Battle Prize by Stephanie James Page A

of his body. "More arguments on behalf of Prescott Services?" she tried to ask lightly.
    The hand holding his snifter shifted in a small, impatient movement. "This has nothing to do with Prescott—only you and me." She could have sworn he drew a determined breath before going on. "If you stay with me tonight, Rani, everything changes," he finally announced evenly.
    The glass in Rani's fingers trembled a little at the intensity of his words. "I don't quite understand, Gage."
    He turned slowly to look at her, and the very carefulness of the movement put her on edge as nothing else could have done. It emphasized clearly how serious he was when he went on to explain his meaning.
    "I want you," he began, each word a link in a chain he was forging; a chain with which he meant to bind her. "I've been wanting you since I first saw you preparing to fight the Battle of Hastings. When I kissed you last night, I knew you wanted me, too, at least a little. I've already told you that whatever happens between us has nothing to do with Prescott Services, Incorporated. But what I haven't told you is that I'm not interested in a one-night stand."
    Rani lowered her lashes to conceal the wariness in her tawny eyes. "That's always reassuring to hear, of course."
    "I'm glad you find it so," he replied immediately. "But I wonder if you realize exactly what I'm trying to say. Rani, if you stay tonight, you'll belong to me by morning. There will be no going back to Tanner or Brady or any other man who catches your eye. I'm a possessive man, and it would be foolish and perhaps dangerous for either of us to pretend otherwise. If you stay with me tonight, you will be starting an affair, a full-fledged affair, not a one-night stand. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? I won't share you with any other man. For as long as our arrangement lasts, you will be totally faithful. You will not treat it as a casual fling!"
    Rani caught her breath. "I didn't think you believed in love affairs, Gage."
    His eyes grew smokier. "This has nothing to do with love. This has to do with a whole lot of much more basic and realistic emotions. Possessiveness and sheer male pride, for starters. I want a woman I can trust, one I know belongs to me."
    "And when the arrangement ends?" she whispered tautly, a flicker of fear sizzling through her veins.
    He hesitated a fraction too long, and Rani realized he hadn't really thought about it. He'd probably been too busy worrying about how to tell her he expected complete fidelity! "When it ends it will be by mutual agreement—everything honest and aboveboard. There will be no sneaking around behind each other's back, trying to line up a new partner before taking the step of ending our relationship. But I see no reason why our arrangement shouldn't last for a long time, Rani," he added. "I think you and I are rather well suited."
    "That's a rather sweeping judgment to make, isn't it? Given the fact that we've only known each other a short time and still have a somewhat unresolved matter of business between us?" She didn't know why she felt the urge to provoke him that night Perhaps it was the arrogance of his words, coupled with the way he assumed he could move back and forth between the business and the personal aspects of their relationship. Personally she didn't find the shuttle so easy. Nor did she care for the high-handed way he was setting down rules. Gage Fletcher was assuming the role of the victorious general a bit too quickly for her liking. He needed to learn that his opponent wasn't equally content to play the part of defeated victim. Spoils of war indeed!
    He surveyed her as she sat on his couch, her slender body curled there with a kind of cool tension. "The judgment may be sweeping, but I'd stake my honor on the accuracy of it I'm sure we're well suited, Rani. What I'm not sure of is that you realize it yet. You're still confusing the business and personal angles. Forget the Prescott Services side of this tonight.