Wrapped In Pleasure - Brenda Jackson [23]
Well, she refused to settle for just anything. She wasn’t that hard up. Besides, you couldn’t miss what you never had, and although she would be the first to admit that Jamal had awakened feelings and desires within her that she hadn’t known existed, she could control her urge to sample more.
With a resolve and a stubborn streak that could only match her brother Thorn, she took a step back. “No, Jamal, I meant what I said. Exclusive or nothing.”
His eyes darkened and she watched his lips tilt in a seductive smile. “You think that now, Delaney, but you will be singing a different tune in the end.”
His voice was husky, and the look in his eyes was challenging. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “What do you mean?”
His smile became biting. “I mean that when it comes to something I want, I don’t play fair.”
Delaney stared pointedly into his eyes; her heart slammed against her ribs, completely understanding what he meant. He would try to wear down her defenses and didn’t care how he did it as long as the end result was what he wanted—her in his bed.
Well, she had news for him. Westmorelands, among other things, were hard as nails when they chose to be. They were also stubborn as sin, and some were more stubborn than others were. They didn’t back down from a challenge. A light flickered in her eyes. The prince had met his match.
Delaney smiled, and her eyes were lit with a touch of humor. “You may not play fair, but you can ask any one of my brothers and they will tell you that when it comes to competition, I play to win.”
“This is one game you won’t win, Delaney.”
“And this is one game I can’t afford to lose, Your Highness.”
His eyes darkened as he frowned. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She met his frown with one of her own. “And don’t say I didn’t warn you.” With nothing else to say, Delaney turned, and with her head held high she strutted out of the kitchen and headed to the porch to eat her sandwich alone.
Chapter 6
Jamal looked up when Delaney walked into the living room later that evening. War had been declared and she was using every weapon at her disposal to win. She was determined to flaunt in his face what she thought he would never have. Which he assumed was the reason for the outfit she had changed into. There was only one way to describe it—sinfully sensual.
It was some sort of lounging outfit with a robe. But the robe enticed more than it covered. He couldn’t do anything but lean back in his chair and look at her from head to toe. A surge of raw, primitive possessiveness, as well as arousal of the most intense kind, rushed through him. He couldn’t pretend indifference even if he wanted to, so there was no sense trying. Instead he tossed the papers he was working on aside and placed his long legs out in front of him and gave her his full attention, since he knew that is what she wanted, anyway.
He knew her game. She wanted to bring him to his knees with no chance of him getting between her legs. But he had news for her. He would let her play out this little scene, then he intended to play out his.
The outfit she wore was peach in color and stood out against the color of her dark skin. The material was like soft silk, beneath a lacy robe that gave the right amount of feminine allure. The sway of the material against her body as she crossed the room clearly indicated she didn’t have on a stitch of undergarments. The woman was foreplay on legs.
His groin throbbed as he watched her sit on the sofa across the room from him, real prim and proper and looking incredibly hot. Of its own accord his breathing deepened, making it difficult to pass oxygen through his lungs, yet he continued to torture himself by looking at her.
“So, what’s up?” she asked in a deep, sultry voice.
He blinked when it occurred to him that