Free In the Arms of a Stranger by Kimberley Reeves Page A

her.  “I know you did it to make me happy, Bri, and that is exactly the kind of woman I have always dreamed of marrying.  I need a wife who puts my concerns ahead of her own, a wife who is willing to give up her independence and trust me to know what’s best.”
    Bri inhaled sharply.   Is that what he thought, that she was going to forfeit her independence to play the role of his doting wife?  Jake would certainly never expect her to…no, she had to stop comparing the two of them.  It was Jake’s fault she was having doubts about Chad.  If she had never kissed him, never made love to him, she wouldn’t be feeling so damn trapped right now.  It was totally unfair to blame Jake, but she didn’t care.  All she could think about was proving he didn’t have a hold on her and that her mind and her heart were still her own.
    “I want to be a good wife for you, Chad.   And I want…I want to make you happy.”
    “I know you do, and I can’t really blame you for being so uncontrollable.   Your parents should have pulled the reins in long ago instead of leaving you with that crazy grandmother of yours.”  He smiled down at her.  “But you’re mine now and I’m going to take care of you.”
    Everything in her rebelled at being treated like a wild mare that needed to be broken .  Still, she couldn’t very well challenge him now since she’d basically just told him she wanted to be the docile little wife he expected her to be.  Chad truly believed women should be at home taking care of their men, deferring to the stronger sex to make sure they were fed and clothed and had nothing more stressful to do than plan the next meal. 
    He would be delirious if she followed his carefully laid plan of spending their first year of marriage finding the perfect house and furnishing it before starting a family.  If he had his way, she would be pregnant as soon as the house was finished and then continue to be his personal baby making machine, popping out offspring every other year until they had four children.
    Bri closed her eyes and tried to lose herself in Chad’s kisses as she’d once done before the doubts started crowding in.   His lips were soft and giving, but they demanded nothing.  It was disappointing and frustrating as hell because she wanted his kisses to knock her socks off and dispel this gut wrenching certainty that there would never be more than a mediocre love life awaiting her in this marriage. 
    She’d felt the scorching flame of desire with Jake, had risen with the heat of it, soaring higher and higher until she thought it would consume her.   After experiencing something like that, how could she possibly live with a man who did little more than make her heart flutter now and then?  Damn Jake Malone for showing her there was more to love than this, and damn him for making her feel that no man could ever take her to the places he’d taken her.
    An unreasonable rage stole over her.   The man she was marrying didn’t excite her, while the man who drove her wild with desire could offer nothing more than a brief affair.  Well, there was nothing she could do about Jake, but maybe she could ignite a little fire in Chad.  Brianne pressed herself into him, slanting her head to deepen the kiss.  She moved her hips slowly, seductively, while she continued to entice him with her mouth and tongue, and for the first time since asking her to marry him, Chad lost control.
    His hands were suddenly everywhere, moving up and down her body and being none too gentle about it.   She didn’t like it.  He was being too rough and didn’t seem to care whether she was enjoying it or not.  His kisses grew hard, almost brutal, but she was too startled by his uncharacteristic aggression to put up a struggle until he began frantically fighting to get her clothes off.  Ignoring her pleas to stop, Chad pushed her down onto the sofa and pounced on her like a tiger attacking its prey. 
    “Is this what you