Forced Bride

The stars in Cornelia's world are aligning against her. Her modeling career comes to an abrupt end after a horrific accident and her fiancé jilts her right after. So she does the cowardly thing.

She runs somewhere far away, where nobody knows her name.

Cornelia finds work as a companion to a king of the Moroccan deserts. But the journey there adds complications that she is completely unprepared for. A savage beast of the scorching heat steals her heart and intends to take her for himself.

Will she be able to resist his advances? Will she be able to handle his explosive desires? Or will she run away again, even before she reaches the king?

~~~~~  Excerpt  ~~~~~

I cried out in surprise when he knelt down and his fingers joined my own in kneading the ache out of my ankle. “Does this pain you?” he asked as I watched, wide-eyed, how expertly he massaged my tensed muscles.

“Only sometimes,” I said.

“Perhaps you only need to relax,” he said and bade me to lie down against the couch so he could continue coaxing the tensed muscles to relax.

My heart pounded against my chest but I closed my eyes and leaned back, willing myself to relax as he massaged my ankle. His hands moved slowly upwards, kneading my calves.

“Relax,” he soothed as I breathed in sharply. “I'm not going to hurt you.”

“I know you won't,” I said with conviction.

He continued kneading the firm flesh of my calves, then moving downwards to turn my foot this way and that, repeating the motions over and over, alternating between kneading my calves and my ankle.

Then, his hand moved ever upwards until he was palming my inner thighs and I gasped. My eyes shot wide open and I moved to get away from his hands. “What are you doing?” I demanded.

He pushed me back down, “I told you to relax,” he said.

“And I asked what you're doing!” I demanded, surprised by his sudden touch on my inner thighs, so close to my throbbing heat.

His gaze held an animal-like lust that burned me. “I need to confirm whether you are pure. Or perhaps you would rather we do it in the presence of the other men later?” he suggested.

I gulped, hearing my own heart beat against my chest in a noisy thump that I was certain he could hear. I was completely aware of what he intended to do. “The man said it doesn't matter if I was a virgin,” I said, my voice and hands trembling with fear of what he could do, regardless of whether I allowed him to or not.

“Perhaps I have some ulterior motives then,” he suggested without shame, flipping my dress up to my waist and pressing his face to my inner thigh. He inhaled deeply and I could feel the hammering of his own heartbeat against my leg.