Yield to Me (8 page)

“Just where did you think you were
going?”

“For a walk,” she said without
missing a beat. “Sometimes it helps me sleep.”

Even in the gloom, Brent could make
out the defiant glitter in her eyes. “Cute,” he said with disgust, trying not
to notice how soft she was, or how sweet she smelled. “You get an A for being
resourceful.” He yawned loudly, giving his head a rough shake to clear the
cobwebs.

“Get off me!” she snapped, not
bothering to keep her voice down. “You won’t get a penny from my father or Jonathan
if you…if you touch me.”

Her unexpected remark caught Brent
by surprise. “Somehow I doubt that.” There was a trace of laughter in his
voice. “But if it was a stipulation, it just might be worth the forfeit of all
those millions.”
What the devil am I
saying?
Her nearness was affecting him and he took a step back.

Tom finally entered the room in a
clumsy stumble, drawing to a halt when he saw them at the front door. His sigh
of relief was unmistakable. “I’m sorry, Brent, it didn’t occur to me to check
the connecting bathroom door.”

Brent didn’t budge, never taking his
eyes off Sophie. “Forget it, Tom, go back to bed. I have the situation under control.”
His stare captured and held the vulnerability he saw reflected in Sophie’s
eyes. He made an attempt to read what he saw, but he’d never been any good at
figuring women out.

“You know, I get the impression
you’re not the defenseless little senator’s daughter you’d like everyone to
believe. She would never have attempted to escape while two men were holding
her captive.”

“Then you’re wrong,” Sophie replied,
injecting strength into her tone as though to prove her point. “What person in
their right mind wouldn’t try to get away if they were being held against their
will?” She strained against his hands as though testing his strength, arching
her body slightly, but that was a mistake when all it did was bring her into
bodily contact with him.

She stilled instantly. “Will you
please let me go back to my room?”

“You brought this on yourself,
princess. All I’m doing is keeping you from leaving this apartment.”

Struggling against
a man wearing only boxer shorts, and snug ones at that, wasn’t a very good
idea.
Didn’t she have any inkling what she was
doing? Brent clenched his teeth against the telltale signs of arousal racing
through his blood. She was about to find out real soon. The fact he suspected
she didn’t have anything on under his shirt wasn’t helping matters.

“Stop that,” he ordered when she
slammed her hips into his again, chipping away at his control. The next time
she did it, he sucked in an audible breath, becoming angry at her inability to
realize what she was provoking. He thrust his hips right back at her.

Well, he’d warned her.

His senses were suddenly wired,
turning him harder than stone. Unbidden thoughts of reaching beneath the hem of
his shirt and trailing his fingers along the soft skin of her inner thighs
clouded his judgment, making him dizzy. He tried to tell himself it was because
he was exhausted and needed sleep. But the truth was she made him want her too
fast, and the thought of sliding between her thighs was sweet temptation.
Especially if she was receptive.
He closed his eyes,
groaning inwardly, refusing to give in to the hunger of his body.

Her helpless whimper penetrated the
fog surrounding his head. With a low, frustrated noise, he pulled her away from
the door, squashing down the lust riding him. Nothing could happen between
them. Yet he couldn’t help wondering what it was about her that made him forget
his resolutions about not trusting women. Given a little time, he could probably
figure it out, only he was too tired to think about it right now. He pulled her
behind him.

“What are you going to do?”

“Something I should have done in the
first place,” he grumbled, ignoring the underlining fear he detected in her
soft tone. She should have thought about the consequences before breaking her
promise. He dragged her through the darkened living room. With a deft flick of
his wrist, he unlocked her bedroom door, jerking her inside and slamming it
behind them.

“No!” When it became clear, they
were heading straight for the bed she pulled back.

“Yes!” Brent hadn’t had as much as a
catnap in the last thirty hours and he was going to get a good night sleep if
it killed him, or her! “I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you in this
bed long enough for me to get some shuteye.” He tossed her on it.

As she bounced upon the bed, she
reached for the hem of her shirt where it rode up high, but not before Brent
got a glimpse of her incredibly long and sexy legs. He thought he saw a flash
of black silk before she was able to yank the shirt down, answering his earlier
thoughts about whether or not she was wearing anything under her gown.

The soft glow of the bedside lamp
filtering through the room cast
a sensual
warmth that
provided just the right mood for lovers, if they’d been lovers. Brent ignored
it, turning to the nightstand next to the bed. If memory served him correctly,
he’d placed a pair of handcuffs there for an emergency. As far as he was
concerned this definitely qualified. He rummaged around until he found what he
was looking for, holding them up with a wicked grin.

“You can’t be serious!” Sophie gasped,
her eyes growing round. “I haven’t broken my promise to be quiet!”

His chuckle held little humor. “You
can’t be trusted. These are to ensure you keep the other half of your promise,
to behave.” He reached for her wrist and clamped one end of the cuffs around it
before she could pull free.

She quickly rolled away from him,
forgetting he still had the other end of the cuffs. Instead of forcing her
back, Brent kneeled on the bed, yanking her wrist up with the cuff around it,
fully intending to secure her to the bedpost.

He hesitated, his eyes staring with
total disbelief before swearing a blue streak a mile long. There is no
headboard.
Of all the rotten luck.
He looked at
Sophie, narrowing his gaze at the ill-placed humor suddenly brimming in their
depths. Her expression clearly told him she’d guessed what he’d been about to
do.

For a moment, he forgot about
everything except her beautiful face, spellbound like some gawky teenager
getting his first look at a woman’s breasts. The look in her lovely blue eyes
asked him what he thought he was going to do next, so he calmly took the empty
handcuff and clamped it around his own wrist, which promptly wiped the smug
look off her face.

