Honor Bound(43)

She sat down across from him, willing her hands not to shake. "That's right."

"Then I take that to mean we're getting married."

"Then you take it wrong, Mr. Greywolf. I'm not marrying you or anybody."

He drank from the glass; then with careful thoroughness, scooted it away from him. "I will have my son."

Aislinn licked her lips. "I think Tony should know you. That's only fair to both of you. I won't keep you from seeing him. You may come here whenever you like. All I ask is that you give me several hours' notice to prevent any conflicts in schedules. I'll try to cooperate— Where are you going?" Lucas had suddenly left his chair and headed for the door.

"To get my son."

"Wait!" She bounded out of her chair and caught his arm. "Please. Let's be reasonable about this. You can't believe that I'll stand by and let you cart my son off with you."

"He's my son, too."

"He needs his mother."

"And a father."

"But not like he needs me. Not now, anyway. Yesterday you said yourself that you couldn't feed him."

His eyes dropped to her breasts. She held her ground. "There are other ways," he said tersely and tried to move away.

She gripped his arm harder. "Please. Maybe when he gets older."

"I told you my alternative. Apparently you've chosen not to accept it."

"You mean marriage?" She let go of his arm, realizing how close they were standing and how tenaciously her fingers were curled around his forearm. She turned her back and went to stand at the sink. As she tried to think of a graceful way to broach this subject, she nervously crossed her arms over her middle and ran her hands up and down her opposite biceps. "Marriage between us is out of the question."

"I fail to see why."

His obtuseness made her grind her teeth in frustration. He was forcing her to spell it out for him and she hated him for it. "I can't marry you because of all it entails."

"Leaving the city, this house?"

"That's part of it."

"What's the other part?"

"My studio."

"Your studio is being capably operated by two employees. Try again."

"All right then," she cried, spinning around to confront him. "Living with you. And … and…"

"Sleeping with me." He finished her sentence for her. The low, sandy sound of his voice was so intimate she could all but feel it brushing against her skin.

For answer, she turned her back to him again and bowed her head low. "Yes."

"Then we're not talking about marriage, are we? We're talking about sex. I used the term 'marriage' in a strictly legal context. Apparently you read more into my proposal."

"I—"

"No, no. Since you brought it up, let's explore all the possibilities."

He moved up behind her. She could sense he was there even before she felt his warm breath drifting over her neck as he bent his head down. It was a taunting movement, as though he had trapped her, but before devouring her, wanted to play with her.

"You can't stand the thought of having sex with me, is that it?" He slid his hand around her, pressing it flat against her midriff, drawing her closer. "You didn't seem to have any objections that morning on top of the mountain."

"Don't." Her breathy command carried little weight. It didn't stop him from nuzzling her hair with his nose until his mouth touched her ear.

"Did I miss something that morning? Or do white society girls say no differently from others?"

"Stop, stop this," she moaned. His fingertips lightly brushed her nipple, coaxing a drop of moisture from it.

"It sure as hell sounded like you were saying yes."

"It should never have happened."

"What's the matter, Miss Andrews? After all this time are you getting squeamish about screwing an Indian?"

She threw off his arms, spun around and smacked his hard cheek with the flat of her palm. The sound cracked through the room like a slashing whip. Both were as stunned by the sound as they were by her flare of violence and the crude words that had precipitated it.

She withdrew her hand quickly. "Don't ever talk to me like that," she said breathlessly, her breasts rapidly rising and falling with anger.

"All right," he growled, taking the few steps necessary to pin her against the countertop. "Then let's talk about why you're all dolled up today. Did you want to make sure I'd notice your blond beauty? Did you think you would intimidate the Indian boy with it? How dare I ask such a golden goddess to marry me? Is that what you wanted me to think?"

"No!"

"Then why do you smell so damn good? And why did you make yourself look good enough to eat?" be asked through clenched teeth. "And why do I want to?"

He couldn't resist the groan that rumbled from his throat, anymore than he could resist crushing her against him. He buried his face in the hollow of her throat and held her tight. He rubbed his chest against her breasts. His hips pantomimed lovemaking against hers.

The embrace lasted only a few seconds before he shoved himself away from her. His chest was heaving. A few buttons on his shirt had come loose. The color in his dark cheeks had deepened. To Aislinn's startled eyes he looked undisciplined and dangerous, and wildly sexy.