Her Tender Tyrant by Elizabeth Lennox Page B

but what was it?
    And then it hit him. The remote!
    In a flash, he was out the door racing after her. “Juliette! Give it back!”
    Juliette heard his voice and couldn’t control the laughter at her trick. “Don’t have anything!” she called out but the wind probably carried her response away. Besides, she was too busy running. She had to get far enough ahead of him to make good on her plan.
    She was running full out, trying very hard to control her excitement at getting one over on the horrible man.
    She’d finally thought that she’d gotten far enough ahead of him that she hoped she might have gotten away with it. But what she hadn’t counted on was Marcus’ speed. The man was eliminating the distance between them in seconds. When she looked back, she gasped. He was right behind her! And gaining.
    She put everything into the effort of putting more distance between them. Unfortunately, his longer legs were no match for her shorter ones and a second later, she was tackled by his enormous body. They were falling and the next thing she felt was floating through the air as his hands wrapped around her waist, even tucking her arms underneath his so she was more defenseless. Bracing herself for hitting the ground hard, she held her breath and the only solid thing around her, which just happened to be the man who had caused their tumble.
    She rolled and definitely hit something hard but it wasn’t the ground. Somehow, Marcus had rolled so that he landed on the ground and she landed….well, on him!
    But a moment later, they rolled and she found herself underneath him. “Where is it?” he demanded, his hands holding her in a vice-like grip. His eyes sparkled with something she was too afraid to identify as he looked down over her.
    Juliette held her breath for a moment, assessing if any bones had broken. When she realized that everything was still intact, she looked up and all the breath whooshed out of her as she realized their positions. Not only was he on top of her, but his legs were between hers and that secret part of her that had been acting so strangely lately was pressed intimately against that very hard part of him. The part of him that she really, really wanted to get to know.
    “Give it back, Juliette,” he demanded, his voice rough and husky as he pinned her arms above her head.
    She laughed slightly, nervous but with a spark inside of her that just wanted to flare his temper higher, to see what he might do. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Marcus. Lose something?” She smiled up at him, sure that she was still in control of this situation.
    “Give it to me,” he told her again with a growl.
    “You’re obviously missing something and think I have it.” She looked to her right, trying to figure out what to do, how she could get away from him.
    She had no idea how much trouble she was in.
    Marcus looked down at the woman who had been haunting his nights and days for too long. And she was right where he wanted her. “Good. Don’t tell me where it is. I don’t mind,” he said as his leg slipped higher between hers, pushing her legs further apart.
    Her breath caught in her throat and she tried to wiggle away. But the effect of her wiggling made their position worse. “You have to get off of me,” she whispered, looking up at him with nervous eyes.
    He shifted, becoming more comfortable. “I see no need. I’m pretty comfortable right about now.”
    “You can’t do this to me!” she gasped when he shifted…yes! Just like that, she moaned, wishing he would do it again. She tried to hold still, but something inside of her, some evil part of her that she’d never known existed, couldn’t hold still. That part of her was taking over the rest of her and she wasn’t able to fight it.
    He looked at her breasts, heaving against his chest and he knew that her ragged breaths were more because of their position than because of her running. His body hardened even more as he realized she was