Surrender to Temptation Part II: Tempted to Rebel Read Online Free Page A

own.
    Just being near him was enough to set my nerves humming with anticipation, even as my mind frantically tried to keep up with his moods. The man was ridiculously confusing, and I was frustrated with myself for being so intrigued.
    The silence stretched out as Zach sipped at his drink. I held mine up to eye level, taking note of the thick golden liquid pooled in the glass before sniffing at it. The fumes were potent, and I felt as if I had taken a sip without actually doing so.
    My nerves stretched tight along with the silence. Helplessness began to poke its little fingers into my mind—why was I even here? It was torture.
    No
. Gritting my teeth, I reminded myself that I was no longer a doormat. I wanted to know why I was here, and I was damn well going to find out.
    “What is this, Zach?” He looked at me sharply as I spoke, the flames of the fire reflected in his eyes. It made him look powerful and unearthly, like an angel who had fallen. It made my mouth dry, and so I hastily sipped at my drink, coughing when the alcohol fumes of what I recognized as cognac hit the back of my throat.
    If he was amused by my gaffe, he didn’t show it. Instead he kept his eyes fixed on me, and I shifted beneath the fierce stare.
    “Devon, this isn’t going to work.”
    I swallowed thickly, trying to ignore the fact that his words hit me as if someone had punched me in the stomach. It shouldn’t have hurt so much—I barely knew the man.
    I didn’t know what to say, and so I bit my tongue and gulped again at my drink. The potent substance burned my tongue and my cheeks as it slid down my throat. Fortified with liquid courage, I lifted my eyes to his and held his gaze.
    To my surprise, he seemed discomfited by my direct focus. He rolled his own glass between his palms, and we both watched the cognac splash against the slick sides.
    “I asked you here tonight to discuss an . . . arrangement.” That mask that he seemed to always have just under the surface slipped out, and he regarded me coolly. “An arrangement that’s somewhat unorthodox.”
    “Unorthodox?” I had no delusions that he had been planning to ask me to wear his ring and go steady, but an arrangement sounded a bit more businesslike than what I had expected.
    “It doesn’t matter now. I won’t ask you to make this commitment. It’s not for you.” I frowned, my forehead creasing with agitation.
    “How do you know it’s not for me if you don’t ask?” My words were quiet, but firm. I wanted to make my own decisions.
    Exasperation washed over his face, and he raked a hand through that beautiful blue-black hair.
    “Devon, you are nothing like the women that I usually bring into my life. What I wanted to ask of you . . . I would only be asking for selfish reasons.” His expression dared me to argue with him. “I shouldn’t have touched you at all. In fact, I didn’t mean to.”
    “Then why did you?” Though I whispered, my voice sounded loud in the silence of the room.
    “You tempt me.” The way he looked at me as he said those words made me shift restlessly, my thighs rubbing together. “But no matter how much I want you, I have nothing to offer you.”
    “What have you offered to other women, then?” Anger was coiling in my belly. “Don’t tell me you’re chaste, because there’s not a hope in hell that someone who looks like you do is perpetually single.”
    The ghost of a smile whispered over Zach’s lips. “True enough. I have offered them pleasure. But it is a pleasure that someone as sweet as you won’t understand.”
    Suddenly I felt enraged at his dismissal. Why them and not me? I knew that he wanted me, even now, after our explosive encounter in the garage—in the dim light of the room I could see the outline of his cock, erect again and pressing against the cloth of his trousers.
    “And why won’t you offer me the same thing?” Was I not wild enough? Not experienced enough? No matter how much bravado I tried to clutch to