Page 102 of A Deal with the Devil

“I…don’t.”

“Have I lied to you?” he asked. He still had not let go of her wrist. He must surely feel her pulse wild under his thumb.

“No,” she admitted reluctantly. She was the one who had lied. And stolen.

“Then why not believe me when I tell you that you are beautiful?”

She swallowed. “I suppose it’s myself I doubt.” She hated acknowledging it out loud. It was embarrassing. Inconsequential.

“Hmm.”

“Hmm?”

He nodded solemnly. “I suppose I shall just have to convince you.”

His hold tightened abruptly and he tugged, sliding her toward him. His leg pressed between hers, pinning her in place. Had anyone else tried anything similar, she would have kicked them. Hard.

With Devil, she could only stare up at him, her entire body tingling hotly.

“Well, firecracker?” he asked against her mouth. “Are you going to let me convince you?”

She nodded.

“I can’t hear you,” he said, tone hardening. Her quim softened and quivered in response. How dare he have this effect on her with just his voice, his words? “Answer me, Catherine.”

The sound of her name, rarely used, in his mouth.

She swallowed. “Y-yes.”

She wanted to feel the weight of his body pressing into her, but he was looming maddeningly above, so close and yet nowhere close enough. His thigh brushed the heat between her legs.

“Yes, what?” he demanded.

She tried to arch closer. “Yes, you can convince me.”

“Not quite.”

She stroked her hand down his strong chest, toward the hardening bulge behind the placket of his breeches. He caught her hand and pinned it beside her in the cool grass. She was surprised steam did not come off her. Surely she had melted clean away by now.

“Yes, you are beautiful,” he corrected her. “Say it.”

She gave a little laugh. “I’m not saying that.”

“Oh, I think you will.” He nipped at her bottom lip, and she gasped.

She shook her head mutely.

“Defiant,” he murmured, dragging his open mouth along her neck, sucking at the spot under her ear that made her shiver. Again and again.

When his hardness rubbed the spot between her legs that ached fiercely, she moaned.

“Well?”

“I will concede that you think I’m beautiful,” she said. She could not help adding, “For some reason.”

His eyes flared at her continued defiance, both exasperated and amused. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again—you’re the real devil here.”

He finally lowered himself onto her, pressing her into the grass. She smelled flowers and mint and rich, deep earth. She was cocooned beneath him, suddenly safe enough to give into her own wildness. Protected.