Page 240 of The First Taste

I struggle against his grip, looking up into his distracted face. He is looking over his shoulder, and I try to wrench my arms from his grip. He looks at me then, snarling, showing me a glimpse of his perfect teeth. But he doesn’t yell at me. Instead, he bends down, grabs me by the waist, and throws me over his shoulder.

My mouth opens and I make a garbled sound of shock, but he smacks me on the ass, hard enough to leave a mark. My ass stings, and I release a howl of shock. But before I say or do anything else, Dare opens a doorway that blends in with the rest of the wood paneling and docks inside a dark passageway.

What the hell? Where is he taking me? That question is very much on my mind as Dare rushes down a passage, then climbs up a set of stairs, taking them two at a time.

At the top of the stairs, he turns left and then opens a door that leads out into the hallway, much like the wood-paneled hallway that I saw earlier. Dare quickly opens another door, this one leading into a navy blue and teak wood bedroom, so I don't get to see much of it. The whole room is dominated by a huge four-poster bed and smells faintly of a delicious bergamot cologne that reminds me instantly of Dare.

It’s the cologne that Dare wears. I realize suddenly that this must be Dare’s room. Funny, I didn’t ever think about what his bedroom would look like. I hadn’t even thought about anyone in the Morgan family sleeping anywhere. For all I know, they all sleep upside down, hanging from the ceiling like vampire bats.

But here is the proof. He carries me a few more steps and tosses me down on the bed. My entire body tenses awkwardly, and alarm bells are going off inside my head.

"What are we doing here?" I demand to know. “You can’t mean to try to take me to bed like this. I would think that you would at least be more... beguiling, I guess."

He scoffs and backs up, staring at me blackly. "No, you wish."

"I don’t want you. And I don’t want to be in this bedroom with you right now. In fact, I would very much like to leave now."

Dare laughs; the sound is ugly. "Every woman wants me. Or perhaps I should say that every woman wants my name, my money, and my prestige. Admit it, you would kill to have even a little of my wealth and power."

My chin juts out in defiance. I throw my head back and look up at him.

”I admit nothing. I don’t want anything to do with your family. Especially you."

"Really," he challenges. "I think that you don’t even know what you want."

My lips part, and I prepare to respond with an argument. But he steps forward again, leaning down close to my face. He moves between my legs and then his big hands grip my waist and pull me against his hard body. He whispers against my lips.

"I’ll prove it to you, darling girl."

Without another word of warning, he grabs me like he owns me. He slides his hand up into my hair and pulls my head back, pressing his lips against mine. His lips cover mine; his mouth is so hot that it could melt steel. His tongue snakes out, teasing me, as slippery as an eel but as enticing as ever.

This… This is being kissed.

I am so taken aback that I open my mouth to him and close my eyes. Dare is a very good kisser; his hands are in my hair, and the tip of his tongue is coaxing mine. My pulse is sky high.

In the heat of the moment, I must admit that the weight of Dare’s body pressing against mine is alluring. I can admit to myself that, in this moment, I do find him physically attractive.

Not that I ever want him to know. I wouldn’t be able to stop him from getting his head around ideas about sex that I have little to no interest in following through on.

So I have to take control of this situation. If I don’t stop him, I don’t know how far he’ll take this.

I push against his chest, but he doesn’t even seem to notice. He is too busy angling my head just so and taking pleasure from my lips on his. I bite his lower lip hard, more on instinct more than anything else. But he immediately shoves me away, touching the spot that I just bit. He looks up at me with outrage in his eyes.

When he pulls his hand away, I can see blood.

"Fucking tease," he hisses.

Breathing hard, I barely have a chance to catch my breath. "You know, you shouldn’t kiss people against their will. It’s very last century."

Dare pulls a pocket square out of his jacket and wipes away the blood as best he can. He glares at me. "Let’s get one thing straight. If I decided I wanted to seduce you, I would. Not only that, but I would make you beg me for it. Not that I would actually fuck you, because you are just a little girl with no money, no class, and no prospects. Are we clear?"

I suck in a breath, cut to my very core. I feel the threat of tears stinging at the corners of my eyes. Dare looks at me, smirking with a self-satisfied expression, blotting off his lip.

Just like I expected. A billionaire is a privileged guy who has never had to worry about anything in his whole damn life. There is a reason that I don’t like the Morgan family as a whole. And he is the very personification of just that reason.

Over Dare’s shoulder, a throat clears. Dare rolls around and moves out of the way, leaving enough space for me to see that Clive is standing in the doorway, his posture stiff and formal.

He bows and says, "Excuse me, but if you want to get in to see Mr. Morgan, now would be the time. He is wrapping up things with Mr. Adams now, and he has another meeting in just ten minutes."