Was it fear that roped into her stomach or anticipation? She knew already, somehow, that in his bed she would find everything she’d ever wanted and more than she might be able to bear. She wouldn’t buckle to him. If she could promise herself nothing else, she could promise herself that.

“I won’t be ordered into your bed, Alex.” With her eyes cool, her hands steady, she pushed his fingers away. “I won’t come to you as long as you think I will be. You want your brother’s lover.” It hurt her, almost more than she could stand, so her voice was as sharp as shattered glass and just as jagged. “That’s an old story, and one that never ends satisfactorily for anyone involved.”

The accusation cut into him until the temper he warred against daily threatened to pour out. He stepped closer and found her as strong and straight as any foe a man could face. Desire raced with rapier swiftness through his system.

“You want me. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it.”

“Yes.” She wouldn’t deny it. But her eyes were level and challenged the triumph in his. “But like you, I’ve learned to put my wants behind what’s necessary. One day, Alex, one day you might come to me as a man rather than a symbol. One day you might come to me with needs instead of demands.”

Whirling away, she started down the hall. “I appreciate the offer—of a ride, Your Highness—but I prefer to go alone.”

Chapter 7

Damn the woman! That was a thought that had leaped into Alexander’s mind more than once in a two-day period. She made him feel like a fool. Worse, she made him act like one.

He had never had any respect for men who used physical force to intimidate. Such men had no character and very little intelligence. Now it seemed he had somehow become one of them. No, there was no somehow about it, Alexander corrected viciously. It was the woman who had driven him to it.

When had he started backing women into corners? With Eve. When had he started entertaining thoughts of taking a woman whether she was willing or not? With Eve. When had he wanted a woman so badly she clouded his judgment and dominated his thoughts? With Eve.

It had all begun with Eve; therefore it followed that Eve was to blame for his bouts of irrationality.

Because he was a logical man, Alexander recognized the flaw in that deduction. When a man lost control, publicly or privately, he had no one to blame but himself.

But damn the woman, anyway.