The Commander's Woman (Abducted 2)

Her face flushed. Obviously, he expected to hear her answer. That meant he must have been able to hear the sounds she’d made last night.

“Eva?”

She clutched the covers to her neck.

“Come in.” She forced the words from her clenched throat.

The door slid open, and he leaned against the door frame, a broad smile lighting his face. Heat crept into her cheeks.

“I have breakfast ready for you. Would you like it in here or the dining room?”

She couldn’t handle the intimacy of him bringing her breakfast in bed. In fact, she desperately wanted to leave this room and the memories of what she’d done last night, probably in front of a huge audience.

“The dining room.” She continued to clutch the blankets to her chest, waiting for him to leave.

He smiled and watched her for several long moments. So long that she almost protested, but then he pushed away from the door jamb and left her alone, the door closing behind him.

She pushed back the covers and stood, glancing around, wondering what she would do for clothes. Her gaze landed on the pool of black fabric on the floor. She certainly didn’t want to traipse around in an evening gown indefinitely. She opened a door on a built-in cupboard and found two pairs of jeans, one faded blue and the other black, a selection of cotton shirts, a couple of sweaters and a red velour robe. The items could have been from her closet at home. They were exactly her size and her favorite type of colors: blues, mauves and soft greens. She selected a lavender shirt paired with the black jeans.

Eva stared at the bowl of oatmeal Commander Raa-ling placed in front of her.

She tried to ignore the quivering of her hormones anytime he came near, but it was damn difficult.

“Darjeeling tea is your preference, right?” he asked as he set a metal urn on the center of the table.

“Actually, blackcurrant,” she answered, trying to be arbitrary. She picked up the spoon to the right of the bowl and poked at the steaming cereal. She noticed a bowl of brown sugar to her left.

He smiled, undaunted. Damn but he was an attractive man.

“My understanding is that your favorite is blackcurrant, but you prefer Darjeeling in the morning.”

She plunked down her spoon and stared at him.

“How do you know so much about me?”

“I know a great deal more than your eating habits. I know you got married shortly after college. After less than a year, he’d had an affair. Then another.”

Her eyes widened as she stared at him. Pain lanced through her as she remembered those early years.

“By the fourth year, he didn’t even hide it anymore.”

Her throat tightened. As the years had passed, she’d become numb to her husband’s cheating, but she’d never gotten used to the feeling of emptiness at the fact she hadn’t been worthy of his love. He’d never even bothered to try to please her in bed. A quick roll and tumble was all she’d been worth to him. A handy female body to satisfy his lust.

That’s all she’d been. And, it seemed, she didn’t even fill that role well enough, because he’d always been looking elsewhere. Intellectually, she knew he was just a lazy bastard who couldn’t be bothered to consider his partner’s needs—probably the reason he

couldn’t even keep a regular lover—but her self-esteem had taken a huge jolt.

”By the time you left him, just over a year ago, both of you had lost count of the other women.”

“Shut up, damn it,” she snapped, curling her arms around herself. She didn’t need him reminding her how lousy her marriage had been. How lousy men were.

This man was no different. Dragging her here against her will. Trying to force his beliefs on her.

Breath labored from her lungs.

“Were you watching me last night?” she demanded, unable to silence the question burning through her.

Chapter Six