Page 72 of An Extraordinary Lord

He placed his hands on the headboard next to hers for leverage and began to thrust into her hard and deep as he relentlessly drove them both toward release. His muscular body was covered in a sheen of perspiration in the moonlight as he worked like a piston, plunging and retreating into her tight warmth without pause.

“Let go,” he whispered hotly into her ear. “Surrender to me, Veronica. Let me give you this joy.”

He swirled his hips against hers, and the tender motion threatened hot tears at her eyes. She let go of the headboard to encircle her arms around his neck—

And let go of her control. She broke beneath him with a swell of such shuddering joy and anguish that she shattered like glass from the intensity of it. She clung to him, burying her face against his neck and blinking hard to fight back the tears.

His arms went around her to pull her close. He took two more long and deep thrusts. Then he pulled out of her and slid his length between their pressed bodies. He shuddered with a low groan. His hips jerked, and a warm wetness seeped across her abdomen. His buttocks clenched as he strained to empty every drop of himself.

When he was finally spent, he didn’t ease his hold around her even as he struggled to regain the breath she’d stolen. No move to release her, no move to shift away…only his mouth sliding down to her ear to whisper a single word—

“Bliss.”

With that, she was lost.

Nineteen

Dear God, she was beautiful. Merritt could barely believe how much. So much so that he couldn’t stop touching her.

Luckily, he didn’t have to.

He lazily caressed his hand over the soft curve of her hip as they lay on their sides in his bed, facing each other. Her skin was deliciously soft and warm, her eyes intense as they returned his stare. She was fierce, his little minx, and just as turbulent and passionate as he’d imagined. But now he also saw a vulnerability lurking beneath her strong façade, the same one that had brought her to him tonight and convinced her to bare herself to him, body and soul.

Tracing an invisible pattern along her outer thigh, he frowned. “Not that I’m complaining, but—”

“You’d better not.”

His lips curled into a smile. “But how did you know where to find me?”

Her head rested on her folded arm, allowing her hair to fall across the mattress as if someone had spilled a bolt of copper-colored silk. “Madame Noir told me.” Her turn to frown. “How does Madame know where you live?”

“Not because she or any of her girls have ever been here, I assure you.” Was that jealousy he heard in her voice? God help him, but he liked the sound of it. “It’s her business to know things like that. A good soldier,” he said as he trailed his gaze down her front, “always knows where the enemy is.”

“I’m not your enemy anymore.”

Andthatwas wounding he heard this time. “You were never my enemy.” He placed a light kiss to her lips. “You were a challenge and surprising as hell.”And the most unique woman I’ve ever met in my life.“You were a puzzle I couldn’t solve. Until tonight.” Another kiss to her lips, this one lingering before he eased away. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“I didn’t know if you would listen,” she whispered. “You could have turned me away.”

“And miss the chance to see what weapons you might have hidden beneath your skirts? Never.”

He slid his fingertips lightly up her arm in an attempt to appease himself with this small touch. It wasn’t working. He so much wanted to bury himself between her thighs again that he burned with it.

A faint smile teased at her lips. “You’re quite the lover, Mrs. Fitzherbert.”

His chest warmed at the compliment. A man could certainly do worse than being told things like that. He grinned arrogantly. “Well, thank—”

“No wonder the regent is so infatuated with you.”

His grin twisted into a grimace, and he finished in a dry drawl, “—you.” He slapped her playfully on her bare bottom. “Thank you.”

She laughed, the lilting sound musical in the shadows. Apologetically, she reached up to caress his cheek. Her affectionate warmth heated through him and made him long for all sorts of things he had no business wanting. And damn himself, he wanted far more with her than physical pleasure.

But other matters had to be addressed first.

He placed a kiss to her fingertips, then held his breath. “Whose blood is on your dress?”

Her laughter died.