Free Trapped Into Marriage by Dez Burke

to her with his words, his voice. And now his hands , as they smoothed up to run through her scalp.
    “Your hair…thick, black and glossy, framing your beautiful face with the soft bangs almost sweeping over one eye…It made me want to reach out and tuck the locks behind your ear to keep them from covering those beautiful eyes; dark, bright, round and seductive – all at the same time. And your lips – fuck, Keyonna. The things I thought about your lips , that first time and since . So full and soft-looking, the outline perfectly shaped and tinted just the right shade; in short simply too kissable for words. Over and over I pictured them on my own lips, on my neck…my cock. Damn . I wanted you and it was almost impossible to hide it but hide it I had to. I told myself to think of dead puppies, fat nuns – old saggy boobs. Anything to keep my insanely intense reaction to you a secret.”
    Nick smiled wryly, his thumb smudging her lips gently as he stared down at her. “I know I’ve played the major asshole to you – but you could call it a defensive mechanism. You have a way of getting to a man, and I didn’t want to fall. And yet, I have.”
    Don’t , Keyonna. Don’t listen, she warned herself frantically. His honeyed words, his sweet touch; the stroke of his lips across hers…it’s all just a ruse, she thought. He’d say anything to convince me to fall in with his marriage plans…
    “Are you saying you’re in love with me?” Keyonna blurted out, finally finding the strength to edge away from the distracting pull of his beautiful mouth. She couldn’t think straight when he kissed her. Steeling her heart and her body’s weeping needs, she drew completely out of his hold while her eyes glared at him.
    He released her, a twisted smile playing on his lips. “I should have known you’d ask that. Love…do I even know what that means?” He shrugged carelessly. “All I know – all that matters, is that we “vibe” in ways I haven’t done with a woman in a long time – if ever. What’s that word they call it these days? Ah, chemistry . We’ve got good chemistry, Keyonna. And it goes both ways which is more than some so-called love-struck couples out there can claim.”
    When he reached out again to grasp her chin his thumb and forefinger, Keyonna didn’t flinch away, not when his touch was as caressing as his tone when he added softly, “I need you, Keyonna.”
    “Just like you needed Rachel?”
    Keyonna couldn’t help pricking him further. Couldn’t he see the many different ways in which this would never work? For one thing, there was no way she could settle for whatever he was asking; not with a man like him.
    It would be a cold-blooded and calculated arrangement, and yet here he was citing the highly charged physical awareness they shared so instinctively for each other. Was that enough for her to agree to this farce? No way. Keyonna wasn’t stupid and she wasn’t born yesterday . She couldn’t hide the truth from herself that she was crazily attracted to him – could probably even be falling for him. And yet she wasn’t that desperate to have him that she’d allow herself to be used as a pawn in his billion-dollar stakes.
    Her words made him sigh impatiently, his brow furrowing as his hand fell away from her chin. “I told you; I would have made do with her, yes. Rachel and I both knew the score. Two powerful and wealthy Italian-American families joining to cement their fortunes and friendships. Since we were younger, we’d had it at the back of our minds that we were meant to be husband and wife. There were moments when I considered resisting this impediment to my freedom of choice. But then out of respect for her father, I decided to stick with the program, so to speak. Besides, I’d already stopped believing in romance, or love. So I saw nothing wrong in progressing with an arranged marriage with no feelings involved. And then of course, my father died leaving that clause in his