Possessed by Desire by Elisabeth Naughton Page B

him.
    Finally, when she couldn’t take it anymore, she whispered, “Ashur?”
    And as if her voice had drawn him back from some mental free fall, his gaze snapped back to hers, and confusion swamped his features.
    He let go of her, moved back. Rubbed a hand down his face.
    Claire reached for him. “Ashur—”
    He deflected her touch, but when he looked at her, there was no more anger in his features. No more animosity, no more contempt. Only…unease. “I need to think.”
    “Let me—”
    He stepped to the side, out of her reach again. “Just…give me some space. I’m trying to make sense of everything and I can’t do that with you close like this.”
    She tried not to be hurt by his dismissal. Couldn’t help it. “Why not?”
    He frowned. But it wasn’t an angry frown. It was a sexy frown. One she suddenly wanted to kiss away. “Do you really have to ask? Shit.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I’m not like you. I already feel, maya . I may be fucked up, but I’m not a corpse.”
    Was he saying…?
    He’d called her maya again. Princess. What he’d called her before he’d discovered she was celestial. Hope blossomed. Hope for what, she wasn’t entirely sure. An end to their feud? Possibly. But more than that, she hoped to continue what they’d started back on that island, even though a tiny voice in the back of her head warned that would just create more problems she didn’t need.
    “Go inside,” he said. “I can’t go anywhere without you, but I’m not ready to face my brothers yet. And I can’t think when you’re looking at me like you want to take a bite out of me. Even pleasure slaves have limits.”
    Warmth unfurled inside her. A lightness she felt all the way to her toes. “I do want to take a bite out of you. I have since the first moment you showed up on my beach. I want to bite and suckle you the way you did me.”
    A hint of danger sparked in his eyes, followed by an arousal that flushed his cheeks and made her pulse race. “You don’t know what kind of fire you’re playing with. My desires are dark, not honorable. What I did to you in that hut was only a sampling of the wicked things I want to do to you.”
    Excitement rushed through her veins, condensed in her pelvis, and left her hot and aching. Even three feet away, with the cool forest air around them, she felt his need. Hard. Hot. So very explosive. But this time, she wasn’t scared. If anything, seeing how close he was to the edge of control only heightened her desire and made her want him more. “So do it. Tie me down. Do whatever you want. I want to feel it all. I want to feel you. I trust you, Ashur.”
    Tension crackled. Heat and need sizzled in his eyes, and his muscles bunched, as if he might just lunge for her. But he didn’t move. He was holding back, and she didn’t know how to make him take that last step toward her. But this time—for reasons even she didn’t understand—she didn’t want to force him. She needed him to come to her, willingly.
    “Go,” he rasped in the silence. “Go before you can’t. Go now.”
     
    * * *
     
    I want to feel it all. I want to feel you. I trust you, Ashur .
    Ashur couldn’t get Claire’s words out of his head where he sat on the damp ground looking out at the water. And not just her words. The heat in her eyes when she’d said them. The way her body had been humming with need as she’d looked at him. And every time he thought of the way she’d looked then, he remembered her tied down to that bed in her hut, moaning and writhing against him as he’d tortured her. As he’d pleasured her.
    Sweat broke out on his forehead, and he shifted, trying to ease the tightness in his groin. He could have taken her right here in this forest, against the tree at his back if he’d wanted. She wouldn’t have protested. And this time, she would have enjoyed. They both would have. But would that solve any of his problems? He still wasn’t sure what kind of game Claire