The Inconvenient Bride Series 1-3 by Sharon Ihle

Author:Sharon Ihle [Ihle, Sharon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2011-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Once inside their suite, Dimitri headed straight for the bedroom, where he deposited his bride none too gently onto the mattress. As she thrashed about trying to regain her balance, he lit the bedside lamp but left the flame low, illuminating little more than the center of the bed and the brass headboard.

"How... dare you treat me like that," Shylo cried, regaining both her feet and her senses.

"I don't see why you are so upset—it is traditional, is it not, for a man to carry his bride across the threshold?" Dimitri flashed his dimples and laughed.

"I don't think you're one bit funny." Shylo tried to straighten her bonnet, which had slipped to the side of her head, then tore it off in frustration instead. "In fact, you should be ashamed of yourself. Why, if I were a man—"

"If you were a man, I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of collecting you." Dimitri gave her an indulgent smile, then took off his jacket and draped it over a chair. "And if you had tried to be a better wife to me by now, none of this would have been necessary."

Shylo had no ready answer for that, so she turned, showing him her profile, and raised the tip of her nose to a properly insulted tilt. He laughed at her again, but when he spoke she heard little amusement in his tone.

"That's a very cute expression, Mrs. Adonis, but cute is not what I'm after tonight." Now his voice was heavy with meaning, but she dared not look at him. "You have two choices; either you can begin undressing yourself or I'll do it for you."

Shylo whirled around. "You—you wouldn't dare."

"But of course I would." Dimitri swiftly unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it over the jacket. Then he reached for his belt buckle. "You have done nothing but avoid this moment since we arrived in San Diego. Your disobedience earlier today and your reluctance to join me in our bridal chamber has done little for my male pride, I can assure you of that. By the time this night is over, I intend to have it restored again. You can help—or not."

The last thing Shylo cared about was Dimitri's male pride—the removing or restoring of it—but she kept her silence, watching him the way a rabbit observed a coyote from its hiding spot in the tall weeds. How would she ever get out of this one? His belt was open, he'd removed his shoes and socks, and now he was in the midst of sliding his trousers down over his hips. He really was going to strip in front of her. Shylo quickly averted her gaze.

"Since you've yet to begin undressing," he said, his voice more velvety and melodic than before, his accent thicker, "may I assume that you'd prefer I did it for you?"

"I—no."

Forgetting the state of undress he might be in, Shylo turned back to him and, in spite of her fears, found herself feasting on the sight of Dimitri's bare chest.

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