by Taylor Lee
Gathering her courage and what pride she had left she raised her chin and faced him. “What do you want, Gabe? To beat me? To kick me, strike me, make me say I’m sorry for what I did?”
A glimmer of a smile crossed his face.
“All of those options seem about right, Ana. A good place to start. But you forgot the one I would most like to do is turn you over my knee and spank your bare ass so hard that you won’t be able to sit down for a week.”
She started and bit her lip harder. The pain cut through her fear. Looking over his shoulder she judged the distance to the door but knew it was hopeless. He was too big, too fast.
When she looked back at him in resignation, any semblance of his humor was now gone.
Even though she knew it was futile, she wanted to explain, tell him why she went to the poker game, and what she had learned.
“Gabe, I wanted to tell someone, to get one of your men to go with me but they all seemed so… so… busy… I didn’t want to bother them.”
His eyes widened in mock surprise. “Busy, Ana? My men were busy? Doing what? What were they doing, Ana? Oh yes, now I remember. They were protecting you and your father. From men who are intent on killing you both.”
Ana’s gut clenched. He was right but she needed to explain.
“I wanted to tell you. I would have if you were here.”
“No, Ana, you would not. Any more than you told any of my men that you were going to ride miles away from the Villa in the middle of the night — alone.”
He stopped and glared at her, letting the words sink in.
“No, instead, you snuck out of your room and threatened an already terrified servant. A man who would give his life for you and your father. You told Quitin you would send him and Jing, the woman who has cared for you since birth, back to China if he told anyone where you were going.”
He stepped closer to her, forcing her back against the wall. “I’m glad you have the decency to blush, Ana. I should spank your ass for that alone. It is unworthy of you. Just as it is unworthy of you to lie to me now.”
She squeezed her eyes closed, as much to shut off her tears as to hide from his piercing glare.
“Tell me, Ana.” His voice was calm, deceptively pleasant. Only when she opened her eyes did she see how angry he was.
“Tell me. What did you plan to do if you were stopped by the men who tried to kill your father? Hmm? Or, if one of your poker buddies turns out to be the very same man who is planting pictures of you being gang raped.”
She gasped, horrified. “I… I… didn’t see—”
“No, you didn’t see those pictures, because I didn’t want to frighten you. I wanted to protect you. That was before I knew that you don’t need my protection, do you Ana? You can take care of yourself. Correct?”
Ana knew he was deliberately taunting her, trying to frighten her. She took a deep breath and met his gaze.
“Yes, I can. I know how to protect myself.”
He stepped back and nodded.
“Good. That’s good to know, Ana.” He paused then said, “Show me.”
“Show you… show you what?”
“How you protect yourself.”
He walked into the center of the mat and motioned her toward him.
“Tell you what. I will be one of the men who plans to rape you. You show me how you will protect yourself.”
Her voice was small but it was the best she could do with the tight lump in her throat.
“It doesn’t work like that, Gabe, and you know it.”
He loomed up over her, the muscles on his chest and arms flexing, his strong thighs tightening as he closed in on her.
“No, I don’t know, Ana. I’ve never attacked a woman or raped her or tried to kill a defenseless old man. But since you know, show me. Convince me that you don’t need my protection.”
Ana shook her head and refused to look at him. Then, gathering her courage, she pulled from her years of Kung Fu and looked him in the eye.
“I… can’t. You are ready for me. With someone your size I need the element of surprise, to equalize our strengths.”
“That’s good, Ana. You’re right. That is about your only chance with someone as big as me. Fine, I’ll act surprised.”
When she glared at him, he whipped a bandana out of his back pocket. “Tell you what, I’ll blind myself. I won’t know where you are or when you are coming at me.” He tied the bandana snugly over his eyes and moved back.
