For the Love of Chocolat

“What I want, what I’ve wanted for the past week, is just you,” Lee said. A sense of urgency drove him, and he planned to keep the flaw concealed. He feared she really might not have any use for him, or his heart, after everything he’d put her through. A normal woman would run for her life. But his Chocolat, a nickname she’d earned early in the business from her father, feared little. Courage and stubbornness were characteristics they shared in common. They both valued loyalty beyond anything else. He wouldn’t be easy on the forgiveness if she had betrayed him the way he hurt her. Still, he remained powerless to keep from expecting her to try.

“It’s love, Michelle. What can I say? I want your love,” he confessed.

When she didn’t step away, the urge to touch her, feel her skin again, overwhelmed him. He clenched one hand into a fist. He couldn’t push. She wasn’t a woman who would respond to threats, intimidation. She wasn’t a woman to respond to seduction or manipulation. He had to be raw with her, and vulnerability was risky in their business.

Her eyelids fell shut. Lee cupped her chin. He moistened his lips when her arms dropped and the front of her fluffy white robe parted a fraction of an inch to reveal her cleavage. “I need you back in my bed, back in the life with me, you know what I mean. I want all of it—good and bad. Stop pushing me away. I won’t let you go.”

Those long, dark lashes resting against her high cheekbones parted an inch. Her amber irises glistened under their shadow. Could she be shedding tears for him? Or was it simply because of him? He’d seen her weak only twice, and both times it had to do with her father. Then she spoke and he had no choice but to step away.

“Sorry, Lee. Your sex pass has expired. I’m tired of you.”

She walked around him. He extended his left arm to stop her. When she again tried to evade him, he reached out possessively and brought her back. Crossing her arms in front of her, she stalled his effort to embrace her. Lee held her against him. He’d fight all night for his reward.