Page 57 of The Secret Life of a Lady
Hannah pushed up from the floor, the muscles in her arms and legs flexing. Killian had seen his share of naked women in all shapes and sizes. But he’d never encountered a woman with the long, lean muscles Hannah developed by years of hard training. She was a warrior priestess, proud and primal. Her stomach was tight, her legs long and shapely. Her body was sleek and powerful and perfect. Killian wanted to kiss every scar highlighting her courage and pledge his skills in battle to keep her safe. But shedidn’t need his protection. She was his equal. The only woman he knew who might understand the sins and seduction of his violent life.
Hannah’s gaze dipped down to his erection. The tip of her tongue rested in the corner of her mouth. Killian ground his teeth together, willing his body not to betray him.
‘No. I don’t have you. Not yet. I want to give you the same kind of pleasure you have given me. I want to have sex with you. Properly.’ Hannah didn’t break eye contact with him, but he knew it took something from her, to ask so boldly and risk so much if he refused her. But how could he ever refuse Hannah Simmons?
Time froze. Details dissolved until it was just Hannah’s eyes locked onto him, her red lips parted, her pale body glowing. She was offering him the one thing he wanted more than air. The one thing he promised himself he wouldn’t claim. ‘No. I told you; I won’t take your virginity and walk away.’
Hannah put her hands on her hips. It was a pose he was familiar with but devastatingly more effective when she was naked. ‘You’re going to renege on our deal? You asked me to think on what favour I wanted, and this is it. You aren’t taking my virginity. I’m giving it to you. I don’t expect marriage. I don’t want your title or your money. I’m not some innocent young girl who believes in romance and love. But I want this.’ Her lip trembled, destroying a bit of her displayed bravado.
Hannah was wrong. She was innocent in ways she didn’t even know. Every woman dreamt of romance and love. At least, every woman Killian knew. More importantly, shedeservedromance and love. He couldn’t offer her that. His parents had expected him to marry well and continue the dukedom’s lineage. He couldn’t betray them after everything they’d given him and all the ways he had failed them. He could only give Hannah this moment. It wasn’t enough. Not for her.
Hannah narrowed her eyes. ‘I’m going to have sex with someone. I want to know what it is to join with a man. I want it to be you, but I’ll find someone else if you refuse.’
Killian imagined Hannah naked like this with another man. A dirty, hulking brute who wouldn’t realise how fragile she was. Who wouldn’t treasure her or take his time. Rage washed through him, as potent as whiskey, burning in his veins. He pushed up from the chair and closed the distance between them, grabbing her arms to hold her still. ‘You will not.’
‘You don’t get to decide what I do. Not now. Not ever.’ Hannah pointed her chin in the air with a defiance he both hated and admired. ‘You said you wouldn’t force me to do anything tonight, and I will extend you the same promise. If you don’t want me, you are free to walk away.’
Killian growled in frustration and tightened his grip. ‘Not want you? How could any man not want you? You are all I want. My body aches for you.’ He grabbed her hand and pressed it against his cock. ‘Can you feel that? How hard I am for you? I could explode from my desire. For you. But I can’t give you what you deserve. Don’t you see that?’
Hannah smiled. She pulled her hand away from his hard flesh and cupped his cheek, a painfully gentle gesture. In the muted light, her amber eyes shone like the heart of a fire. ‘You may not be what I deserve, but you are what I want.’
Damn his soul. He wasn’t strong enough to resist her. ‘Be careful what you ask for, Hannah.’
‘I’m always careful. Do you agree to my terms? Will you grant me this favour?’
He bit out a laugh. ‘I’m not granting you any favours by bedding you. I’m taking your innocence. I won’t have you pay me for the privilege with the information you shared. I’m a blackguard and a libertine; don’t make me a whore as well.’ The brutaltruth of his words echoed in the darkness. He pressed his mouth against hers in a kiss tasting of desperation.
She pulled away, cupping his other cheek to bracket his face between her hands. ‘You are courageous and honourable and kind. You are taking nothing from me that I don’t freely give. Don’t paint this moment with shame.’
He would never be strong enough to deny Hannah. He couldn’t give her a future, but if this night was all they had, he would damn well make it worthy of her. A moment she could look back on with joy. A memory they would both hold in the secret caverns of their hearts for whatever dark days lay ahead.
He softened his kiss, licking the seam of her lips and tasting her depths as she opened to him. Sweeping her up in his arms, he pressed her warm body against his. Striding to the bed, he lay her gently on the covers. She scooted back, making room for him.
Stripping off his breeches, socks, and boots, he climbed on the bed and stretched his body next to hers, naked.
‘I want to touch you. May I?’ Hannah bit her lip. Every question she asked flayed another layer from his scarred heart.
‘You can do whatever you want.’ Killian put both hands behind his head to stop him from taking control of the moment. If she needed to learn his body, he would give her time or implode from the effort.
He clenched his jaw against the sweet torture of her fingers feathering across his skin. She sat up, running her hands over his shoulders, down his chest. When she circled his nipples with her thumbs, he groaned, closing his eyes, and revelling in the pressure. Her soft touch was replaced with wet heat, and his eyes flew open to see the top of her head as she licked him.
‘God, woman. You’ll undo me before we’ve even started.’
Hannah’s chuckle was low and sweet. ‘A duke undone, scandalous.’
She moved her explorations lower, and Killian tried to think of anything but her breath tickling his chest hair, her hands bumping over his stomach muscles as she moved closer to his throbbing cock.
When she wrapped her strong fingers around his erect penis, her exhalation of wonder washed across his over-sensitised skin, and Killian wondered if he could die from pleasure.
‘I didn’t think it would be so hard and silky at once. How is that possible?’
Killian had no clue. He couldn’t remember his own name, let alone explain the mysteries of the male body. His cock pulsed as she stroked him tentatively.
‘Does it feel good when I do this?’ Her eyes were huge, her brows arched.
‘Yes.’ Killian ground out, thinking of cold winters, wet dogs, three-day-old porridge. Anything but her pale hand wrapped around his ruddy flesh. When she squeezed, Killian jerked. He grabbed her wrist, holding her hand steady. ‘You’re killing me, Hannah.’
In a quick motion, he flipped them so she was beneath him. ‘I wanted to give you control, but I won’t last if you keep this up.’ He pressed his mouth against hers, plunging his tongue into her dark wetness as his fingers found her slit, sliding over the soft folds, seeking her pearl.
