't use my mind to control the horse."
She relaxed a little, laughter bubbling up.