Excerpt of Maiden & the Monster by Michelle M. Pillow

"Nay, don't ask for your freedom again. It's a useless plea. I won't release you." He watched her lips as she flicked her tongue over the edge. The scent of lilies came to him from her hair as she moved her head to the side. He wondered if Haldana had purposefully used the scent. It had been one of his favorites long ago. He breathed in the enticing perfume of her. For a moment, he was lost in her spell. "Tomorrow you'll be given new quarters."

"The tower? You wish to put me in a real prison? Or mayhap even the dungeon? I have sworn to you I won't leave. At least give me a chance to prove my honor afore you doubt it. If I prove my honor false, then you shall imprison me with my blessing, for I won't deny that then I'll be most deserving of it."

"Nay, m'lady, not the tower and most definitely not the dungeon," he answered softly, the sound a vast contrast to his usual hard tone. He wanted to laugh, for he didn't have a tower save for the chamber she was already in. "Prove your honor."

"Then, you're to make me your...?" Again she tried to pull from his arms. "I'm to be put in your chamber, m'lord? With you? Won't your duchess be upset?"

"There is no Duchess of Lakeshire." Vladamir couldn't draw his gaze from her delightfully full lips as they quivered enchantingly under his watchful eyes. He thought of chaining her to his bed, forcing her to be his bed slave until he took his fill of her. "M'lady's prison shall be of gilded bars. You'll be afforded full use of the castle. You'll be fed. The servants will treat you with the respect due your station, unless you prove you deserve otherwise."

"Thank you."

"But," he warned, squeezing her shoulders once more and causing her to wince. "You won't be permitted outside the bailey walls. I don't care if the castle is burning to the ground. If you don't have my permission, you shall stay and burn with it. If I find you trying to leave, I'll lock you in the dungeon for all your days and I'll besiege your father's keep until all those who live within starve. I'll burn his crops, slaughter his peasants and his cattle and leave them to rot where they fall. And you, m'lady, will know the full meaning of hell afore you die."

"I understand," she said softly. "I won't try to escape. My only wish is that you'll reconsider and let me go."

"I won't do that," he answered, his voice harsh. His chest heaved with rapid breaths, but his growling tone turned soft. "M'lady will do well to wish for other things for I'll never let you go."

"Then I'll stay here true to my word and I'll only leave with your permission." Eden conceded, taking a deep breath. "I will swear it on mine own blood, but only if I may have one demand. Methinks it fair."

Anything.

Vladamir nodded his head and then realized she couldn't see him well enough through the darkness to make the gesture out. "What?"

"Don't harm my father's people. They don't deserve your wrath. I don't know what plans you may have, but keep your quarrel with my father only. If it is he who has spurred your anger, then he shall have to face it." She pulled away from him and he let her go. Her chin lifted proudly before him, even in her fear of him. "If you don't harm them, I'll stay here. But, if I find out that you hurt them in any way that wasn't self–defense, I'll break my vow and will do whatever is in my power to escape you. I'll spend the rest of my days if needs be bringing you to justice and I won't stop until ‘tis done. Do we have a deal?"

"Yea, m'lady." He smiled at her courage. It puzzled him that she showed no concern for her father's safety, yet cared so openly for the lives of peasants. "I won't harm your father's people."

"Good." She held out her hand, her fingers shaking, but she didn't back down. "Hand me your dagger, m'lord, so that I may keep my word and pledge my honor with my blood. Let us seal the bargain so it shall be done."

"I won't demand your blood just yet," he said softly, denying her his dagger. Instead, Vladamir clasped her outstretched hand and pulled it to his chest over the beating of his heart. Not stopping to think of the consequences of his actions, he swung her into his arms. Shifting her off balance so she fell to the side, he encased her within his embrace. She was so small and fragile to him as she trembled in surprise. His body lurched, wanting this. He bent down and pressed his mouth against her parted lips, unable to resist her temptation a moment more. He needed to feel her heat, her soft lips.

The duke ran the fingers of his free hand into her hair and pressed her to him. The sweet petals of her mouth parted as she sought her breath. She moaned lightly. His tongue daringly traced the line of her lips and her slender body molded into his as if it had been carved for him to hold.

Vladamir had been a long time without the comforts of a woman's embrace and was a man long used to taking what he wanted. Eden clutched his tunic as he held her to his chest, feeling her intimate heat along his thigh, burning him. He pushed his leg against her, eliciting a soft moan. Innocently, she backed her hips away from his searching. Unable to resist, he grew bolder, forcing his thigh between hers.