Ana stepped aside, her own anger rising. He was trying to make a fool of her. But she did know how to protect herself. Master Han raved about her skills. She had to stop letting Gabe intimidate her. Master Han said you lose more with your mind than your body. She moved back several quiet steps feinting from one side to the other. When she felt the spirit rise she launched herself at him aiming one of her flying kicks at his knees. To her shock he caught her in mid-air before she touched him. He flipped her and threw her face first to the floor and landed his full weight on top of her.
“Now what, Ana? Was that your best, your surprise attack?”
Gasping for air, she cried out, “How did you know? Know where I was coming from?”
He growled in her ear. “I smelled you, Ana. Do you think I’m the only wolf in the county? The only man that sees you coming and wants to do this to you?”
He pressed his body against hers. To her surprise a rush of sensation hit her. It was as though it was the other night on the balcony. She whimpered at the heat flooding through her. His breath was hot on her neck. He dragged her hips up in the air and shoved her legs apart with his strong thighs. She felt his bulging erection pressing against her rear and cried out. Not because she wanted him to stop, but because she didn’t.
He whispered, “And what if I do this?”
He lifted her ass higher angling her hips so that his erection was squarely against her sensitive folds. His hands were so large that he could massage her bottom with his thumbs and reach between her legs to stroke her mons with his fingers. She sobbed at the erotic touch, panting for breath. She was shocked. She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted more. Those rising waves of pleasure that she rode the other night were back, crashing over her. She wanted to grab them and ride them higher, over the top. Gabe was whispering in her ear, a throaty growl, telling her how beautiful she was, how much he wanted her, how he didn’t want to stop.
Without warning, he flipped her to her back and bent her knees and spread her legs wide apart. He crawled up between them with a groan and buried his face against her throat.
She cried out a strangled sound. “Do that. Please, do that again!”
“What, baby, do what?” he growled a husky needy sound that vibrated against her heated flesh.
“Touch me, Gabe. No, no! Suck on me!”
He groaned a deep animal grunt and tore open the top of her gi and slid one hand under her chemise. With his fingers and thumb he massaged her nipple until it rose to a hard sensitive peak. Ana whimpered a surprised moan. The pleasure was so hot, so chaotic she could barely breathe. He moved from one breast to the other, teasing one tight peak then the other. When she didn’t think she could bear another sensation, he slipped his hand inside her pants. Expertly pushing aside the damp tangle of soft curls, he separated her silky folds and found the throbbing nub hidden below. Ana shrieked a wild intense cry and shifted her hips to meet his fingers, begging for more.
Then Gabe was all over her. He drove her, dragged her from one jagged peak of pleasure to another. Each one higher, more intense. Places, sensations, she never knew existed. He licked and sucked on her nipples, his tongue wringing sobbing pleas of “more” from her lips. But it was his fingers between her legs that drove her over the top. When she didn’t believe that she could climb another inch up that erotic mountain of pleasure he sucked her nipple deep in his mouth and bit down at the same time pinching her throbbing clit. A firestorm of sensation overtook her, and it was only later that she realized the wild keening cries s
he heard were hers.
Chapter 30
Gabe looked in awe at the gorgeous woman in his arms. Ana’s head was flung back. her eyes closed. Lovely thick black lashes sparking with tears fanned her cheeks. Her skin was flushed an erotic pink. Gabe thought with a grim smile, if he was her lover he would know about all the special places on her body that were flushed. The places that were hot, like her chest, and her breasts. Places that were swollen and tender, like her nipples that peaked to sensitive brown berries. If he could, if he were her lover, he would find them all. The places she might know and all those she didn’t. Like the soft skin on the inside of her thighs, the tickly but highly erotic divot of her navel. Those damp silky folds with the treasures buried inside. And, of course, her ass. He closed his eyes to block out the image. He had only felt her firm cheeks. The plump mounds that fit in his hands with that enticing crack separating them. Oh God, what he could do with that separation. She would never be the same.
But he reminded himself he was not her lover. Nevertheless, he couldn’t squelch a burst of male pride. He may not be her lover but he was the first man to bring her to orgasm. Hell, he was the first man who kissed her. With a start he realized he had not kissed her today. No, instead he tormented her, frightened her, and then he made the mistake that he always seemed to make with Ana. He touched her and smelled her, and then he was a goner.
