Derrick drew his fingers into a fist, watching her as she moved past him.
He was going to let her walk away. He really was. The random tantrum tossed at him at the end of another long day had irritated him, and he wasn’t in the mood to deal with her accusations. But when she flounced by him in a whisper of satin and lace, he caught a whiff of carrot and honey. The scent grabbed him and shattered his good intentions. Hunger assailed him like miniature daggers attacking his groin. It reminded him that she was his wife. He had every right to her body, and he would no longer deprive himself.
When she swung open the connecting door, he was already behind her, and his palm collided with the wood above her head, slamming it hard against the frame.
She froze.
“You’re sleeping in here tonight.”
Chapter Eleven
Only seconds passed before she responded, but it seemed longer. He waited patiently, his jaw aching as he fought the tension taking over every cell of his body.
“I’m going to sleep in the other room.”
He bent to her ear, dragging another breath of her provocative scent into his lungs. She smelled so good he couldn’t wait to lick every inch of her body. “Is that what you think?”
She edged sideways, refusing to turn and look at him, and he brought up his other hand to the door, imprisoning her in the wide circle of his arms. Stepping closer, he wedged a knee between her legs and pressed his erection into her buttocks, the urgent pounding of his hard flesh leaving no doubt as to his intentions.
His actions were demanding, but he didn’t have a choice. The choice had been wrenched from him the minute she walked in and he saw the heated look in her eyes when she caught sight of his nakedness. Their argument had only delayed the inevitable.
He continued to whisper in her ear. “We haven’t consummated our marriage yet, which is interesting, considering before we were married, we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other. You want us to get it over with, don’t you, Eva? Isn’t that why you came in here so angry, all worked up with jealousy? And you got me worked up, too.”
“You’re wrong. I’m not jealous,” she said unconvincingly.
“Oh, you’re jealous, all right.”
She pressed closer to the door to evade him, but he followed, drawn like a bear to a honeycomb, unable to resist the primal urges of his body. A soft laugh drifted across his lips as he closed in, trapping her in a tight cage made of skin and muscle.
“You said you were tired.” She could pretend if she wanted to, but the tightness in her voice laid bare the truth for his ears to hear.
“Not anymore.” He reached around in front of her and tugged the knotted belt loose. “I warned you about what you should wear walking around this house at night. Turn around. Let me look at you.”
Slowly, Eva turned to face him, so close in proximity the soft satin dragged across the skin of his chest. He grabbed the edges of the robe and pushed it from her shoulders, allowing it to fall in a puddle at her feet.
He lowered his head and tasted the fullness of her mouth, setting off a spark of fire that blazed through his blood. “You taste so good,” he murmured, nipping at her lips. “I could just eat you up.”
Seizing her lips again, he devoured them with a demanding kiss. She half moaned, half whimpered as she collapsed into him, opening her mouth for the erotic twirl of his tongue. He crushed her, flattening her soft breasts against the hard plane of his chest and grinding his hips into hers to alleviate the pressure in his loins.