by Bobbi Smith
"Serad?" Musa, one of Serad's male servants, spoke from the doorway.
"Yes?" He turned, surprised by the interruption.
"The woman is here."
"Bring her to me," he replied, wondering at the odd tone in his voice, but dismissing it in his excitement.
Serad watched the doorway expectantly for Tori to appear. The moment he'd been looking forward to was finally here. Tonight, he was certain he would make her his. What had begun in his cabin would be taken to its rightful conclusion.
Serad thought of the emerald silk wrap he'd chosen for her. He'd selected the silk knowing how perfect it would be on her, and he hoped she liked it. He had even purchased a gold-and-emerald necklace to replace the locket and chain he'd taken from her. He'd searched hard to find a flawless stone, and the moment he'd set eyes on this particular jewel, he'd known it was the one. He was eager to fasten the clasp at her throat and even more anxious to see his sparkling gem resting between her breasts.
A sound clued Serad that she was near, and his anticipation grew even more intense. His mind filled with visions of Tori wearing the emerald wrap! He was expecting her to appear in the emerald wrap! He was excited about seeing her in the emerald wrap! When she appeared there before him, he blinked in shock. It was Tori all right, but she was definitely not wearing the emerald wrap. Tori was wearing a very plain, very short, very tight, very ugly English daygown.
"You wanted to see me?" Tori spoke her words in all innocence as she moved to stand in the doorway of Serad's chambers. She was prepared for an eruption of fury from him, and she believed she was angry enough to sustain herself through whatever confrontation followed. What she hadn't expected was to come face-to-face with her captor and be jolted by a surge of longing unlike anything she'd ever known. He was so tall and so wonderfully handsome. Her gaze was hungry upon him, though she tried everything she knew to deny the very sudden realization that she had missed him and that she was thrilled that he was back.
Struck speechless by her blatant disregard for his commands, Serad could only stare at her in the ill-fitting outfit. For a few seconds all manner of thought left him as disappointment ravaged him. Then, suddenly realizing that this was Tori he was dealing with, he burst out laughing. Serad didn't know why he had been foolish enough to expect Tori to do anything he wanted her to do. In their constant battle of wits, she had always managed to surprise him, and he realized now that it had been silly of him to have forgotten that.
Tori had been anticipating an angry reaction from him, and his amusement caught her completely off guard. Her first surprising reaction to his laughter was hurt. As annoyed as she'd been at him, she knew she should have remained angry, but then she looked down at herself and realized just how very comical the clothing really looked on her. Unable to prevent it, she began laughing, too.
Her laughter sounded musical to Serad, and suddenly he wasn't laughing anymore. His gaze focused on her lovely, animated features. His regard dropped lower, tracing the slender column of her throat down to the straining buttons at the bodice of the clinging gown. The memories of the kisses he'd bestowed there returned with heated power and sent desire flashing through him. He wanted her . . .
Tori quickly noticed that Serad was no longer laughing, and she glanced up to find his gray eyes upon her. His expression was serious. She went still.
You missed him . . . He's back!, a small voice revealed to Tori, in the back of her mind, but a last logical fragment of her consciousness vehemently denied the allegations of her heart. This was Serad, she tried to remind herself, the man who had taken her captive and who stood before her now looking every bit the powerful Barbary prince. Surrounded by the luxury of his abode, dressed in an open, embroidered vest and loose-fitting pants, he was the confident conqueror, the man who held her against her will. There was primitive passion in him, and even as she feared it she was drawn to it and to him by forces she didn't understand.
"Why didn't you wear what I sent you, Tori?" Serad finally asked, his tone deep and slightly ominous as he took a step toward her.
The part of Tori that was struggling to retain her sanity instinctively urged her to back away and retreat to safety. She, however, refused to give him quarter as she met his gaze squarely and answered, "I prefer to wear my own clothes."