“You can’t do that,” she said when
she was finally able to close her mouth again. Her eyes looked positively wild,
the color on her cheeks deepening.

“I just did,” he responded calmly.

“But…”

“Listen, princess, you’re safe
tonight. I’m too damn tired to try anything.” Before she could stop him, Brent
made himself comfortable on the bed next to her. He forced her down beside him
with a not so gentle tug, fluffing the pillow under his head and releasing a
deep sigh of satisfaction. “Get some sleep; tomorrow will be here before you
know it.”

He closed his eyes, hoping that was
the end of further talk.

It was going to be hell lying next
to her all night but it was a temporary solution to having to worry about her
escaping. Tomorrow he’d figure out something different but right now, all Brent
wanted was some sleep.

Sophie mumbled something under her
breath. “What was that?” In spite of being fatigued, the humor was evident in
his tone. “Did you say something about a goodnight kiss?”

She became rigid with indignation.
“No,” she bit out between her teeth.

Brent hoped the silence that
followed meant she’d accepted her situation. She moved against him as though
seeking a more comfortable position. If he thought, he was going to get any
sleep with her lying next to him all night he was crazy. He already felt the
heat from their close proximity, and thanked God for the cool air of the fan
overhead.

In the end, it wasn’t enough. As
Brent resigned himself to being hot, Sophie moved again, and again. What the
hell was she doing? She tried to inch away from him, but their handcuffed
wrists prevented her from getting very far. Once she attempted to roll on her
side, and then gave up with a low groan. Brent grinned.

She stilled for a second. He opened
one eye to peer at her, just as she reached up and began fluffing her shirt,
which gave him a view of the curve of her lovely breasts.

“Will you be still?” he grumbled,
more annoyed because of the desire uncoiling inside his gut.

“I’m hot!” she whispered, defending
herself.

“Well, if you stop wiggling you’ll
cool down. I’m hot too.”
Inside and out.

“I’m trying to get comfortable.” She
began squirming again.

Brent released a snort as she
continued to twist and turn. Her fingertips inadvertently brushed against his
naked thigh, sending fire straight to his loins. He tried to pretend it didn’t
happen, but that was like trying to imagine she wasn’t a sexy woman. What he
couldn’t ignore was her hip brushing against his rising cock.

“Damn it!” he barked, losing
control.

“I’m used to sleeping on my side,”
she explained with annoyance.

With a deep sigh of aggravation, Brent
rolled to his side, turning Sophie with him so that when they were finally settled
she was in the scooped out hollow provided by his body. He put his arm around
her because there was no place else to put it. She gasped at his audacity, and
tried to scoot away. Only he yanked her back just as easily. “Now go to sleep!”
he snarled against her ear. He didn’t care if she felt his hard-on or not.

She gasped and grew as stiff as a
board against him. Brent could just imagine what was going through her mind. Then
he was questioning his own sanity. His dick was nestled against her soft ass;
their bare legs were touching from thigh to ankle. His arm was beneath her
breasts and his nose was buried against her fragrant hair. Everything at that
moment became intensified. He willed his body under control.

Not until her soft, steady breathing
indicated that she’d fallen asleep was Brent able to finally relax and give in to
his own exhaustion. He was still hotter than ever, but at least she wasn’t
squirming anymore. With a sigh of relief, he closed his eyes and sank into a
welcome slumber.

Chapter 8

Morning came as early as Brent had
predicted.
And with it the comprehension that she hadn’t been
dreaming after all.
She had been kidnapped and she had spent the night
curled against the body of her drop-dead handsome kidnapper. What’s more, his
cock was hard as steel against her butt.

Sophie closed her eyes, catching her
bottom lip between her teeth, unwillingly captivated by his arousal. Her last
sexual encounter had been over a year ago. With a plastic surgeon
who’d
been more concerned with messing up his hair than
seeing to her pleasure. The incident had left her so unsatisfied and
disappointed that she hadn’t cared if she ever had sex again.

Lying there in Brent’s arms while
trying to ignore the fact his sweltering kisses had been the result of
self-preservation, and not because he wanted her, still made her wish foolishly
that the circumstances between them were different. She knew what she was
feeling was crazy, and dangerous.

So why can’t I ignore the feel of his muscular legs brushing the
back of mine, teasing me as much as any calculated caress?
And the way his even
breathing kisses the flesh behind my ear, causing a quiver down my entire body
that leaves an empty ache. Or how protected I feel with his arm thrown over me?

There was something a little bit
thrilling and risky about waking up in the arms of a sexy abductor. Brent’s
body felt hard and powerful against her backside; something she hadn’t noticed
the night before because she’d been so frightened. When his cock jumped against
her, she felt an answering response in the lower region of her body.

When his fingers flexed where they
rested beneath her breast, realization of what she was doing hit her like a ton
of bricks. What she was feeling was wrong and would go nowhere. When the air
conditioner kicked on she thanked God for the cool draft that suddenly caressed
her feverish skin. Though with relief also came the knowledge there were places
she was barely covered, if at all.

“You awake, princess?”

Thank God! “Yes I’m awake, and I’ll
thank you to stop that.” She purposely injected irritation in her tone. The
last thing she wanted was Brent to think she enjoyed being curled up against
him. She straightened away from him, as far as the handcuffs allowed.

“Stop what?” he asked innocently,
his voice low and sexy. Only Sophie wasn’t buying it. He knew exactly what she
referred to.