Page 138 of Her Beast

Amazingly, her sex clenched at his wicked look, ready for more.

Julia let her legs fall open.

“Mmm. Can you spread wider?”

She complied without hesitation, so eager to please him that she opened herself until her hips ached.

His pupil flared as he drank her in, tracing a finger lightly over the sensitive crease between her sex and her thigh. “Good girl.”

Julia’s inner muscles spasmed at his gruff praise, the effect of the simple words on her already overstimulated sex both immediate and electrifying. For the second time in as many minutes her back arched off the bed as a sharp, sudden climax ambushed her.

Even before the pleasure had fully ebbed Julia’s cheeks burned.

As much as she wanted to hide, she forced her eyes open.

“Bloody hell,” Malcolm murmured, staring down at her as if she’d just done something miraculous. “Did you just—”

“Yes,” she blurted, before he could utter anything else that might shock another orgasm from her and prove just what a wanton whore she really was.

He stared, unblinking.

Julia turned away from his probing gaze.

“Hey there.” He slid a hand around her jaw and turned her to face him. “Why do you look so miserable?” he gave a breathless laugh. “You just had an orgasm without either of us eventouchingyou.”

Julia squirmed. “Is that—it’s—”

“What, luv?” he murmured, his brow furrowed with concern.

“It’s abnormal to be the way I am, isn’t it? I’m some sort of—of deviant.” Julia pulled her thighs closed and this time he didn’t stop her.

Instead, he leaned down on the bed, bringing his face close enough that she could see the magnificent icy blue of his iris and the beginnings of his night beard.

“You’re not a deviant, sweetheart.”

Julia tried to turn away, but he wouldn’t let her.

“No,” he said, although she’d not spoken. “I won’t let you shame yourself for this. Do you think I’m a deviant for what I do?”

She opened her mouth, hesitated, and then said, “Well… yes, a little.”

Malcolm laughed, a deep belly laugh that was so warm and comforting that Julia had to smile with him.

“Let me rephrase that,” he said. “Do you think my desire for sex is the mark of a deviant?”

“No, but then you’re a man and it is different for men.”

“Society—a large part of it—believes that,” he conceded. “But do you really want to please the nameless, faceless mass of society?”

“Of course not, but—”

“Worry about whatyouwant and need, Julia. And what your lover likes and needs.” He cocked his head. “Do you regret what you did with Lily? Because society would surely point its finger and call you a deviant for that. But do you wish it hadn’t happened?”

Julia thought about Lily and those two lovely years when they’d been both best friends, and, yes, the adult word lover applied, too.

She met Malcolm’s gaze. “I wish I hadn’t been caught,” she admitted. “But I wouldn’t change it if I could.”

“Do you think you will regret what we are d—”

---