Read Online Bargain with the devil by Jayne Castle - Free Book Online Page B

„We’re not married, Hunter, and I won’t let you have everything your own way!“ She began to struggle fiercely, planting her palms flat against his broad chest and pushing with all her might.
    „Don’t fight me, Stacy,“ he growled in a thick whisper. „You’ll only hurt yourself!“ He mastered her writhing efforts to be free, pro-pelling her slender body tightly against his own hard length with an impact that left her breathless.
    „I won’t have it!“ Stacy blazed, her temper blowing once more into full sail. „Do you hear me?“
    „You don’t have any choice,“ he told her bluntly, somehow managing to hold her forcefully without hurting her. He was right. She was hurting herself by fighting him, bruising herself against his toughness, but he inflicted no real damage on his own. Stacy felt like a small animal in a cage, hurtling painfully against the bars and gaining nothing.
    „Damn it, you have no right…!“ she panted, and then his mouth was crushing hers, giving no quarter in the battle for her inner warmth. He sought only some sign of surrender, and Stacy’s instincts told her everything would go much easier for her if she gave it to him. But still she fought, unwilling to allow him total control of herself and her future.
    „I’ve told you not to think too much about my rights,“ he reminded her, his mouth grating across the softness of her lips. „I’ll take the ones I want!“
    „Not with me, you won’t!“ she swore. „We may have a deal, but this wasn’t part of it!“ Stacy lashed out with her foot, aiming for his shin and connecting solidly. She heard his indrawn breath of pain and pushed savagely against his chest as his hold momentarily weakened. She was free!
    „Why you little…!“ He glared furiously at her as she backed rapidly away from him. „Don’t you dare run away after that little stunt,“ he ordered, ignoring his bruised shin in favor of stalking her across the room.
    „Leave me alone, Hunter, I’m warning you!“ Stacy cried, edging toward the kitchen, her hand held out in front of her in a hopeless attempt to ward him off. His name certainly suited him admirably in that moment, she thought dismally. He was coming after her with all the deliberate, unswerving intent of a large cat closing in on its prey.
    „There’s no point in running,“ he told her coldly, matching each of her retreating steps with an advancing one of his own. „This time you’re not getting off as easily as you did earlier. You’re going to start learning what it means to be Mrs. Hunter Manning tonight!“
    „This wasn’t part of our deal!“ she protested once more, almost at the back door now. Still, he made no sudden move to close the distance between them. It was as if he wanted her to. suffer the distress of being stalked until there was no more room to run, no place to hide.
    „When it comes to the fine print in our bargain,“ he informed her in a hard voice, „I’m the authority, not you!“
    It was the steel in his words that finally sent Stacy over the edge of panic. With a small exclamation of fury and fear, she yanked open the kitchen door and ran down the steps into the backyard. The bulk of the greenhouse seemed to offer some shelter, and she intuitively raced to put it between herself and her tormentor. Then, in the darkness, she waited, her heart pounding. It wouldn’t take him long to find her, she realized hopelessly. The yard simply wasn’t that large, and he’d probably seen the direction in which she’d run anyway….
    But there was no sound, nothing to indicate his angry pursuit. In the tense silence Stacy tried to calm her breath so that she could listen more closely for the sound of his footsteps. Still nothing. The seconds stretched painfully into moments and the urge to sneak a glance back toward the house was overwhelming. Where was he?
    It occurred quite suddenly to Stacy that perhaps he hadn’t followed her after all. Perhaps he’d abandoned the