"I find it difficult to believe that that dress is yours," he remarked as he let his gaze slide over her once more. "Somehow it looks like it might belong to someone else . . . your shorter companion, possibly?"
"You're right, it is Jonesey's," she replied with dignified calm. "I was forced to borrow it when Oma stole my things.
"Oma 'stole' your clothing?" Serad was incredulous. His servants were all impeccably honest.
"Yes, she did. When I refused to wear the garment you sent, she took mine. I guess she thought I would be forced to wear yours if I had nothing else."
"But you proved too clever for her," Serad finished the thought for her. "I should have warned the unsuspecting Oma about you."
He moved steadily toward her. This fiery spirit of hers drew him to her as readily as any aphrodisiac and his control began to fail. He suddenly wanted—no needed—to strip the offending garment from her lovely body. "It seems during my absence many of the lessons I taught you were forgotten."
"I've forgotten nothing," she asserted, still holding her ground.
"Oh? I thought you'd learned that I was the victor and the master."
"You may have the superior force for now, but you will never truly conquer me," Tori continued to defy him and her own private yearnings. The flare of anger that shone momentarily in his eyes warned her that she traveled on dangerous ground, but she was too caught up in the moment to take heed.
"That is where you're wrong," Serad responded slowly, his gaze darkening. "I have no need to conquer."
"I will never be yours."
"You already are." He gave a soft laugh as he reached out to toy with the top, straining button on the bodice. With little effort, he managed to loosen it, and the material parted by itself revealing an enticing bit of cleavage.
"Don't . . ." She maneuvered slightly out of his reach.
"It was a mistake to try to hide your charms from me, Tori, for you see, even though you attempt to disguise yourself, I know what you look like without the clothing." The memory of seeing her in the bathtub aboard ship returned with a vengeance, and heavy, hot desire burst into full flame within him, burning through the reins he'd placed on himself.
"That was precisely why I borrowed this dress." In a woman's way, Tori sensed the change in Serad. She backed away from him until she found herself flush against a cool stone wall with nowhere left to run or hide.
"You didn't enjoy our kisses, Tori?" he asked softly as he continued his pursuit. When he saw a flicker of uncertainty in her eyes, his mastery of himself completely disappeared. "The jest was well played, but it is finished. Since you chose not to wear my gift to you, then I prefer that you wear nothing. Take the dress off."
His order was dictated with such arrogance that he aroused Tori's anger.
"I will not," she adamantly refused, and her green eyes flashed dangerously at his imperious command.
"There is no point in denying me, Tori. You already know the outcome of any confrontation we might have." He closed to within touching distance of her again. The desire he felt for her could not be contained, and he lifted one hand to release another button.
Tori gasped and clutched at the cloth to hold it modestly together. She realized the danger she faced and sought a weapon to defend herself. In a last effort to stop him, she put one hand on his chest to hold him away from her as she lifted her eyes to his. She meant to deny him, but it never happened. She meant to use Alex to protect herself, to claim her love for him and try to dissuade this pirate. But when she gazed into the smoldering depths of his gray gaze an answering response to his passionate need was born within her.
Suddenly, Tori, too, was remembering the ecstasy that had b
een theirs when for the shortest of times the barriers between them had been gone and they had been only man and woman, flame and desire. She was confused. She was on fire. She wanted him . . .
"Serad, I . . ."
"Tori . . ." Her name was a groan as he kissed her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Tori knew she should stop Serad. She tried to push him away and even turned her head a bit to avoid him, but it was no use. His mouth found hers with unerring accuracy, and from the first breathless touch of his lips on hers, Tori's world was turned upside down. Suddenly, the desire to escape Serad was gone. She didn't want the kiss to end . . . She didn't want to leave him . . .
No longer were they master and slave, captor and captive. They were only male and female, perfect together, meant to be as one. Logic meant nothing before the wonder of their need for each other. The universe narrowed to the two of them.
