Marie Harte - The Fire Within

Amazed at his mellowed mood, and her insanity for having sex with him yet again , Samantha wanted to scream her frustration but could only manage a muffled hmmph . Hadn’t she sworn off men, wanting to bolster her self-esteem before dating again?

And this, this wasn’t dating. This was hot sex—pure, untainted lust for a stranger. Well, at least on his part. She was starting to feel something for the impatient, arrogant, royal pain. She closed her eyes in dismay. That’s right, he was royalty, a prince in fact— from another world .

“I know you’re not happy with me, Samantha, and I can’t say I’m happy with the whole situation.” He held her in his arms, his ropey muscles easily caging her, and she prayed she’d been more circumspect in shielding her thoughts. She could only imagine what he’d think if he knew she was developing feelings for him. “But you won’t be safe anywhere in your world without me.” His gaze narrowed as he looked up at her. “So don’t make the mistake of thinking to escape. Wherever you go ’Sin Garu will be waiting. And after seeing how easily you wielded my fire, it’s a sure bet he’s planning to use you against me.”

She sighed, any euphoria after their intimacy completely fading. Worries about her burgeoning feelings for Darius and reminders of the blond with the nasty attitude took the wind from her sails.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured and hugged her tight. Two apologies in one day? Must have been a record.

I heard that . Instead of sounding annoyed, he sounded amused.

“I am completely confused.” She leaned up on her elbows and stared down at him. “I can’t be around you without wanting to jump your bones, and for a woman like me that’s saying something. Then there’s your buddy ’Sin Garu—”

“What do you mean a ‘woman like me’?” She squirmed under his regard. She didn’t know how to hide that festering wound. “A reference to Josh-the-Asshole, right?”

She flushed. “I told you to stop reading my thoughts.”

“I can’t help it. You’re way too loud when you’re upset.”

Bristling, she wanted to ignore him but sensed his honest interest and found herself explaining. “I met Josh through a company I worked for years ago. We started dating, and before I knew it a whole year had passed. We had fun, and it was comfortable. I cared deeply for Josh, enough to consider a permanent relationship.

“He was handsome, charming and successful.” She felt his arms stiffen. “But the more intense our relationship grew, the more I realised how much of my life I put on hold to bolster his.

“His clients, his parties, his pleasure came first. After a while I got sick of cancelling my plans to suit his. Instead of being honest with what he wanted, he would guilt me into giving in. If I loved him as much as he loved me, I’d skip my conference. If I had half his devotion, I’d agree to hostess his business social.” She frowned. “It took a while, but I finally found me again after too much time playing second to Josh.

“Now I find myself caught in your mess with an evil sorcerer from another world. And man, I cannot believe I just said that. It sounds like something from a bad movie.”

She realised she’d been talking nonstop, that Darius had yet to speak, when she paused to take a deep breath. “Darius?”

“Do you still have feelings for this Josh?”

She knew he could have probed her mind for answers, and appreciated the fact that he avoided doing so.

She thought about his question and answered slowly. “No, not anymore. At the time I thought I loved him, but what I really loved was the feeling of being important to someone else.” She exhaled heavily, gazing deeply into his otherworldly eyes. “You probably don’t understand any of this.”

Darius stared, his thoughts colliding with his conscience. He could feel the pain of her failed relationship throbbing in her heart. Samantha wanted to be first, and why shouldn’t she? She was a beautiful, caring, hard-working woman who deserved to be treated like a queen. Unfortunately, she once again took a backseat in a ‘relationship’, in this instance to the battle waging between ’Sin Garu and Tanselm.

Just as Josh had hurt her, Darius too played the part of self-important lover. Through no fault of his own, he’d been placed in the role, but unlike Josh-the-Asshole, he had no intention of letting Samantha go.

Why he was suddenly so sure of her importance in his life he had yet to understand. Their chemistry went beyond anything he’d ever experienced, and the raw emotion that chased their sexual encounters boggled his mind.

How could he put into words the irrational idea that he and she were destined to be together? That Darius Storm, the Prince of Fire, had finally found a mate in a world so completely foreign to him? And that she would most likely be averse to being his mate, for the exact reasons she’d left Josh?

His head began aching and he closed his eyes, keeping his arms locked firmly around Samantha. All of a sudden he felt very tired, and he realised he hadn’t had much sleep in the past forty-eight hours. He wondered how much sleep Samantha had managed.

Just then she rested her head on his chest and sighed softly. In seconds her breathing evened and she fell asleep, much to his satisfaction. His need to be with her unmanned him and yet made him…happy. Though he hated to concede to Arim, he knew, deep down, that he’d met his affai . Now if only Samantha would play her part without too much persuading.

She twitched in her sleep and he tightened his arms around her. He snorted. As if the she-devil in his arms would make anything easy. Hell, since he’d met her he’d been in one unwanted predicament after another. And yet she excited him like no other, made him ache for her touch, for a whiff of her scent.

He’d found no fragile flower here, but a firebrand with as much passion as a firewalker. He grinned as he stared at her golden skin, glowing under a haze of stray sunlight beaming through his shuttered window. Fiery and confrontational summed Samantha Brooks in a nutshell. Not to mention passionate and sexy as hell.

He prayed to the Light for patience, a trait he sorely lacked. He couldn’t afford to screw up this one attempt at courtship, not for Tanselm and not for Samantha.

With any luck he’d have time to convince her to accompany him home , before he explained about the affai and that she’d have to give up everything she held dear to save both his land and his life.

Samantha had to credit Darius for being devious. He’d slyly advised his brothers to move her things into his room while she stayed with them, for however long that would be. As if she’d resist temptation sleeping next to him day in and day out. She’d insisted on privacy, and after much grumbling he’d conceded to a room of her own.

That was five days ago.

She missed working, and after a week without Darius, without sex , she hastily corrected, she felt overloaded with frustration.

She refused, however, to go down that road again with him, not until she had a better handle on her emotions and the situation she faced. Odd, but accepting he was from another world and that she had become involved in a fight against evil was easier to stomach than having ‘feelings’ for the bossy Adonis.

Spending more time around him, watching him interact with family and friends in his home—in this world—would better illustrate just what kind of man he really was. She didn’t want to be clouded by desire, even though she could find no way to turn off her body’s reaction to his nearness.

She’d spent Monday managing Gerry and finishing up administrative work. Tuesday Darius collected her winter clothing from her storage facility. So much for apartment shopping. At least she wasn’t wasting money on rent.