And God, that orgasm. He groaned softly. If only he could continue. The pleasures he would give her. She was ready, open, still throbbing. Making soft little breathy moans that made his cock as hard as a post. Christ, he’d had a perpetual hard-on since he met her. With a shock he realized he had not had a woman since that day in the barn. No wonder his dick was stiff as an iron rod.
Thank God, he wasn’t her lover. They would never leave their bed. They would spend days and night lapping at each other’s bodies. Reveling in their tastes, their smells. But her orgasm. Holy Christ, if that was what she was like with the simple things they had done… But he forced himself to remember, he was not her lover. He was Gabriel McKenna and McKenna men didn’t take lovers. God forbid they should take wives.
He looked down at her and saw that Ana was peeking up at him. She looked worried, embarrassed and fulfilled. He decided he would work with the fulfilled part and see if he could rid her of the worry and fear.
He murmured in her ear, “Princess, you are an extraordinary woman. Do you know that?”
She shook her head and flushed an even brighter pink.
Then she eyed him and her voice was serious.
“Am I, Gabe?”
“Yeah, honey, you are. I have never seen a more responsive woman — or a lovelier one.”
She looked thoughtful then hesitant.
“It’s okay what I did? I… I made a lot of noise.”
He roared. “Yeah, Princess, you are a noisy little princess.”
“Gabe?”
His breath hitched. He didn’t like the serious questions he knew were coming. He nuzzled her neck and whispered in her ear. “Don’t talk honey. Let me hold you.”
He brushed the damp hair off her face and ran his fingers over her swollen lips. He leaned down and kissed each one of her eyelids. He nibbled on her earlobe then bit down gently. She quivered and sighed.
Knowing he had to stop or he wouldn’t be able to, he moved to the issues that he’d been agonizing over.
“I owe you an apology, Ana.”
She looked genuinely puzzled.
“Why?”
“Because I brought you here to punish you, teach you a lesson. And then, dammit, you happened.”
She rose up on one elbow and frowned.
“What do you mean?”
He breathed a long sigh. “I dunno how you do it, Princess. But I get within five feet of you and all I want to do is hold you and touch you and, hell, yes, smell you!”
“Is… is that bad?”
“Yeah, honey. I took advantage of you. You were scared and I’m bigger and stronger than you. I used my strength against you, to frighten you. And then, dammit, I turned it around and used it to love you.”
She was quiet for a long moment. “Gabe, is it taking advantage of someone, if they want to be taken advantage of?”
He shook his head with a grin and stroked her cheek. “Maybe if you forgive me, we can call it a draw.”
She moved in closer to him, tucking her chin against his shoulder. He was torn. God, it would be so easy to pull her closer to him. To rub his hands over her back, down over the curves of her ass. She wanted him. That was clear. Her fingers were toying with the sensitive skin on the middle of his back as if she wanted to explore him the way he was crazy to explore her. He wrapped her hand in his and kissed her fingers. Anything to stop those feathery touches that made the hair on his chest stand up, encouraging his prick to follow suit.
She let out a long slow sigh as though she were marshaling her defenses.
“Gabe, can I ask you something else?”
He sucked in a cautious breath. “Yeah, baby.”
She looked up at him. Her eyes were wide, dark. He knew he couldn’t avoid the questions in them.
“Why, why did you stop?”
He huffed out a grunt.
“Why didn’t I take you here on the practice mat with fifty fighters waiting to get in? Probably a dozen or so who will be pounding on the door any minute?”
He rose up on one elbow and held her chin so she couldn’t look away.
“Because, Ana, you deserve so much more. You deserve a man who can love you the way you should be loved. Who will treat you like the princess you are.”
She closed her eyes for a minute and then met his gaze. “And… and that isn’t you, Gabe?”
Her earnest question and the fear in her eyes drove a dagger of pain through his heart.
