Set to Flame (Flame Series) by Angie Arms

straightening her back.  “I would like my own property when my service has ended.”
    Garrick cast a glance in Marcus’s direction she could not interpret, before those devil eyes were back on her. 
    “I will also need a salary for my time in your service.”
    Garrick studied her for a moment before his dark brows snapped together.  “You are a whore.  You should lie under me for just the privilege of it since I have not cut your throat.”
    “She is not a whore which you and I both know,” Marcus put in drawing Garrick’s attention.  “She has known only one man in her young life.”
    “I suggest you stay out of this,” Garrick said angrily.
    Alena was positively shaking in the cloak but Marcus seemed unaffected by the dark man ranting.
    “She is still an innocent and should have been told what a woman such as she is worth.”
    “How do I know what she is worth unless I take her now,” he said stepping to her.  He grabbed her hands, which were tangled in the cloak, and yanked her against him.
    “Because the deal has not been completed and you are not that kind of man.”
    Alena was horrified at the confidence Marcus had in that statement.  As the man looked down at her with so much of the desire she had come to recognize as a survival skill, she felt as if she was ready to faint.  He thrust her away from him, turned took two steps away, then turned to her again. 
    “Disrobe so I may see what I will be purchasing for all these things you demand,” he said casting a withering look toward Marcus.
    Alena looked to Marcus quickly to see his smile fall from his face as he cast furtive glances from one to the other.  She had no choice in the matter for it was as Marcus said, a business arrangement.  The only thing her reluctance would cause was trouble for Marcus who might try to champion her and for herself for not keeping her word.  Slowly she released the front of the cloak and moved her hands upward to the clasp that held it draped to her shoulders.  One glance to Marcus showed he had suddenly found the ground of great interest. 
    She allowed the cloak to fall to the dirt and waited.  Long ago she had stopped being uncomfortable with her naked flesh on display.  Ghalib liked looking at her and would often make her stand so he could stare at her while another woman, who was more accommodating, pleasured him.  Her eyes locked with Garrick’s and she saw that same lust that frightened her sparking in his black eyes.  Two strides and he was upon her, a hand snaking into her hair with such speed she gasped even before his grip tightened and he pulled her head back.  His other hand clamped onto her breast as he pulled her against him.  He kneaded her flesh for a moment before his hand trailed down her stomach, to her flaring hips then dove into the hair at the juncture of her thighs.  She gasped when his finger entered her at the same time he jerked her head further back.  His eyes studied her face intently.  It lasted only a moment before he released her and stepped away.
    “I will leave you to negotiate her price,” Garrick said drawing Marcus’s eyes from the floor.  His jaw seemed to tighten when he watched his commander wipe the finger he had just had inside her on his surcoat.  Alena was mortified.  “You can see her worth,” Garrick continued, pointing toward her.  “I am going to gather the men to march with Damien on the morrow.  I find I cannot part so quickly from my prize so will travel back.”  Then he was gone leaving her alone and unclothed with Marcus’s eyes on her.
    She could feel the warmth of his gaze and wanted to tremble from the feeling of anticipation.  She heard him leave the table and move toward her.  He would touch her.   Ghalib had told her no man would be able to control themselves in her presence, she did not know this to be true or not, but she had the strangest sensation with the thought that this man she was alone with might not.  She could