As I split my thighs for him, I ease back until the tub catches me in a cradle. Merc is indeed very thorough, and soon the cloth is replaced by his hand, his fingers. The next thing I know, he rears up over the tub and we kiss until we’re both breathless—
The pleasure peaks for me and I jerk, splashing water out onto the floor and getting him wet. But there’s no stopping the release. I cling to him, to his mouth, his strong shoulders, his hand as my thighs clap together. And just before the energy starts to fade, I pop my eyes open and look to the ceiling.
The light show doesn’t repeat, and I know, though I cannot say how I know, that once expressed, it doesn’t come again.
A threshold being crossed. A journey made, and completed. And after it… a change in me that is permanent.
Merc eases back. “To the bed.”
“Yes…”
With strong, gentle hands, he helps me from the tub, guiding me up and over the rim. As I step out, I am naked before him and suddenly shy. For all the intimacy we’ve shared, it’s another thing to be standing like this—
“Sorrel…”
My name leaving his lips is a caress over all my flesh at once, and I’mshocked when he kneels before me. Running his hands up over my legs, he brushes his lips on my belly, on my hip, on my thigh. Gently, he urges my knees apart—and presses his mouth to the top of my sex.
I gasp and bend down. But not to stop him.
Merc goes lower, to my foot, and he puts my leg up so that my heel rests against the edge of the tub.
Then he leads with his mouth. And speaks the language of love to the very core of me. I’m shocked by the intimacy, and yet it seems so natural, especially as the pleasure peaks for me, the feel of his soft, wet mouth on my soft, wet flesh a match made in ecstasy.
The next thing I know, my knees buckle, and he catches me, stretching me out on the soft rug that covers the marble floor, joining me as he arches over my naked body. After I undo the buttons of his satin tunic, I pause at the bandage that has been applied to part of his chest.
“Are you well enough,” I ask roughly.
“It’ll take more than that to kill me. Much, much more.”
Trying to stay in the moment, I push my unease away and slide my hands up his back—
I stop as I get to a pattern of scars that mar his skin, and squeeze my eyes closed with piercing empathy. “Oh, Merc.”
“Do not think about it.”
“Who hurt you,” I whisper as I stare up into his eyes.
His expression darkens, but the anger is not directed to me. “It was a long time ago.”
Except it’s still with him, and not just in his flesh. My mind reels with all kinds of scenarios… betrayals, ambushes, attacks. Is this why he lives the life he does? Rootlessly going from aggression to aggression?
“Do you still fight them,” I ask. “Whoever it was.”
Those black and white eyes trace my face, and he strokes a strand of hair from my cheek. In a grim voice, he answers, “Every moment of every day and each night. Especially now.”
“I’m so sorry—”
“No more talking. We have this moment, let us not waste it.”
When he brings his lips down to my own, I move my hands to other places. And then his mouth, that talented mouth, is on my neck, on my collarbone, heading lower to my breasts. He is slow and deliberate with the way he pleasures me, his hands stroking my thighs and my hips, my core once again.
Our bodies move together, in perfect harmony, the satin pants he still has on offering no barrier at all, but rather an enticing slide to his hard angles. I’mthe one who pulls down the waistband, and as I wrap my hand around his shaft, it’s like holding a brand.
“I need you,” he groans, coming up to my mouth again.
I guide him to me, and this time, the penetration is slow and easy. Smooth and hot. Deep and full.
He rides me with care, and I arch into him—just managing to catch my hands before they run up his back again. I agree with him. We have such a short time, and I can’t waste it on things that are painful. So I hold on to his hips instead, and suddenly, he’s moving faster and faster. A crest of pleasure comes for me anew, and then he joins me in the release, his body locking into mine as his sex kicks inside me, filling me up.