He shook his head. “No, honey. It isn’t.” He waited until she looked back up at him and said, “You know who I am, Ana.”
She winced then sighed a deep sigh.
“Yes I do. You are Angel. The Ace Angel.”
He gave her a rueful grin. “Yeah, baby, that’s who I am. Enough said.”
She nodded. “I… I understand, Gabe.”
But he knew from the catch in her voice and the way she clung to him that she didn’t.
They lay quietly for several long moments. She nestled against him, lightly stroking his arms, his chest. Her breath was soft against his heated skin. He could smell the heady fragrance of her arousal. It would take so little to stoke those burning embers to a raging fire. Christ, he warned himself, if he didn’t stop, it would start all over again. He groaned a silent painful groan. What the hell was wrong with him? It was like, without even trying, she had cast a spell over him.
His heart tripped when she said in a small determined voice, “Gabe?” He pulled back. Damn, he couldn’t take any more. He was too fucking close to the edge. Too close to doing what he’d promised himself he would never do. He breathed a sigh of relief when she sat up and moved away from him.
“Gabe, about last night.”
“Yeah, honey, what about it?”
Ana scooted several feet away from him. She knew it was the only way she could get his attention. That she could say the things she needed to say. The things he needed to hear. She promised herself she would ignore his lean strong body lounging beside her. That she would forget the way she felt when he pressed against her. The way her body burned, like she had a raging fever when he moved his big hands over her, stroking her with his expert fingers…. And she would ignore that gleam in his eyes that made her gut clench.
No, she had to tell him what happened. This was important. He needed to know what she knew.
She made her voice strong, determined.
“I’m sorry, Gabe. I… I know I was wrong to do what I did. And you are right. It is disgraceful what I did to Quitin.”
He pushed himself up higher on one arm, giving her his attention.
She took a breath and then plun
ged forward. “I don’t know why, but sometimes I get so angry. It’s like I can’t help myself. “
His lips curved in a wry grin. She breathed a sigh of relief, seeing the familiar twinkle in his eyes.
“Yeah, Princess, I’ve noticed.”
She squared her shoulders. “But, Gabe, you are to blame too.”
He frowned. “I am? How?”
“You are so dismissive. You treat me like a child. Like I have to be put to bed. As though I’m too fragile to know what’s going on.” The words and the pain she’d felt rushed out. “You… you sent me to my room while you and your men went out to do the important things. Like finding out who tried to kill my father….” She didn’t hide her pain. “You… you even took Kai with you, and he isn’t nearly as smart as I am.” She huffed in disgust. “I’m surprised you didn’t make Davy feed me my dinner.”
Gabe sat up straight, pinning her with a thoughtful frown. Then he shook his head with a rueful grin that melted her anger. Even so, she was surprised at what he said next. When he agreed with her.
“Yeah, Princess, you have a point. I… I can’t explain it. Not even to myself. I’ve never been like this, Ana. Possessive, overbearing. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me. But the idea of anyone hurting you, or frankly, touching you, has me tied in knots. Jesus, Princess, I can’t remember if I ever cared if someone ate or not, but it matters to me that you do.”
He ran his hands through his hair, and his frown deepened as if he were trying to solve a difficult puzzle.
Ana was struck by his sincere questions, that he didn’t dismiss her feelings. It gave her courage to go on.
She leaned forward. She couldn’t hide her excitement.
“Gabe, I figured something out — about the men attacking us. I think I am right. It’s why I had to go out last night.”
Seeing his resistance she said, “Can I tell you? Will you hear me out?”
He gave her a disgruntled nod. “Yeah, I guess I owe you that since you damn well could have been killed. Let’s hope it was worth it.”
She ignored his irritation and pressed on.
“Gabe, something was bothering me all day yesterday. I kept trying to remember but I couldn’t grasp it. It kept slipping away. Then I remembered. At the waterfall, Marty and Jake said they’d heard Eli and Slade tell Peter Harcourt I was a good poker player.”
