Well, she definitely agreed with that statement, Molly thought grimly.  She wasn’t prepared for anything she was feeling at the moment.

 The horniness, the excitement, the white-hot passion.  Certainly not her overwhelming feelings for the man lying on his back and staring at the ceiling beside her.

All of it had taken her by surprise.

“Put that python back in your pants, Devil.  I won’t be tryin’ to wrangle your snake anymore tonight,” she informed him primly as she tugged the oversized pillow more tightly against her naked breasts.  Watching it bob fruitlessly in the air was distracting, and she had things to say.

“A condom! A condom!  My kingdom for a fucking condom,” Devil growled under his breath as he rolled on his side and sat up on the bed.  “I’m a frickin’ millionaire.  I could buy a condom factory.”

Molly’s lips twitched as she listened to him grumble.  Biting her lip as she watched him rise and cross the room to the dresser, she eyed his firm butt lustfully.  Good heavens but the Lord had been exceedingly kind to Devil Delancy when He’d constructed the man’s gorgeous body.  Too bad He hadn’t worked a little harder at everything else that made the man who he was.

“I can feel you staring,” Devil said without turning around, stepping into the silk boxers he pulled from a drawer. 

“No, I’m not,” she said quickly.  Too quickly.

“Sure, you’re not,” he chuckled, turning to watch a guilty flush climb up her embarrassed face.  Damn, she was gorgeous. “Like what you see?” he asked, ambling toward the master bath and pulling his thick robe off the hook. 

“At the moment?  Not really.  The moment has passed,” she retorted, snatching the robe from his hand when he returned from the bathroom and extended it to her.  Lying was the only missile she had in her arsenal at that moment, and she was not afraid to use it.

“Pity,” Devil murmured, watching her breasts lift enticingly as she slid her arms into the robe.  “I love what I see.”

Molly quickly cinched the belt of the robe tightly around her waist, cutting off his view.  “Too bad.  This public viewing is now closed.”  Shivering as he smirked, she shook her head.  She needed to get control of the situation.  Jabbing a finger at him as she stood, Molly lifted her chin.  “This never happened, Devil.”

“Considering that I’m still hard as a rock for you, I’d say either you’re delusional or naïve, Molly.”  Devil settled his hand over his hips as he faced her, blocking the door.  “Based on the way you handled my cock, I’m gonna assume you’re the former rather than the latter.”

“Hey!” Molly yelped indignantly, her eyebrows drawing together.  He made it sound like she was some kind of pro at seduction, and the truth was that she was anything BUT.  She just happened to be an enthusiastic student, eager to learn new things.  That wasn’t a crime, was it?

“Sweetheart, there was nothing innocent about the way you handled me,” Devil stated patiently, enjoying the deepening blush staining her cheeks.  “That’s just a fact that can’t be denied.  But to address your earlier statement, this happened, Molly.  It’s going to happen again,” he warned deeply, taking a step toward her.  “Only next time, I’m going to have an economy-sized box of condoms on hand, and we’re going to use them all.”

Molly’s breathing got shallower the nearer he drew to where she stood.  “You’re awfully confident for a guy that got shot down.  Twice.”  She wriggled two fingers under his nose. 

“Yeah,” he agreed, “I am confident.  Mainly because you didn’t shoot me down, angel.  Fate did.  You wanted me as badly as I wanted you.  We just had a few technical difficulties.”

“Maybe that should tell you something,” Molly replied hastily, taking a step back as he began to crowd her.  “Maybe it should tell us both something.  This isn’t supposed to happen between us, Dev.  Tonight was just another sign from above.”

“The only thing this little interlude told me is that I need to buy stock in Trojan condoms,” Devil returned with a chuckle.  “And the only sign I’m seeing is that perhaps the Almighty wants my ring on your finger before I take you to bed with me.  Because make no mistake here, Molly, you will be going to bed with me.  Soon,” he stressed, dropping his hands to her hips and pulling her against him.

