The Ultimate Surrender
It was too late; his body was already touching hers whilst his hands closed on her shoulders and his mouth came down on her own with a hard determination that made her whole body start to tremble.
‘No!’ she whispered again under her breath, but her eyes were already starting to close, her body going soft and malleable beneath his touch…beneath him.
Behind her closed eyelids she could feel the searing pain of her own hot, shaming tears.
Why? Why had this to happen? Why now…why, after all these years of forcing herself not to think, not to imagine, not to dare to dream—?
She was trembling violently and openly now, and she prayed as she had never prayed before that only she would know the reason for the frantic tremors that were racing through her, and that only she would know that her reaction to his remorseless determination to punish her was not because she was afraid or angry but because—
‘How many men have touched you like this…kissed you like this since Richard?’ Marcus asked her thickly as his hands swept down the length of her arms to hold her whilst the hard pressure of his body leaning into hers made her shockingly aware of the physical effect their intimacy was having on him.
Men were so different from women, so easily and strongly aroused by the sensuality of physical contact, not needing any emotional input. Whereas she…
‘Open your mouth. Kiss me properly,’ Marcus demanded rawly against her lips.
Oh, God, please let me be able to resist, to prevent him from guessing—knowing.
‘Marcus…’ She started to protest, but it was no use; the moment her lips parted his were covering them, devouring them…devouring her.
Polly could feel the resistance draining out of her body.
‘Marcus…’
As she breathed his name her hands lifted to his arms, her fingers curling round them, digging into the hard muscles. She could feel the frantic thud of her heart—or was it his? It seemed to beat into her body in a rhythm that…
Stop it. Stop it! she warned herself shakily as her mind tortured her with all sorts of dangerous images.
Marcus’s hands were on her breasts now, shaping them, covering them, his thumbs rubbing against her hardening nipples.
She made a small sound beneath her breath and his fingers worked her breast free of the covering of her bra through her top.
As his tongue thrust between her lips Polly gave a small stifled moan of pleasure and tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. He pulled her, taking hold of her shoulders again and imprisoning her tightly against his body whilst he changed their position so that he was the one leaning against the wall whilst she was cradled between his splayed legs…
Oh, God, she couldn’t cope with this…not now…not ever…no way…She could feel his hard arousal even before his hands slid down her body to pull her even more tightly into his own; another second and he would be…they would be…
Distantly Polly was aware of a ringing noise that seemed to go on and on, then abruptly Marcus was releasing her mouth, and then her body, cursing as he did so.
Too shaken and shocked to do or say anything, Polly simply stood where she was, white-faced, paralysed almost.
‘That’s the doorbell; it will probably be Suzi,’ Marcus told her tersely. ‘She wanted to see the house.’
Blank-eyed, Polly tried to speak, but found she couldn’t. Her body felt heavy and awkward; even breathing required concentration and effort. She couldn’t bring herself to look at Marcus. She couldn’t bear to do so…
As he walked towards the door she looked across the desk to where she had left her bag and her coat. Such mundane articles, so much a part of her equally mundane and ordinary life, but now she was looking at them as though she had never seen them before. Shakily she walked towards them and picked them up. She could hear Marcus walking down the hallway. Her brain was urging her to move more quickly, to escape, to get away before Suzi came in.
Frantically she reached for her things, her hands trembling so much that it took her three attempts before she could pick them up properly. There was a pair of French windows in the room she was in. Blindly she tugged the bolts, managing to wrench them open and breaking a nail in the process as she stumbled thankfully into the fresh air and headed unsteadily for her car.
Let Marcus make whatever he wanted to make of her unceremonious departure, she thought as she drove away. She imagined that her continued presence would only have been embarrassing to him with Suzi there, unless he actually enjoyed the thought of having two women in his home, both of whom he…
Shuddering, Polly brought her car to a halt at the roadside and forced herself to take several deep, calming breaths.