Read Online Assassin's Kiss by Kate Monroe - Free Book Online

submission, it will not work.” With what seemed to be the greatest of effort, Esther shifted back in her seat to move away from his hand as it threatened to dance towards her bared breasts. “Sir, if and when I choose to submit to you, it will be because I want to – no other reason will do.”
    Still not looking away from her, he arched one brow. “And you do want to, Esther. To deny it is useless, for your body speaks the answer for you. And I, in turn, want you; all of you, everything you have to give. I want to take it all, and I will. First, though...”
    “First? What can possibly be more important to you than that?”
    Seth shook his head ruefully, even as a smile threatened to pull back the corners of his mouth. “Minx! How well you know me already, Esther. Perhaps you know, then, what I am about to say – and what I want from you. But to save any risk of aggravation to me should you misunderstand, for it is always dangerous to provoke an assassin’s temper, I shall lay it out very clearly for you. Before I claim you, I want to hear from you the words you refused to give me last night.”
    Esther took a long and languid sip of the cooling coffee, rolling it around her tongue before she finally spoke again. “You want me to tell you that I want this?”
    “Aye. I want you to ask me for all I yearn to give you, sweetheart; and when you and I both know you need this just as much as I do, I see no reason for you to defy me on this.”
    The smile that illuminated her flushed face threatened to steal his breath away. “A fair point, sir. But you see, I want something from you in return before I will even consider it.”
    She was far too intriguing, his little captive. Content for now to play along with her game, Seth rose from his chair and held out a hand to help her to her feet, unable to resist the compulsion to touch her for even a moment longer as her wide eyes sparkled in the rising light of the sun. “Esther, I do not imagine I shall want to deny you anything you seek from me.”
    “Oh, but you have denied me this since first we met, sir. Unfortunately for you, unless you give it to me, I shall not give you what you seek either.”
    He stiffened. She was determined, that much was clear, and he feared he knew now what she wanted – something he had given to no one for over twenty years. Though she let him pull her up, she instantly moved back and looked up at him without even a hint of discomposure as he found himself on the back foot once more. “Go on then, Esther,” he said, his voice clipped and low.  “State your demand.”
    “It is very simple,” Esther said. “Sir, all I want is your name. Tell me your name and I will give you the words you so badly want to hear.”
    Yet despite that promise, Seth hesitated. Two words. Two simple little words would win him all he craved, he saw that now. It was a name, though, that he had guarded for so long that keeping it hidden was second nature. But with Esther, he was coming to see he wanted to hide nothing. This woman was not one who would be allowed to simply flit out of his life, taking her secret with him – and in an instant his mind was made up.
    “My name is Seth. Seth Vaccari.”
    Seth exhaled as she drew nearer, her head tilted to the side and a thrill of lust flitting across her face as his gaze dropped to her breasts. He loved how she had no shame in her naked body; far too many women saw nothing but inadequacies to be masked, failing to recognise the power of the beauty they possessed. Esther knew it, and though she wielded it as a weapon, he sensed that she wanted him just as much as he craved her in turn.
    “Seth,” she echoed quietly, running her tongue across her lips again as he reddened. “Seth...yes, I think it suits you.”
    He had not heard his true name on a woman’s lips since he left Italy, let alone spoken with such reverent, fearful awe as Esther breathed it with. The sound of it drove him crazy with lust, and it was a