Free Seducing the Enemy by Noelle Adams Page B

he could see the outline of her body silhouetted beneath the thin fabric.
    His own body tightened at the sight of those curves—the flat belly, rounded bottom, and peaked swells of her breasts. He told himself she’d probably worn the nightgown to tempt him, and he made himself fight the arousal.
    Once she finally picked out her book, he escorted her back to her suite.
    In the hall outside her room, she glanced up at him, speaking for the first time in ten minutes. “I am sorry about your eye. Is it very bad?”
    She seemed genuinely concerned and his resistance softened slightly. He remembered with a glimmer of amusement how exasperated she’d been in the library in battle with that wasp. “It’s fine. Next time, you’ll have to try harder.”
    After a flicker of indignation, she offered a faint grin. “Yes. Next time, I’ll make sure I use a marble bookend instead of a magazine.”
    He chuckled until he realized what she’d done. Then he slammed down his defenses again. She’d always been able to make him laugh, but what an absolute fool he was to so easily believe her sincerity.
    The best defense was a good offense. “What is your game here?”
    Marietta’s lips parted, and her gray eyes grew huge and round before blazing with anger. “I don’t have a game. And if you had a brain in your idiotic head, you’d know it.”
    “I won’t let you harm me or my family.” He wasn’t touching her, but he’d stepped forward to trap her against the wall. “And I won’t let you take advantage of my uncle.”
    She nearly sputtered with fury now. “What do you think I’m going to—” She broke off, and her teeth nearly snapped as she caught his implication. “Of course that’s what I’m doing! I’m here to seduce your uncle and trick him into marrying me. Then I can give him a son and disinherit all of you pesky nephews!”
    He had briefly considered that possibility, but her sarcastic, bitter tone confirmed it probably wasn’t the truth. His uncle would never go for it anyway.
    Still, her evident sincerity made him even more suspicious. He edged closer. She was so much smaller than he was—soft and seemingly fragile, quivering with her back against the wall.
    But she wasn’t afraid of him.
    “It won’t work.” He wanted to use his viper voice but couldn’t control himself enough to do it well. “Whatever it is you’re trying won’t work.”
    She sucked in a harsh breath and stared up at him.
    The sound of her caught breath reminded him how she’d sounded when he’d brought her to climax. He forced away the memory of Marietta’s passionate sweetness in bed. Her sensual, yielding body. Her apparent innocence. She’d been a virgin. At least, that’s what she’d said.
    “You won’t be able to seduce him. And you won’t get me in bed again either, so you can save your pretty virgin routine for someone else. I’ve already offered to pay you for services rendered.”
    “You bastard!” she hissed. She slapped him hard on the cheek.
    He grabbed her wrist and pressed it against the wall, next to her head. “That’s the second time you’ve struck me today. I won’t let you do it again. Now answer my question.”
    She trembled visibly, but he knew it was from rage rather than fear. “Damn you!”
    “Ms. Edwards,” he bit out, still gripping her wrist. He refused to think of her as Etta. “Tell me why you’re here.”
    Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes flashing. Her dark golden hair tumbled around her face, and one of her lacy straps had slipped down over her smooth shoulder.
    She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. A fact that made him even angrier.
    “Isn’t it obvious?” she spit at him. “One taste of your irresistible self—your alluring charm and unbridled sexiness—just wasn’t enough. I’m here to throw myself on your mercy and beg you to take me back.”
    Harrison lashed out at her venom with the only means he had available.
    He kissed her—hard, deep, and