Chapter 679

Nathaniel let the towel slip from his fingers, his muscular frame moving with predatory grace as he stalked to the edge of the bed. His piercing gaze pinned Harrison beneath him like a butterfly under glass.

"Tell me the truth. Was Gabrielle lying?"

Harrison's eyes flew open, her breath hitching. "Every word out of her mouth was nonsense!"

"Liar," Nathaniel murmured, the word dripping with dark amusement.

He already knew the truth. Gabrielle's confession had ignited something primal in him - a savage satisfaction that Harrison had been just as tortured by their separation as he had.

His fingers closed around her delicate chin, tilting her face up. "Three years without being touched? Is that really possible?"

The thought baffled him. She was married to Oliver, for God's sake. How could any man resist her? When Gabrielle first revealed Harrison's secret, shock had rendered him speechless. Then came the flood of possessive triumph.

"Stop twisting Gabrielle's jokes into something serious," Harrison protested, her voice trembling.

Nathaniel wasn't having it. "Your best friend wouldn't lie about this. Why hasn't Oliver claimed what's mine?"

Harrison's lips parted. "I-"

"Were you thinking of me?" Nathaniel's voice dropped to a growl. "Dreaming of me?"

Silence.

Damn her.

Gabrielle's careless compliments about his wealth and looks had clearly gone to his head - not that they weren't true. But Harrison refused to feed his ego further.

She slapped his hand away. "For the last time, Gabrielle was teasing. That's what friends do."

Nathaniel's eyes darkened. "Do you want this?"

Before she could react, he seized her wrist, pressing her palm against the hard planes of his chest. The silk robe parted as he guided her hand lower, over the ridged landscape of his abdomen.

"Is this what you've been craving?"

Three years of celibacy made Harrison hypersensitive. The heat of his skin, the flex of muscle beneath her fingertips - it short-circuited her brain. A furious blush spread across her cheeks.

She tried jerking away. "Have you lost your mind? Back off!"

Nathaniel's grip tightened, his smirk turning wicked as he dragged her hand lower. "Liar. Your body betrays you."

Harrison gasped, wrenching free as if burned. "Y-You're disgusting!"

In one fluid motion, Nathaniel caged her beneath him, his knee sinking into the mattress. "Feel that? I'm hard for you again. Took care of myself in the shower thinking about you, but it wasn't enough."

Understanding dawned. That's why he'd been calling her name earlier - the bastard had been pleasuring himself to thoughts of her.

Harrison twisted like a wild thing, scrambling backward.

Nathaniel caught her ankle with effortless grace, yanking her back beneath him. "Running only makes me hungrier."

His mouth crashed down on hers.

Harrison fought, but his kiss demolished her defenses. Three years of deprivation made her body traitorously responsive. As his tongue conquered hers, she melted against him with a broken whimper. "Nathaniel...stop...mmm..."

He felt the exact moment she surrendered, her curves molding to him. Just like before. Her body remembered what her pride denied.

When his fingers found the hem of her shirt, Harrison jerked back to reality. "Nathaniel!"