Page 72 of Ruthless with a Rogue
A warm, solid hand slid over her cheek, and she leaned into it.Every muscle in her body went lax.There was comfort in his touch, but also an immense relief.Because he could at least still touch her without repercussion.But she couldn’t expect him to sit here all night cradling her face.She supposed she should let him go home.The night was over.She’d quite thoroughly ruined it.
“Well, if that isn’t the most pitiful look I’ve ever seen.”His lips hooked up in a half-smile.“Why so glum, clever girl?”
Her stomach flipped over at the pet name.And at the teasing glint in those mesmerizing green eyes.It was the softest she’d ever seen the man.All for her.
She rolled onto her side to face him and propped up on one elbow.“I’m disappointed,” she admitted.“And frustrated.I wanted to take this for myself.Maybe it’s for the best.I really shouldn’t be propositioning notorious rogues and having trysts with them in my parlor.”
Something flashed in his eyes, something she couldn’t quite discern.“No, you really shouldn’t be, Miss Forester.There’s only one man you should be propositioning.”
Ah.Jealousy.
She bit her lip against a smile and nodded solemnly.“You are exactly right.I should only be propositioning Mr.Thorton.”
A growl cut through the chamber.
And she burst out into a fit of mirth.“You are much too easy to provoke.Jealousy looks quite nice on you, my lord.”
His expression immediately went dry, and he glared at her.“I amnotjealous.I am…very concerned about your mental wellbeing.If you would rather proposition that imbecile over me, well, I’m not sure what that says about your powers of reasoning.Perhaps, clever girl isn’t an apt name for you.”He studied his nails absently.“And I am not easy to provoke.”
She pressed her lips tight to hold back the laugh building in her chest.Heaven help her.Did he really think he was fooling her with that?He was so prickly.He was like a prickly little hedgehog.
“Derek?”
His gaze flicked to hers, then away.Bored as ever.Her lips twitched.
She traced a finger down the center of his chest.“Come here, Derek.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, but he leaned forward, bringing them inches apart.She searched his eyes.Got lost in the forest of green.She wasn’t one to curse, but blast and damn she wanted this man.A want so intense she felt it down to the marrow of her bones.Her heart drummed against her chest.She wanted this man in so many ways.She wasn’t sure in what ways she was allowed to have him.What he was willing to give.But she knew of one thing he was most definitely amenable to.She’d take that.In the back of her mind, where that determined strategic woman hid, she whispered,for now.
His nose gently grazed over hers, so much closer now, both of them pulled by the same invisible force.Something heady, anticipatory.
“Derek?”she whispered.
“Mmm?”
“Probability.”
37
Derek
Derekclosedthedistancebetween them.He knew she’d just given him an invitation with that whispered word.It was theirs.
Lips met, slow, tentative.Like neither of them knew what the kiss would bring: the resurgence of demons, or the rekindling of desire.A part of him was terrified.The way she’d disappeared on him, fallen into a nightmare before his eyes—something inside his chest quivered.He slid a hand to cradle her head, hold her tighter.
Derek had been helpless many times in his life.Abandoned by his mother.Abused by his father.Buried in the debt of his estate.He’d spent his life building walls against that feeling.But over the past fortnight, life had barreled through them, exposing the frightened, helpless boy he’d thought didn’t exist any longer.Being helpless was one thing when it only affected him.It was another thing entirely when he was powerless to protecther.
It was unbearable.
I really wanted this.Still do.
Her disappointment had been as adorable as it had been heartbreaking.Christ, he wanted to give her this.She pushed into him harder, lips turning bruising, tongue demanding.He followed her lead, let her be the aggressor.And it hit him.That’s what she needed.
Make me forget.
But it wasn’t as simple as them erasing the memory with one of their own.She needed to reclaim it for herself, and he knew exactly how to help her do that.
He pulled away abruptly, and a frustrated little growl fled her.His teeth flashed in a grin.Which earned him a blue-eyed glare.She wouldn’t be disappointed for long.He hoped.
