Free The Pirate Prince by Connie Mason Page B

tension. She sat back on her heels and studied her handiwork.
    “Are you finished?”
    “Aye, after I apply salve and a bandage.”
    Dariq observed Willow through narrowed lids. His eyes never changed; they merely observed and waited. Like a predator’s eyes, his were avid, hungry.
    Willow shifted nervously beneath the intensity of his gaze, feeling heat rise up her neck to her cheeks. With shaking hands she tied off the bandage and backed away, trying to avoid looking at his naked chest.
    Reaching out, he trapped her between his muscular arms and dragged her onto his lap.
    “What are you doing? Why can’t you act like a civilized gentleman?”
    He laughed. “I am not a gentleman, and I am definitely not civilized. I am a pirate, remember?” His arms tightened around her.
    Willow realized she was as close to peril as she had ever been. Danger poured from him in dizzying waves. His every gesture exuded arrogant power. He was sexual in away that made women think of sinful things.
    Willow’s thoughts scattered when his mouth claimed hers. He kissed her deeply, greedily, sweeping the breath from her with the vastness of his need. Heat was building up inside her, igniting her skin. No! It wasn’t heat igniting her skin, it was
him
, the pirate. His hands had somehow found the bare flesh of her breasts. She tried to protest, but his tongue was thrusting in and out of her mouth, stealing her voice along with her breath.
    She began squirming to escape with such vigor that she must have inadvertently hurt his freshly stitched wound, for his hands fell away from her and he howled in pain.
    “What is it? Have I hurt you?”
    “No more than I deserve,” Dariq muttered.
    She started to rise. Dariq pulled her back onto his lap. “Try to relax. I won’t hurt you. I promise you will go to Ibrahim a virgin.”
    “Why must you send me to Ibrahim? Can you not find another way to convince your brother to release your loved one?”
    “You talk too much,” Dariq said as his mouth descended on hers, molding, coaxing, until, with a gasp of pleasure, she parted her lips. The tip of his tongue stroked the edge of her teeth, ventured further, brushing the inside of her cheek in a burning, delicate exploration.
    She felt the intimate bulge of his sex press against her bottom and squirmed, unaware that her movements were intensely arousing to a man in the throes of lust. A harsh breath escaped him as his mouth possessed hers with wicked skill. Even in her innocence, Willow sensed a wealth of experience in his kiss.
    Though she tried to resist, she could not. Slipping her arms around his neck, she opened her mouth to his eroticexploration. Her shirt slipped off her shoulders, revealing the white gleam of her skin against his dark hand. He groaned as his hand eased over her breast. Her soft nipple puckered against the callused pads of his fingers, the peak growing hard and taut beneath his expert stroking.
    Willow pressed her face into the crook of his neck. She had to stop him now, before her will was completely destroyed. Dariq acted before she could put her thoughts into action.
    “This is neither the time nor place,” he said, breaking off the kiss. His hand slid from her breast and he set her away from him. “My men have need of me. When we explore pleasure together, I want to make your first taste of passion memorable for you.”
    Willow could scarcely think. Her body thrummed and her mind whirled with sensations previously unknown to her. Though she knew it was wrong, she wanted to curl up in his lap and absorb his warmth and vitality, taste his passion.
    She realized she had been staring at him when he said, “Did I frighten you?”
    “I have frightened myself. I cannot believe I let you touch me improperly and did nothing to stop you.”
    Dariq stood and pulled on his shirt. “One day, you will let me do more than that, beauty. Count on it.”
    “You can wait till doomsday, pirate.”
    Favoring his wounded leg, Dariq