He moved toward her. She stood her ground, but there was something in the depths of her eyes that could only have been fear, and he sighed again. He wanted to intimidate her, not make her fear for her person, but…if that was what it took to keep her here, where she was safe, so be it. Raising his eyebrows, he moved with deliberation, placing a hand on either side of her, though he made sure not to touch her, and pausing there. The weight of his body resting on both arms, he hovered just above her. He waited until he saw her fear subside and realization take its place—she was at his mercy. He could do anything to her, anything at all.
Her lips pressed into a tight line, and she finally looked away. Still careful not to touch her, he grabbed the long wooden bar and slid it across the door behind her. She moved in closer to him to avoid being pinched, bringing the smell of her skin wafting up to him. A totally feminine scent—summer flowers and earth.
He froze in place. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply, stirring the memory of a woman’s soft and pliant body beneath his. The yearning and longing and wanting more…so much more. For what seemed an eternity, he fought the almost overwhelming desire to press her back against the door and capture her red lips. To feel her tremble with desire in his arms. To plunder her mouth and grind his hips into hers. It had been such a long time.
Reality burst into his brain like a blow to the head. He whipped his eyes open, reeling from the intensity of his desire. After a moment, he exhaled. It was all in his mind. His body had not reacted, and it never would. She was safer with him than she knew.
He turned away from her, feeling not like the protector he had intended to be, but what he actually was: half a man.
