Aurora closed her eyes in despair, stunned by her wantonness. They had mated like animals. She had let Nicholas take her in her drawing room, where any of her servants could see. Where Harry could have returned to find them…
"How dare you?" she murmured ragge
dly. "How dare you treat me like a common trollop?"
Nicholas went still. "You are wrong, sweetheart. I treated you like a woman. A passionate woman who isn't afraid to feel fire in her blood."
He had struck a nerve, he could see it in her bruised expression, hear it in her furious undertone when she replied.
"Get out. I never want to see you again."
His jaw hardened. "I am still your husband, Aurora," he said softly. "I can take you any time, any place I choose."
She gave him a scathing look. "I told you to go."
Clenching his jaw, Nicholas stared at her, at her defiant, icy eyes, her quivering mouth still damp and reddened from his kiss. Even after his powerful release, he still wanted her. He could count each pulse of his heartbeat in the rigid flesh of his new erection. Yet he didn't dare touch her again. If he did, he wasn't certain he could control his lust, or his own anger.
"You are lying to yourself," he replied, his voice tightly controlled. "You want me. There's a hunger in you that you can't fill."
He saw the raw pain in her blue eyes, but when he took a step toward her, she flinched.
"Don't touch me."
His jaw set rigidly, he turned away, but when he reached the door, Nicholas hesitated. His laugh was short, harsh, almost inaudible. "Can you credit it? When I first met you, I thought you were one of the bravest women I had ever known. I was wrong. You're a coward. It takes courage to face yourself, to admit your fears and deal with them." He paused. "When you think you're woman enough to do that, Aurora, let me know."
Without a backward glance, he let himself from the room.
Aurora shut her eyes. She was shaking with fury, with relief, with fear.
The ache in the pit of her stomach was fear. Nicholas was right, she knew. She was a coward. She was terrified of him. Of the intense emotions he made her feel. Of the stranger she became whenever he touched her.
Damn him to Hades. Why did his touch make her forget everything except how much she wanted him? His caresses had set her on fire, had turned her into a creature of lust, frenzied and wild. In his arms she became someone she no longer knew.
Shaking her head in denial, Aurora stirred weakly, then gave a soft moan of dismay. Her back was still pressed against the wall, yet when she'd straightened, she felt his warm, wet seed slip down her thigh.
Her hand stole to her abdomen. Dear heaven, how could she have allowed him to make love to her like that? How could she forget him now? She could still feel the powerful thrust of Nicholas inside her, the searing fire he ignited in her…
She took a deep, shuddering breath. She had to crush her feelings for him. She couldn't let him near her again. She could not.
A deep and lonely ache twisted like a knife inside her at the thought of never seeing Nicholas again, never feeling his sensual touch. Yet she had no choice.
She had thought her father domineering and controlling, but Nicholas would be a hundred times worse. He would own her. If she surrendered to him, her soul would no longer be her own. He would rule her, would totally consume her in his blazing passion. And her heart would be seared to ashes in the fire.
Chapter Seventeen
His arms enfolded me; his lips soft on my face eased my tears.
Nick lay staring at the dimly lit ceiling of his hotel room, cursing himself and his handling of Aurora this afternoon. It was inexcusable, the way he had treated her.
He hadn't meant for their argument to go so far, to erupt in a blaze of raw, unbridled desire. But her fury had ignited his resolve, while kissing her had driven him beyond the reach of reason. The instant he touched her, he had been wild to get inside her.
He shut his eyes, remembering Aurora's stunned look as he plunged himself inside her, her flushed face as she became swept up in the flame of frenzied passion. He had taken her against a wall, without preliminaries, without regard to where they were or who might see them. Like any whore. And she had loved it, responding with all the fire he knew was within her.
He didn't regret shattering her icy control. What he regretted was the dark anger that now lay between them. After weeks of carefully wooing her, of aching for her, he had destroyed the fragile balance of trust and growing desire in a blinding flash of heat.
Clenching his teeth, Nick ran a hand raggedly through his dark hair. He wasn't sure now how to salvage the tattered bonds of their relationship – or even if he wanted to salvage them. He couldn't understand the violence of his feelings for her.
Hell and damnation, he was getting in too deep. He'd never before felt such driving, desperate, mind-blotting need for anyone. His vulnerability staggered him. With just a look, Aurora could set his blood on fire faster, make his loins burn hotter, than any woman he'd ever known. He was panting after her like some lust-crazed, heartsick schoolboy…