The Darkling's Desire

She didn’t like it.

“You are small for an Amazon.” Settling his weight more heavily on her, as if experimenting with the pressure, she felt the jut of his hipbones press against the curve of her belly.

She also felt the ridge of an unmistakeable erection, one that startled her and at the same time made something hot sizzle through her blood.

To distract herself, she dignified his rude comment with a response.

“To be an Amazon is a state of being, you rube. It has nothing to do with size.” The man laughed harder, and Anastasia bucked her body up, trying to free herself. She must have made herself at least a bit of a nuisance, because the man placed a hand flat on her chest, in the hollow between her breasts, and pushed her flat onto her back. He held her there until she stilled, glaring up at him.

“I am Jasper Nagorsky. I, too, am here for the Council. I will let you fulfill your mission, little Amazon. Just as soon as I fill mine.” With that he lowered his head, letting his lips drift over hers.

Stunned by the movement, Anastasia let Jasper’s lips brush over hers softly but not at all gently. In the back of her mind she knew that he was branding her, claiming her, marking his triumph over her and that the kiss had nothing to do with attraction. Problem was, something deep in her belly responded and had her hungering to return the kiss.

Just before she lost control she remembered who she was. Why she was there. Bracing her hands again on his chest, she shoved as hard as she could, putting every ounce of her strength into the movement. She saw surprise flicker through his eyes quickly at the force behind her shove, then he settled back on his heels, still straddling her body.

She wished that that kiss had never happened, because now she was painfully aware of the press of his muscular thighs on either side of her hips.

Trying to look as dangerous as she could while propping herself up on her elbows, she nearly spat her words at him, all the while thinking frantically of what she could use as a weapon.

“You will not let me do anything.” She had two weapons at hand: her body, which the thick length jutting against his pants told her he wasn’t immune to, and the metal bobby pins in her hair. Even though heat from the physical contact with this big, raw male suffused her body, she envisioned stabbing one of those pins into his chest, pointy end first.

Not proud of what she was about to, Anastasia let her torso fall back, even arching her back the slightest bit, displaying her breasts in her tight black T-shirt like an offering. This was kill or be killed, after all. Lesson number one.

Jasper’s eyes followed the movement, if warily. Slicking her hands up the sides of her body, she ran them through her hair, dislodging two pins at the same time.

When his eyes darkened with arousal, when he again bent his head, she jabbed the pins into his neck, one on either side. He howled like a wild animal as the sharp metal pierced his flesh, and while she had the momentum, Anastasia flipped him over onto his back, letting her own thighs squeeze tightly and hold him down.

The flip had brought her tantalizingly close to her knife. She just needed an inch…just an inch…