The Man's Outrageous Demands Page 0,52

over to where she was standing. He watched her face the whole time, gauging what was going on inside her. He noticed that she stiffened when he slipped the glass in front of her, but she still wouldn’t turn to face him.

He walked over to the bar and asked the bar tender to

When it was filled, he took it as well as his glass of

In response, he put an arm around her waist, showing to everyone that she was his. No way was he going to let anyone in this room not know his relationship with her. He didn’t like some of the looks two of the men were giving her. She was being too effusive, he thought. They were getting the wrong impression.

Sam listened to the conversation, hearing the words but completely uninterested in where some turtles were nesting. It was obviously some sort of sightseeing tour Marabeth was trying to organize. He made a mental note to tell her later that the tour was completely out of the question. There was no way he was letting her out of the palace without him and a silly tour to the coast to view a ragged beach somewhere was definitely not in the agenda any time soon.

He shifted and started speaking to Jim Marco, his Undersecretary for the Air Force. Although he was having a separate conversation with Jim, he wouldn’t let Marabeth move away from him. He kept her by his side while she spoke to Jim’s wife, Becky.

When dinner was served, Sam was frustrated to find that he was not seated next to Marabeth. But as the dinner started, he realized that it was better this way. She was sitting directly across from him and each time he caught her eye, he would deliberately look at her in a way to make sure she knew what he was thinking. He was rewarded with a slight tinge to her cheeks on each occasion. He also liked the fact that she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes from moving towards him. One time, when he knew she was trying hard to avoid eye contact, when she finally did look at him, his eyes moved slowly down her body, stopping at her breasts, then traveling upwards again. When his eyes glanced at hers again, her breathing was heavier and the color in her cheeks was deeper.

He loved knowing that he could affect her, even when he wasn’t touching her. She was trying to be a princess and he’d allow it, but he wanted her to know she was also his Marabeth.

How could he! She slipped out of the sitting room where everyone was enjoying an after dinner drink or coffee. She was too angry to stay and chit chat with the other women who were in attendance for the night. And she was also afraid Sam would try more of his possessiveness out on her and she just wouldn’t stand for it.

Marabeth was furious with Sam. Their engagement hadn’t been announced yet. And if he kept this up, it definitely wouldn’t. It had started when she’d walked into the sitting room and he’d walked up to her and put his arm possessively around her waist. He was all but claiming that she was his property.

She didn’t want to be claimed. Not yet anyway. But as she slipped into her room that night and took off her evening dress, if she was going to be claimed by anyone, Sam was definitely the man she wanted the most. Reflecting on the other men in the room, she knew that Sam stood out, head and shoulders above the rest, both figuratively and literally.

With complete honesty, she knew that she loved the way he made her feel small and precious. And wanted. Boy, he’d definitely done that tonight. She remembered the way she’d felt during dinner when he’d stared at her breasts. If he’d asked her to leave the room at that point, she would have gone willingly. Marabeth smiled in the darkness. He made her feel loved, she thought. He’d never said the words and he probably didn’t feel the emotion, but sometimes it didn’t matter. She felt it and wanted to pretend it was true.

She was reaching out to take off her pearl choker when she heard a deep voice spoke up from the doorway. “Leave it on,” Sam said.

Marabeth jumped a foot and swung around, searching for and finding him in the light coming into the room from the full moon through