Page 44 of Merciless King

Yep. He knew. Was it that obvious? I cringed inwardly and pulled my chin out of his hand, trying to climb down. He wouldn’t let me.

“London?”

I ignored him and struggled against his hold.

“What’s going on? Hey, look at me.”

I looked longingly at the door. “I need to get ready for work.”

“Hang on a minute.”

I carried on squirming, trying to get the hell down and away from his overwhelming presence and my humiliation.

“What the hell’s going on?” he said with more force.

I didn’t want to talk about this, but now he sounded worried, which meant I had to talk about it. “No, okay. I hadn’t had sex before last night. Not that I managed to keep it a secret since you worked it out so damned easily.”

He slid his fingers around the side of my throat, tilting my head back. “Yeah, so what? Why are you upset right now?”

He wanted me to spell it out? I was flustered and getting annoyed because I was dying here and he wouldn’t let me escape, wouldn’t let me run and hide. “Why do you think?” I said. “You could tell I was a virgin, Van. Which means you could tell I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, which also means that I was…I was…”

“What?” he growled.

“Terrible at it,” I blurted.

He stilled. “London.”

I didn’t reply and focused on my tightly clenched fingers gripping the edge of the counter.

“Jesus Christ, woman, look at me.”

I didn’t want to, but I knew if I didn’t, he wasn’t going to let me down. I lifted my chin and forced my eyes to meet his. They were soft. Softer than I’d ever seen them.

“You think you were terrible?”

I nodded.

Van carried on staring at me for several long, silent seconds, and then he released an unsteady breath. “Fuck, baby, a man doesn’t come the way I did last night with terrible. He sure as fuck doesn’t repeatedly reach for more through the night. And he doesn’t wake up craving it, knowing he would do anything to have it again. You, sweetheart, were the opposite of terrible. Woman, you’re the best I ever had. You’re all I want. And you have to know, I plan on having you as often as I can while I have you around.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “Does that clear things up?”

Oh my God.

I nodded again, my heart racing so hard and fast I felt light-headed.

His fingers dug gently into the flesh of my thigh, his other hand still holding the side of my throat, thumb sliding over my jaw. “Now, I want to fuck you again, but if you’re too sore, I’ll use my mouth to make you come instead.”

I shivered and shook my head. “I’m not…I’m not too sore.”

He was done talking after that, his mouth coming down on mine, kissing me soft and sweet, to start with at least. It wasn’t long before he deepened it, his tongue sliding into my mouth, tangling with mine, his lips taking mine with more urgency. I kissed him back just as hard.

His hand slid back up between my thighs and he massaged me gently through my underwear until I was squirming and tilting my hips, asking for more. He gripped the side of them, like he was about to tear them off.

Someone knocked at the door.

Van ignored it and kept on kissing me.

They knocked again.

He lifted his head on a growl.