Claiming the Courtesan by Anna Campbell

Author:Anna Campbell [Campbell, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

with a loud thud. Generally, he was an orderly man. It was

part of his carefully cultivated control. But he wanted her to

recognize that everything in this house was his—including

her—and he treated his possessions as he liked.

Barefoot and still wearing his breeches, he swaggered over

to where she stood. She retreated a step before she gathered

her courage and held her ground.

Futile courage. Much better for her if she’d taken to her

heels. But of course, she’d tried that last night and had only

delayed her inevitable fate.

As he’d told her, he knew every hideout on this estate.

When madness gripped his father, Kylemore’s very life had

depended upon his ability to disappear. He’d often used the

188 ANNA CAMPBELL

hollow in the shrubbery, if only because it was close enough

to the house for a quick escape.

She raised her chin and glared at him. “Kylemore, don’t

do this.”

He was relieved to note that her words held more demand

than entreaty. He preferred her when she acted his insolent

mistress. When she was sad, he felt like the meanest worm

that ever crawled upon the earth.

God, he was doing it again. She was one woman, not two.

Even if she gave him enough trouble for a hundred.

“Pleas are futile and you know it,” he said evenly.

“Aren’t you tired of forcing yourself on me? What satis-

faction is there?”

He laughed derisively. “You’re not so naïve. We both know

satisfaction’s not the problem. I might even say I find your

resistance exciting. Soraya was always so . . . amenable.”

Something that might have been shame welled up in her

gray eyes, but to her credit, she didn’t waver. “So if I spread

my legs without argument, you’ll give up this game?”

Was it a game? At this precise moment, it seemed like life

and death.

But then, he’d always been a slave to his desire for her.

Having her, incredibly, had only doubled the weight of his

chains.

“Let’s try it and see, shall we?” He’d take her any way he

could, although he didn’t pretend he’d yet gotten anything

like the surrender he craved.

“Damn you,” she said in a low, shaking voice, her hands

fisting at her sides. She whirled away in a flurry of crimson

skirts.

He grabbed her arm, feeling the willowy strength in her,

and swung her back to face him. She was no weakling, his

woman. But she needed to understand he’d always be

stronger.

CLAIMING THE COURTESAN 189

“Oh, no. I’m not chasing you through the hedgerows to-

night, my dear,” he drawled. “We’ll save that particular amuse-

ment for some other occasion.”

“I’m not some inanimate object,” she protested.

“Lately when you’ve been under me, I’ve found myself

wondering,” he said cruelly.

Her sharp inhalation was his only warning. She lifted her

hand and slapped him hard across the face.

The crack of the blow echoed in the suddenly silent room.

Then she released her breath in a sob and began to strug-

gle in earnest. Kylemore, his face stinging, seized her roughly

with both hands.

“You’ll be sorry you did that,” he grated out.

“I’m sorry I ever met you!” she cried wildly.

“You’re not alone in that sentiment.”

“Then why don’t you let me go? End this evil before it

ruins us both.”

He felt a vulpine smile spread across his face.

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