A Daring Passion

His fingers eased their punishing grip to stray down her body. His touch was light, but it left a trail of fire in its wake.

“Pandering to my every whim?” he whispered directly into her ear. “Now, that is a most delicious notion.”

She trembled even as she struggled to deny the sensations already coursing through her body.

“I will be no man’s slave.”

He merely laughed as he tugged open the cloak and his arms encircled her waist.

“You belong to me, Raine Wimbourne.” He gave her earlobe a nip before his lips stroked down the line of her jaw. “There is nowhere you can run, nowhere you can hide that I would not find you.”

The hands that had been pushing him away now clutched at the lapels of his robe to keep her knees from buckling.

There was sheer male possession in his touch, in his low voice. It should be infuriating her, not making her heart flutter with excitement.

“Do you always consider your mistresses as possessions?” she forced herself to demand.

His lips nuzzled the corner of her mouth. “There has never been another like you.”

Her pounding heart came to a perfect halt.

“What do you mean?”

Philippe pulled back to regard her with a brooding expression. “I wish that I knew,” he muttered. “This obsession is not at all convenient. Unfortunately there seems to be nothing to be done but to allow this madness to run its course.”

She stiffened at his less than flattering words. “So I am an inconvenient madness?”

Something rippled over the breathtaking features before he covered her mouth with a stark, relentless kiss. At the same moment he was wrenching the cloak from her body.

Raine shivered, but not from the cold as he ripped off the straps of her shift and, with practiced efficiency, had it pooled about her ankles.

It happened so swiftly that Raine had barely registered the startling realization that she was naked when his hands were skimming up the curve of her waist and cupping the fullness of her breasts.

She gave a small gasp that was swallowed by his devouring kiss. His thumbs rubbed over her hardening nipples, teasing them with a tender urgency that soon had her entire body pulsing with an aching need.

Bloody hell. It was just as wondrous as she remembered. Just as magical.

Philippe had called it obsession. And perhaps that was what it was. A hot, searing obsession that could easily consume her.

Her eyes fluttered closed as his mouth shifted to brand hot, restless kisses over her face.

“Meu amor,” he rasped against her skin, “I need to be inside you. I need to feel your heat.”

A distant part of her urged her to deny his demand. He had already blackmailed her into remaining with him regardless of her own desires. To give into this heady passion would only place her more firmly in his power.

That part of her, however sensible, was unfortunately no match for the sharp ache lodged deep within her.

Her hands clutched at his arms as his head lowered to stroke his tongue down the length of her neck. He nuzzled her pounding pulse before his head was dipping even lower and his lips covered the tip of her throbbing nipple.

Raine moaned at the dizzying sensations. It seemed entirely unfair that any man should have the ability to make her melt with such longing. To quiver with a need that was nearly overwhelming.

Especially one she should hate with her last breath.

He suckled her with a tender urgency that was tightening her muscles and making her legs weak. A low growl rumbled in his throat as his hands skated down her heated skin and grasped her hips. Then, without warning, he was turning her around so that she faced the wall.

Caught off guard she swiveled her head to regard him over her shoulder. “Philippe?”

The lean features were tight and bathed with a damp perspiration, as if he were struggling against a mighty force.