Read Online Secret Fire by Johanna Lindsey - Free Book Online Page A

nothing. What a challenge! If only there were more time…
    But there was the drug. The cantharides would deliver up what human efforts could not. He would have her. And his vanity was pricked enough to take full advantage of the situation and humble this little English flower.
    Dimitri didn’t answer her question. He continued to caress her cheek, which was flushed a delicate rose, like the rest of her lovely body.
    “What is your name, sweet?”
    “Kit—no, Kate—I mean, it’s Katherine.”
    “So, Kit and Kate for Katherine.” He smiled. “An imperial name. You have heard of our Catherine, Empress of all the Russias?”
    “Yes.”
    “And have you no last name?”
    She turned her face away. “No.”
    “A secret?” He chuckled. “Ah, little Katya, I knew you would amuse me. But it is no matter, last names. We will be much too intimate for them anyway.” As he spoke, his free hand dropped to her breast. Her cry was sharp and agonized. “Too sensitive, sweet? You need immediate relief, don’t you?” He moved the hand to the dark triangle of brown curls between her legs.
    “Don’t! Oh, no, you mustn’t!” But even as she protested, her hips thrust up against his fingers.
    “It is the only way, Katya,” his deep voice assured her. “You just don’t realize it yet.”
    Katherine moaned as the throbbing accelerated with his touch. Her mind balked at what he was doing with his fingers, but she was powerless to stop him, just as she had been powerless to cover herself when he first appeared. She needed the coolness of his soothing hands. She needed…
    “Oh, oh, God!” she screamed as pleasure erupted in shuddering, pulsating waves that went on and on, flooding her senses, washing away the unbearable heat.
    Katherine floated down into a sea of blissful lassitude. The tension had all drained away, leaving her sated and infinitely relaxed.
    “You see, Katya?” His voice robbed her peace. “It was the only way.”
    Katherine’s eyes flew open. She had forgotten about him. How could she forget? It was he who had brought her relief from that molten heat. Oh, God, what had she let him do? He was sitting there watching her, and she was naked!
    She half sat up, looking about frantically for the top sheet, but it had long ago slid to the floor beyond reach. She started after the cover at the foot of the bed, but he anticipated her intention and his arm shot across her stomach, keeping her in place beside him.
    “You expend useless energy, when you have only a few minutes of respite. It will all begin again, little one. Conserve your strength and relax while you are able.”
    “You’re lying!” Katherine said in horror. “It—it can’t start again. Oh, please, let me go! You have no right to keep me here!”
    “You are free to leave,” he said magnanimously, though he was quite sure she would never get off the bed. “No one is stopping you.”
    “They did!” She remembered her anger. It swelled and exploded. “That—that barbarian Kirov abducted me and has kept me a prisoner in this room all day!”
    She was adorable in her fury. Dimitri felt an overwhelming desire to kiss her blended with a desire to take her in his arms. She was potent, this surprising little gem, and he was on fire to have her after watching her reach her climax. Buthe must be patient. He didn’t have to take from her what she would willingly give soon enough.
    “I’m sorry, Katya. My people sometimes exceed what is reasonable in their efforts to please me. What can I do to make amends?”
    “Just—just—oh, no, no!”
    The fever was starting, the warmth flowing through her veins, swiftly getting hotter. She looked at him for a moment in abject misery before turning away with a groan. The ache had returned so swiftly. He hadn’t lied. And now she knew what she needed, what her body was craving. Morals, shame, pride, all slid away like rain down a gutter.
    “Please!” She squirmed, seeking those velvety eyes of his