Free Wild Orchids by Karen Robards

smiling savagely.
    "You're right, lady: I'm not going to shoot you, not here. But there's not one thing in hell to keep me from strangling you!" His hand tightened while her eyes bulged, as much from panic as lack of air. His hand loosened just enough so that she could draw breath.
    "Give me any more trouble, make one more sound, and that's just what I'll do. Understand?"
    Without waiting for her response, he pressed a tiny red button on the side of the pistol, tossed it on the bed, then reached behind her with his free hand to unhook her bra. She quivered as he yanked it from her, her arms coming up to hug her breasts in a gesture of frantic protectiveness. He tossed the bra on the bed beside the gun, then hooked his hand in the waistband of her panties, dragging them down her legs, yanking at them as they entwined her ankles so that she was forced to step out of them.                     
    She was naked. Lora absorbed the shame of it, her face crimsoning as she felt the cool texture of whitewashed cinderblock against her back and the body heat of the man who, nearly as naked as she, leaned so close. Lora shrank against the wall, her arms trying to protect her body from him, but he was having none of that. His hand moved around to the nape of her neck again, squeezing painfully as he dragged her away from the wall and shoved her onto the bed. She fell forward, hitting her knee on the pistol. It hurt, and she winced. Then she was rolling over to find him leaning close… She scrambled up the bed in an effort to escape, scooting with her elbows and her feet as she came up hard against the cold iron bars of the headboard. He picked up the gun, hefting it once as he looked at her.
    Lora cringed, her eyes running fearfully over the grim face, over the hard muscles and hair-roughened skin of his shoulders and chest to focus with horrified attention on the front of his briefs. Sweat broke out all over her body as she saw that the once soft bulge was growing before her eyes. Bigger and bigger… He set the gun down on the small table, then turned to look at her again. His eyes ran over her shrinking body with deliberate slowness.
    "Scream and I swear I'll strangle you," he hissed through clenched teeth, and then he was on the bed beside her, catching her in his arms so that she was pressed close against his chest. Lora was terrifyingly aware of the immense heat of him, the roughness of his body hair against her own smooth skin, me hard, rippling muscles crushing her softness, the smell of rain-wet man. Then he was on top of her, his big body completely covering her smaller one, the weight of him forcing the air from her lungs so that she couldn't have made a sound louder than a grunt even if the thick pelt of hair on his chest had not been crushing her nose and mouth. She could feel the hot satiny texture and dampness of his skin with her every pore… The hard muscles of his arms and legs had her pinned helplessly beneath him. Against her soft thighs, she could feel the cloth of his briefs. And beneath the cloth was the rock hardness that told her what was to come.
    Her brain shut down, leaving only instinct to respond. Her body bucked frantically, trying to throw him off her. Caught by surprise, he shifted so that she was partially free. Twisting, she clawed for the side of the bed, her nails sinking deep into the pile of blankets and her feet kicking desperately at the unyielding strength of his legs that still imprisoned hers. He grabbed her, grappling to hold her, one hand clamping over her mouth that had opened to scream regardless of the consequences as he crushed her to him with his other arm around her waist. His hand spread out over the curve of her round bottom, his fingers digging painfully into the soft flesh.
    The intimacy of his grip galvanized her. Frenziedly she kicked and writhed, but it was like trying to kick free of an octopus; his hold on her was unbreakable. Unable to escape, she swiveled