Rebel's Bargain

Poppy stared, torn between asking if he’d injured himself and the memory of his strength as he’d held her high, pounding into her till ecstasy claimed them both.

The touch of his fingertips on her cheek stopped her as she made to brush past him. So gentle, yet that caress made her breath hitch and that squirming, hungry ache begin again in her stomach.

‘You can’t run from this, Poppy. It’s not going away.’ His fingers feathered down to stroke her swollen lips. ‘If you prefer, I could provoke you into another fight so you have an excuse to release all that tension and let yourself go. But it would be so much more fun if you accepted it.’

‘Fun?’ Her voice rose to a screech. ‘I’m not interested in having fun with you, Orsino.’ She’d just betrayed herself.

His eyes narrowed. ‘You’re not trying to say that hot, hungry sex we just shared was about love, are you?’ He said love as if it was a sour taste on his tongue.

‘Of course not. This was just …’ She gestured vaguely.

‘Pure animal desire.’ His voice dropped to a rough caress. ‘White-hot sex that blows the back off your head and leaves you a quivering wreck.’

He didn’t look a quivering wreck. He looked raffishly handsome and sure of himself.

‘The sort of sex that—’

‘Enough, enough!’ She raised her hand. ‘The way you’re going on about it anyone would think you hadn’t been with a woman in years.’

His face stiffened into rigid lines and he drew himself up, looming above her.

‘I’m facing facts, Poppy.’ He took her wrist, fingers against the frantic throb of her pulse. ‘This isn’t going away. Don’t you understand?’

‘It has to.’ Did she sound as desperate as she felt?

She wrenched her hand away and crossed her arms, counteracting the chill that gripped her. ‘We have nothing in common except a train wreck of a relationship.’ She wouldn’t go there again.

‘You still don’t see. I’m not talking about a relationship.’ Again that bitter emphasis. ‘This is lust, pure and simple.’

‘But we don’t like each other.’ She groped for the words that would end this farce. ‘You detest me.’ She swallowed hard, telling herself it no longer mattered.

Orsino tilted his head and that lock of hair tumbled forward. Poppy’s fingers twitched. She wanted to brush it back, feel its softness.

‘I’ll cut you a deal, Poppy. I won’t mention the past if you don’t. It has no bearing on this.’ His gesture encompassed the pair of them and the wall where he’d just given her the most exciting climax of her life. ‘The past is behind us. But the physical attraction isn’t. Why not enjoy it? Why not let it run its course so when we part this time it will be completely over? Then there won’t be any lingering shreds of … connection.’

She stared, not believing what she heard.

‘You can’t be serious!’

‘Never more so.’ He raised his brows, managing to look impossibly superior. ‘That’s the difference between men and women. Men are pragmatic. We can distinguish lust from affection. What you and I share is steaming-hot physical desire.’

As he spoke a pulse started up high between her legs.

‘You feel it, don’t you?’ His eyes gleamed, the lids lowering as he gave her a look that turned her knees to jelly.

She shook her head. ‘Once was more than enough.’

‘Liar,’ he taunted. ‘That barely touched the surface and you know it. All it did was bring this out into the open. Now it will be even harder to ignore.’ He paused as if waiting for her to reply but her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth.

‘At least think about it.’

He waited till she finally, reluctantly, nodded—anything to end this conversation. Then to her relief he moved back, giving her access to the staircase.

Her foot was on the first step when he spoke again.

‘One last thing.’ He paused. ‘I didn’t use protection. Do I have anything to worry about?’

It took far too long for Poppy to fathom his meaning. When she did, it was with a sick churning in her stomach.

He hadn’t used protection.

She hadn’t even thought about it. How could she have been so caught up in desire that she hadn’t noticed? It was as if an irresponsible stranger had taken over her body.

It was on the tip of Poppy’s tongue to announce she hadn’t been with anyone since him but she thought better of it. He wouldn’t believe it, or if by some miracle she could convince him, he’d see it as a sign she carried a torch for him.