Part 40 (1/2)

It wasn't an answer. Not really. ”Do you love me?” she repeated.

He looked away from her. She thought he wouldn't answer; then he glanced back into her eyes. ”You know I do.”

Her heart pounded in her chest. Joy rose inside of her, because she knew he wasn't lying to her. He wasn't trying to deceive her.

At long last, she had what she wanted. Bravely, Anne reached down and pulled her s.h.i.+rt and chemise over her head. She stood before him bare to the waist.

”Show me you love me,” she said.

The fire in his eyes flared. His gaze roamed her naked flesh. Everywhere he looked, her skin heated. Her nipples puckered in the cool night air.

”Jesus, la.s.s,” he whispered, his voice low and raw sounding. ”You're beautiful. Your skin is like fine porcelain-so pale and smooth I wonder if you'll break if I touch you.”

”I will not break,” she a.s.sured him, her own voice breathless. ”Touch me and see.”

Merrick's eyes locked with hers. He reached out and touched her cheek, caressing her gently before lowering his hand to her breast. She fit into his hand as if she were fas.h.i.+oned for him alone.

She gasped softly when his thumb brushed across her sensitive nipple. He bent forward, kissed her neck, then moved lower until his tongue performed the same tantalizing dance that his thumb had a moment earlier. Anne twisted her fingers in his thick hair. Her knees nearly buckled when he took the straining peak into his warm mouth and sucked. He straightened, gazed into her eyes, then picked her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing.

Their blankets were spread for the night and he took her to his, lowered her gently, and knelt beside her. ”What do you know of matters between men and women, Anne?”

”Nothing much,” she answered. ”My aunt didn't speak to me of such things. My maid told me there would be pain my first time with a man.”

Merrick ran a finger down her arm. ”I don't know about being with a woman her first time. But I know there can be pleasure

between us. Are you willing to go through the pain first?”

He offered her one last time to regain her senses. Anne didn't want to regain them. She did trust him. She had to trust him. There could not be love without trust.

”Yes,” she answered. ”I trust you, Merrick.”

Slowly, he pulled his s.h.i.+rt over his head. Anne hadn't seen him without a s.h.i.+rt, and she quickly surmised it was something she wanted to do often in the future. His skin gleamed in the moonlight. A smattering of dark hair covered his chest, tapering down into a thin line that traced a path down his corded stomach to disappear into the top of his trousers. She wanted to touch him. Wanted it badly enough to reach out and run her fingers down his chest. He was warm to the touch, as she knew he would be. She didn't know that a man could look soft and feel hard. There was no excess to be found on him. Only steely muscle and glorious tawny-colored skin.

”You are beautiful,” she whispered.

”Come into my arms,” he commanded. ”Feel my skin against yours. Feel the differences between us.”

She went willingly. The touch of her skin against his was like nothing she had experienced before. He tangled his hands in her

hair and pulled her head back. Then he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.

They sank into a kiss where mouths were fused, tongues clashed, and gentleness slipped away on the night breeze. The soft down on his chest teased her nipples and sent heat coursing to the place between her legs. He lowered her to the blanket,

mouths still joined, skin against skin. Only when her head touched the ground, cradled by his hand, did he end the kiss. Merrick stared down at her, hypnotizing her with his strange night eyes; then he bent to kiss her neck.

Lower he traveled, finding her nipple and drawing it so deep into his mouth that her nails dug into his shoulders. Her hips arched

upward as if by some uncontrollable force. Between her legs, she began to throb. Slowly his hand traveled down her body. He

came to the tie on her trousers and loosened it, then pulled the trousers down her hips and legs.

Anne was a modest person by nature. It wasn't so easy to leave the past behind in one night. But when Merrick kissed her again, she began to relax. While he distracted her with the skill of his mouth, he introduced her to the skill of his fingers.

The first touch made her jump, to have his hand there, where no man had been before. He did not soothe her with soft words but continued to kiss her, doing nothing more than stroking the curls that s.h.i.+elded her mound. It wasn't so awkward, Anne decided, more distracted by his tongue delving into her mouth than what purpose his hand might hold.

When she didn't resist, he became bolder. Gently, he slid his finger into her cleft and rubbed a place where all her sensation must surely lie. Anne gasped and tried to close her legs.

”Don't,” he said softly. ”Don't shut me out. Let me bring you pleasure before I bring you pain.”

Her face flamed with embarra.s.sment. ”I-I'm wet there for some reason.”

He smiled and gave her a soft, quick kiss. ”If you weren't, I wouldn't be doing my job. You're wet there so our bodies can join.

It's to welcome me in, so don't shut me out.”

Anne willed her body to relax. She'd never imagined what all intimacy with a man entailed, but she rather thought it would be a quick affair, both only exposing the necessary parts to complete the act, then quickly righting their clothing and going to sleep. Necessary parts stuck in her head.

”Am I allowed to touch you, as well?” she asked. ”I mean, wherever I wish?”

He lifted a brow. ”Curious?”

”Yes,” she answered.

He bent and kissed her again. ”My body is yours tonight.” He suddenly stood, slipped off his boots, then reached for the ties of

his Cossacks. Ann turned on her side, placed a hand under her head, and watched him. She thought he took an abnormally long time to untie the fastening of his trousers. She might have even thought he was stalling, that he might be more modest than he pretended to be, but then she realized she was holding her breath, her eyes glued to the ties as his fingers leisurely undid them, and what he did he did for her pleasure.

Finally the ties were loosened and he slid his trousers down his hips, past his legs, and stepped from them. He straightened and stood before her naked. She supposed her eyes widened-resembled two twin moons. Whispered words from the ladies at the fair like ”stallion” came to mind, and with good reason.