Tori surrendered to Serad's enthralling kiss, confessing eagerly to herself that this was what she wanted. She had missed Serad while he'd been gone. She had thought only of him during the past few days, never of Alex. This was Serad . . . and he was here . . . with her . . . wanting her as much as she wanted him.
Any last thread of control Serad might have had over himself snapped the instant his mouth moved possessively over Tori's. He wanted her. He had waited for this moment for what seemed an eternity. He had ached for this kiss and this embrace. Nothing was going to stop him. By the dawn's first light, he would have made her his in all ways.
Serad pressed Tori back against the wall and then moved his body intimately against hers. He let her feel and know the strength of his desire for her. His lips finally left hers to explore the delicate shell of her ear and then to trail heated kisses down the side of her neck.
"I want you, Tori. I've waited as long as I can . . ." he growled as he lifted his head to gaze down at her.
Tori said nothing, for, in truth, she didn't know what to say. Her flushed cheeks and passion-glazed eyes, however, testified that she was feeling the same desire that he was. She lifted her face to him, and he kissed her again. Serad's lips moved with persuasive arousal over hers, parting them, tasting of the sweetness of her mouth. His tongue dueled with hers, and she answered that exciting mating call with abandon.
Tori's hand on his chest was trapped between them now, and beneath her palm she could feel the power of his heartbeat. The hair-roughened skin of his chest was hot to her touch. In an innocently sensuous move, she slipped the hand around to his back and caressed the thick, corded muscles there. That small movement on her part brought her fully against his chest, and they both were jarred by the electricity of the contact.
Aroused by her play, Serad deepened his kisses, and Tori met him in kiss after torrid kiss. She could feel the hardness of the wall against her back, and yet it didn't matter. All that was important was Serad and being close to him.
"Serad . . ." she whispered his name as his lips left hers to seek out the hollows of her throat. Chills of excitement shivered through her as he nuzzled there, and she could feel her breasts swell and the peaks tauten with the beginnings of passion.
Serad brought his hand up to caress her, and he could feel the hardened crests even through her layers of clothing. It was then that he knew he could bear it no more. He had to strip away that hated gown and hold her naked against him. He had to caress her and kiss her and make love to her.
His kiss turned wildly passionate as he bent and picked her up in his arms. He cradled her to his chest and did not end the kiss as he strode from the antechamber straight into his bedroom.
Tori was lost in a haze of sensuality. She linked her arms about Serad's strong neck and returned his embrace with equal fervor. The fact that he was carrying her into his bedroom didn't matter. She wanted was to be in his arms, to share his kisses and to know his love. When Serad knelt upon his bed to lay her down, she kept her arms around him and drew him down with her . . . and then it was heaven as he covered her slender body with his.
Serad's breathing grew strained as he braced himself on his elbows above her and fitted his hips to hers in that most intimate of embraces. They were perfect together as he had known they would be. His need to have her became urgent now as his blood heated, and he knew he had to get even closer. He was desperate to have her naked, silken softness beneath him.
"Kiss me . . ." Tori whispered as she looked up at him. He seemed magnificently handsome as she studied him in her passion, and she wondered how she'd managed to hold herself from him for so long. There was no resistance in her, only acceptance of what she realized she should have known from the beginning. What was happening between them was meant to be. It was wonderful . . . it was perfect.
At her words, Serad paused and time seemed to stop. His gray eyes locked with hers for what seemed forever, and then he obeyed her command and claimed her lips in a flaming exchange that pushed them both to the brink of bliss.
Serad could wait to be with her no longer. He began to unfasten the rest of the buttons from her gown with feverish ease When he'd finished, Tori willingly helped him strip the miserably tight garment from her, and she was glad to be rid of it.
"You're beautiful, Tori," Serad told her, his voice hoarse in his desire. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever known . . ."
Tori realized vaguely that she should have been embarrassed by her nearly unclad state, but she wasn't. Serad's words reassured her, and she took a deep feminine pride and pleasure in knowing that he found her pretty. Only when he loosened her chemise and slipped it down from her shoulders completely baring her breasts, did she grow self-conscious and try to cover herself.
