He was tempted. Teetering on the edge of a treacherous cliff.
Maybe it wouldn’t take much to tip him over.
She gusted a sigh. “It’s okay,” she said in a doleful voice as she dropped into a chair at the rickety table. “I understand.”
His head snapped around. His brow rippled. “You do?”
“Yes.” A sniff. She turned to stare at the fire, well aware his gaze was locked on her face. “I’m not…”
He took a step closer. “Not…what?”
She threaded her fingers and stared at them, trying to work up a tear. “Not…pretty.” A mumble.
“What? Not pretty?” A roar.
“I get it. You don’t have to rub it in.”
“Rub it— What the hell are you talking about? You’re fucking gorgeous.”
“Well maybe it’s something else then. My personality—”
“You have a great personality.”
“The way I smell—”
“You smell…”
She glanced at him when he broke off.
“You smell wonderful.” The words were ragged.
“Then why do you think men don’t find me attractive?” Ah. She perfected the woebegone look.
He paled. He took the final step to her side and then sank into the chair beside her. “I find you attractive.” A whisper.
She cupped his cheek. His beautiful, hard, sculpted cheek. She stroked his scars with her thumb. “Then why don’t you want me?”
His Adam’s apple worked. “I do.”
“Well, if you want me and I want you—”
“You don’t.” The words were harsh. Harsh enough for her to realize she’d reached the heart of it, the very core of his resistance. “You don’t want me.”
“I do.”
His throat worked. “You don’t have a clue what I am.”
“I do.” She did. She could see through to his soul when she looked into his black eyes.
“If you knew who I was, what I want, you’d run screaming in the other direction.”
“I wouldn’t.”
“I am a beast,” he barked, lurching to his feet and pacing across the room.
She followed. “I know.”
“I am a savage.”
“I know.”
He whirled on her. “I like it…rough.”
She shuddered and reached for him and whispered, “I know.”
* * *
Benedict stared at her. His pulse howled in his veins, his mind spun with her scent, his heart lurched at the expression in her eyes.
His cock thrummed.
“I know,” she repeated and heat took him. A scorching, roiling, boiling tempest in his gut. He grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the wall with a snarl. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
She held his gaze, calm, serene, resolute. “I do.”
“Goddamn it, Michelle…” But there was little heat in his curse.
“Goddamn it, George.”
There was no reason to smile. No reason to laugh. This was a stupid conversation and a stupider prospect. But she made him smile. She made him laugh.
That was probably the most dangerous thing about her.
Still, he couldn’t resist. Not her warmth, not her courage, not her indomitable will.
Certainly not her allure.
She curled her hand around his nape and pulled him down, and she kissed him. Kissed him. And he was lost.
Just one time, he told himself. Just one night with her.
And then he’d walk away.
He had to.
She deserved better.
Chapter Five
He kissed her with an aching poignancy, one that made her soul sing and her body warm. It didn’t take long for the kiss to change, for his passion to rise and overcome his tenderness.
He fisted his hand in her hair and yanked, positioning her, holding her where he wanted. And he feasted.
She loved it. Loved the furor of his passion, the storm of it. His other hand roved, exploring her body, cupping her breasts, thumbing a nipple, scudding down to her waist and sinking into the flesh of her hips. He found the tender spot at the crux of her thighs and stroked her there through her jeans. He was not gentle. She did not want him to be.
And as he explored her, she explored him. His shoulders, broad and strong, the bulging muscles of his biceps, the powerful slabs of his chest, his thighs. It was only natural for her to stroke his cock, to test his girth. To enclose him.
He reared back. His eyes were red, his features taut. “Don’t.”
“Don’t?” She went for a teasing tone. She shouldn’t have. Not when he was in this mood. He was a beast in this mood.
“Don’t,” he growled with a ferocity that startled her, but then he added, “I don’t have much self-control when it comes to you.”
Excellent.
She must have grinned because he glowered and gave her a little shake. “I want this to last.”