Free The Surrender of a Lady by Tiffany Clare Page B

meaning to, and closed her eyes to hide the embarrassment that would be evident in their depths.
    Amir only chuckled at her reaction and released her chin. “I’m no barbarian to take you while you hold your sleeping child.”
    Elena opened her eyes and stared back at him. His smile seemed genuine as he inspected her. Pulling the knot of her robe loose, he parted the silk and exposed her from breast to belly; not once did his hand graze her skin. He could only inspect one side since Jonathan still slept soundly over her other breast. She tried not to flinch, but with her skin exposed to the air and her nerves running rampant, her nipple puckered and gooseflesh rose wherever his eyes caressed her. She couldn’t help but tremble in fear.
    The wail of her son had never been a more welcome sound. But that relief died in the next moment.
    Amir snapped his fingers sharply, and a round squat woman came forward from the shadows. She held her arms out for the baby. Elena was afraid to let him go but more afraid of what Amir would do to her if she defied him so soon into their arrangement. When she made no move to give Jonathan up, the woman bent over her and swaddled her son close to her bosom. Jonathan’s mouth latched onto the woman’s plump bosom, obviously hungry.
    Elena felt immediate remorse for not being able to feed her own son. That joy and closeness had been taken away from her.
    “Please . . .” she said in a small voice. She didn’t know how to deny this man his rights to her body. At least till she was better acquainted with this place and her role here.
    Her son was safe and healthy. She shouldn’t want for more than that. But would he remain safe if she refused this man?
    Elena clenched her fists, staring after her son. The gurgle and suck of her son feeding grew quieter as the woman walked out of the great room. She had a fleeting moment of fear, wondering if she’d see her son again. Were they to sleep in different parts of the palace? She wanted him close and couldn’t bear for him to be taken. Not after she’d just gotten him back.
    “I only want to see what I’ve purchased. You need never fear me.”
    The voice might be reassuring, but she still couldn’t face him. Half her body remained uncovered for his perusal. The other half of her dress slid from her front, and it took everything in her not to cover herself again. She was desperate enough to want to huddle beneath the meager shield the silk afforded.
    “You will be more comfortable if you lean back against the pillows.”
    His voice was soothing and meant to calm her panic, but it did no such thing. A slight whimper escaped her lips before she bit it to hold the trembling at bay. She was losing control of her emotions and was close to blubbering all over Amir.
    The Lord’s Prayer went through her head in a perverse parody, but it would not protect her from him taking what he wanted. She bit her trembling lip tighter. She couldn’t still her shaking as she leaned back against the pillows exposed to a man she didn’t know, a man who was not her husband and never would be.
    “Shh . . . you are so frightened and for no reason.”
    She flinched at his touch even though it was light, tender. Those freely wandering fingers of his caressed the curve of her breast, over her rib cage, and farther down to the slight roundness of her belly. His hands grazed the skin above her mound, exploring but never touching her with full strength, the heat of his hand more predominant than his touch.
    “Are you sore, here?” His fingers pressed more firmly into her womanhood before easing off.
    She nodded, tears leaking out the side of her eyes. Would he leave her be if she were sore? What if she complained of the pain? He seemed a reasonable person since he hadn’t forced himself upon her—in her—yet.
    A strong hand wrapped about her ankle and he pulled her leg down so there was no hope of shielding any part of her body. She was laid flat out on the floor