"No, don't . . ." Serad coaxed gently to discourage her attempt. "I want to see you. All of you . . ."
He eased the tension of the moment by kissing her with great tenderness. When she seemed to relax, Serad drew back to gaze down at her lithe body. The glory of her slender shoulders and rounded breasts enthralled him, and he caressed her with great care, cupping and molding the soft flesh. His lips traced patterns of fire upon her bared bosom giving Tori a taste of the rapture to come.
Tori could not believe the sensations that were rocketing through her. Unable to help herself, she began to move restlessly beneath him, seeking that which she could not find—that elusive release that seemed just beyond her grasp.
Serad's caresses grew more demanding as his own passion raged to new heights. No other woman had ever set his senses on fire this way, and he was desperate to join with her, to unite their bodies, but he knew he couldn't rush her. He had to teach her of desire's ecstasy. He had to initiate her into the rites of love.
Serad continued to kiss and caress her until she was moaning with the aching emptiness of her passion. Only then did he seek out her most private place to assure himself of her readiness for him. When he was certain that her desire matched his, he discarded his own clothing and positioned himself above her.
Braced on his forearms over her, his eyes now dark with passion as they locked with hers in unspoken communication, he let his hips tease hers in the rhythmic motion that hinted at what was to come. Ecstasy quivered through Tori, and she let her eyes close. Her breathing became rapid and shallow and her lips parted as if waiting for his kiss.
As his mouth covered hers with commanding force, he grasped her hips and lifted them to his. Slowly, he moved into her hot, satiny depths. It was agony and yet it was ecstasy for him as he drove deeper into the very heart of her. He met and conquered her innocence with a heated thrust and then laid claim to the destiny that he'd long known was his.
Tori went completely still for a moment as she adjusted to the wonder and newness of Serad's complete possession. The whispered descriptions she'd heard from gossipy girlfriends of this ultimate act of love were a mere shadow of the truth. To be so completely linked to Serad was more spellbinding than anything she could ever have imagined.
"Tori . . ." Serad said her name in a rasp as he fought not to lose himself in
her velvet hold and end the beauty of their joining too quickly.
She lifted her gaze to his and nearly drowned in the stormy gray depths of his eyes. She did not speak, but let her actions speak for her as she lifted one hand to caress his cheek. He lowered his head to kiss her and she met him fully in that flaming embrace.
The fear that he'd hurt her overcome, Serad held her close and began to move. Tori innately recognized the sensuality of his rhythm, and she started to arch her hips in time to his motions in order to accept him more fully. She could feel the tension building . . . a thrilling, aching knot of excitement that clamored for release. With each powerful thrust, she gloried in his branding. She matched his movements instinctively as his hands skimmed over her with learned caresses.
Serad was trying to pace himself for her enjoyment, but the rapture of finally having her was too much to be long denied. He clasped her to his heart as he sought the crest with hard-driving motions that sent her senses reeling. They peaked, celebrating the bliss of their oneness, mindless in their pleasure.
One in body, their hearts gave birth to a joy neither could recognize yet. They clung together, savoring what had just transpired, knowing that one taste would never be enough. They lay together, their bodies still fused in love's embrace, not talking, not thinking, just being . . .
Serad's thoughts had been blissfully peaceful until the rapture faded, and he'd slowly become aware of what he'd done. A pall fell over his mood as his aunt Rabi's words resounded through his conscience: "Only the lowest of the low would take a woman against her will. "
A coldness settled heavily in Serad's soul. He was a man who kept his word, but he'd broken every vow he'd made to himself not to force Tori. She had not come to him freely.
Serad tried to justify it all by telling himself that she'd been responsive enough once he'd touched her, but the truth remained, taunting him with its ugliness. He had pushed her against a wall and had practically torn the clothes off her.