taking a job I didn't want. You've got a tongue like a razor and you've used it on the morning, noon and night. You won't follow simple, reasonable orders designed to keep you safe. You refuse to believe the legends I've tried to tell you." He finished drying himself and wrapped the blanket loosely around his waist. "And you are so damn stubborn you won't believe facts even when they hit you in the face. You hear only what you want to hear. The rest of the time you're talking so fast a man gets lost in the words. Maybe you'll think a little more cleariy and behave a little more rationally after I've turned you over my knee."

An exhilarated sensation swept through Sariana as she realized that beneath the blanket Gryph was more aroused than ever. His temper was vying with his passion. The two made a very potent combination. Sariana could feel his sexual energy. It was lapping over her in waves,

"What makes you think I haven't still got my nails sunk into you?" she asked throatily. Gryph, about to reach for a fresh shirt, paused at the new note in her voice. "What are you up to now,

Sariana?"

"I think," she said musingly as she let her blanket slide slowly off her shoulders, "that I'm about to prove something."

"Are you?" He watched her intently as she walked slowly toward him across the sand. The blanket slid down a little farther. Now it only partially concealed the curve of Sariana's br**sts and the dark triangle between her thighs. In the evening shadows she was all slender, graceful, feminine mystery.

A pleasantly euphoric sense of power began to blossom in Sariana. Gryph was bound to her and, as far as he was concerned, she was bound to him. So be it. She couldn't seem to fight that and she was reluctantly admitting she didn't want to fight it. But if she was going to continue in this bizarre situation she was determined to show Gryph that the dynamics of the relationship worked both ways.

"You're not going to use your belt on me and we both know it," Sariana murmured. He scowled. "Is that right?"

"I think," she whispered as she paused in front of him, "that you need to learm what it feels like to be the one on the receiving end of all the orders."

A slow, curious smile edged Gryph's mouth as he looked down at her. He raised one hand and lightly grazed his palm across one gently shaped breast. "You've decided to teach me that lesson tonight?"

"Yes," she agreed thoughtfully, "I have."

"What makes you think you can, uh, drive the lesson home, so to speak?"

She reached out and pulled the blanket from his waist. His heavy, thrusting manhood leaped into her waiting hand. "Feminine intuition."

He sucked in his breath and his hands went to her shoulders. He started to pull her close. "You want me, don't you, lady? In spite of all your mouthy arguments and your temperamental ways, you want me."

"You're right. I want you. And you want me."

"Damn right." His fingers flexed on her shoulders. "I've wanted you from the first time I saw you. I've never denied it."

"I think it's time you learned that this relationship of ours is a two-way street. Tonight we'll do things my way."

He chuckled indulgently, the last of his temper dissolving into a blazing sensuality. "What is your way?" "I'm going to tell you what to do and how to do it. And you, for once in your life, are going to follow

orders. I'm going to teach you what it's like to be on the receiving end."

"What makes you think I'll follow orders?" He eased his hands down her back, removing the blanket entirely. As it fell to her feet he pulled her lower body into the cradle of his thighs.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Just a feeling." She nipped his shoulder lightly with her small, sharp teeth.

Gryph inhaled sharply. "Ah, a promising beginning. What's your first order, Lady Sariana?"

"Kiss me." She stood on tiptoe, twined her arms around his neck and lifted her lips invitingly. "Gladly." He brushed his mouth teasingly across hers. "Harder."

"No need to rush things," he murmured. "You'll enjoy it more if we take it slowly." "I said," she responded, her tongue touching her parted lips, "that I want you to kiss me harder." She

gathered herself and projected the image of a deep, passionate embrace blindly into the atmosphere around her. She wasn't at all certain what the reaction would be and the result took her by surprise, even though she had tried to prepare herself.

Gryph's mouth came down on hers with sudden, shattering hunger. He groaned deeply and his arms tightened fiercely. His fingers dug into her rounded bu**ocks as he pulled her to him. The hard, searching shaft of his manhood was like sleek iron against her soft stomach. His whole body vibrated with the intensity of his need.

Sariana realized he was reacting exactly the way she had pictured him doing in the image of the embrace she had projected. In another moment she would be flat on her back and he would be on top of her, surging into her. Frantically she altered the image in her mind.

"Wait, not so hard," she gasped, wrenching her head aside. She sank her nails into his shoulders and shoved heavily.

Gryph didn't seem to hear her for a moment. When she finally got his attention he slowly raised his head and looked down at her with a confused expression in his glittering eyes.

"I thought that's what you wanted." His voice was a rasping whisper.

"Not quite." Sariana realized she was shaking. "Obviously I have to do some fine tuning here." He watched her through dazed/narrowed eyes and raked a hand restlessly through his hair. "Sariana,

what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm not sure yet." She gave him her most brilliant smile and sallied forth once more into the fray. She caught bold of his hand and put it against her breast. "Kiss me again. Not quite so fiercely. And this time' I want you to touch me."

He swore softly but his fingers closed around her pert nipple as he lowered his mouth once more to hers. She painted a sensual picture in her head.

This time the kiss was just right.

"Exactly what I ordered," she said against his mouth.

He ignored that, too wrapped up in the embrace now to pay attention to her self-congratulations. Sariana could feel his vibrating excitement. His desire was a tangible force that reached out to engulf her. When she deliberately projected the sensation of his tongue tangling with hers, she immediately found her mouth invaded. Once again the assault was a little too forceful.

"Easy," she mumbled.