“Are you deliberately trying to frustrate me?” Molly protested, staring up into his deep blue eyes.  How was she ever going to survive this situation...this freaking marriage?  “We are not a good idea, Devil.  You antagonize me and I infuriate you.  One of us will end up killing the other if you insist on marriage.  And I plan on living a long time, so, what’s that tell you?”

“Mols, are you going to stand there and deny that there are sparks between us?” Devil questioned, growing annoyed by her obstinacy.

“Oh, there are sparks alright!”  Molly nodded furiously.  “You know what happens when there are sparks, Devil?  Usually, it leads to fire.  Ours is gonna be a deadly inferno that’s going to blaze a path through Atlanta.  General Sherman has been there and done that.  I already saw this movie!  I know how it ends.  I hate reruns.”

“Don’t you think that’s a little dramatic?”

“Nope, I think it’s a little accurate,” Molly replied sweetly, pushing his hands off her and sweeping past him.  She had to get out of his bedroom.  She needed to get out of his house.  She might need to evacuate his city at this point, she thought a little desperately as she looked around the room for her clothes, kneeling on the floor to peer under the bed.

“I stripped you in the living room,” she heard him remind her dryly from somewhere near the foot of the bed.

Grumbling under her breath, she climbed back to her feet and headed toward the door, nearly screaming when Devil thwarted her plan again by stepping in front of her.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked calmly, blocking her exit.

“Home,” she retorted succinctly.  “I can’t reason with a brick wall.  Get out of the way,” she ordered sternly. 

Crossing his arms over his broad, naked chest, he shook his head.  “No.  You’re not running away.  We have details to hash out between us, Molly.  Hiding from me isn’t going to accomplish anything.”

“I’m not hiding,” she ground out.  “I’m leaving.  There’s a difference.”  One that she’d be happy to demonstrate if he’d just get the hell out of her way.  Her heartbeat escalated as he merely stared at her, his dark blue eyes glinting with determination.

Molly could feel herself growing hysterical.  Confusion and fear mixed with a healthy dose of animal attraction to form a bubble of pure panic in the region of her heart.  For years, she’d fantasized about this man… what it would be like to be with him… sleep with him… hell, even marry him. 

And now, through some cosmic joke in the universe, it was all happening to her. 

Fantasies were supposed to remain in a girl’s imagination where they could create no real havoc.  They were not supposed to be staring her in the face, in living color.  Things like this did not happen to normal women like her. 

“Devil, please get out of my way,” she begged, her eyes filling with unexpected tears as she looked up at him.  “Please?” she pleaded weakly. 

“I’ll make you a deal,” he offered gently.  “You go downstairs and get dressed while I grab some clothes to put on myself.  We’ll make a pot of coffee and work things out between us.  We’ll talk, Molly.”

“Just talk?” Molly queried suspiciously, not quite trusting him.

“Only talk.  As you learned the hard way, I’m not prepared for anything else.  At least not for tonight, I’m not.”

“Okay,” she agreed softly.  It was the best offer she was going to get from him, and she knew it.

“Don’t make me chase you, Molly,” he warned ominously.  “I can’t stop you from bolting if you decide to make a run for it, but I can promise that you won’t like the consequences when I catch up with you.  Which I will.”

Meeting his serious gaze, she nodded.  She’d seen the lengths Devil would go to for companies he wanted, she didn’t want to think about what he’d be like with the people he wanted to possess.  “I won’t run.  At least, not yet,” she amended truthfully, ever mindful of her mother’s valuable advice of never making a promise that you’re not willing to keep. 

What she felt for Devil scared the hell out of her.  Even when she’d been in a committed relationship that she’d thought would end in marriage, she’d never felt like this.  She couldn’t promise that her fears wouldn’t cause her to dart at some point.  She could only promise she wouldn’t make her grand escape right now.  A shaky breath released from her chest when Devil stepped aside and allowed her out of the bedroom, evidently satisfied with her vow.