April Moon by Susan King, Merline Lovelace, MIRANDA JARRETT Read Free Book Online Page A

hers. He pushed his a hand through her hair, held her steady, and pleasure curled low and tight in her belly.
    Moments later, he slid his other hand between their bellies and added the unbearable pressure of his thumb. Sarah felt a fleeting dart of wonder that she could experience such exquisite sensations. Another dart, this one of disgust. How could she have established such a scandalous reputation and never, ever dreamed such wild delight could come with it.
    Suddenly, she froze. Her eyes widened in startled surprise. A moment later her head went back, a groan ripped from her throat and her entire body convulsed.
    The small corner of Richard’s brain still capable of rational thought took note of that look of utter astonishment. No whore, highborn or low, could have feigned such stunned surprise. Or the shudders that wracked her body as her pleasure took hold.
    Gritting his teeth, he let her ride the waves to their crest before he flexed his thighs and drove up into her hot, slick depths.
     
    D AZED , S ARAH EMERGED from what felt like a near stupor to find herself cradled against a broad chest. One of her legs was still folded under her. The other lay hooked over the American’s thighs. Stiff and awkward and more than a little embarrassed nowat the wantonness of her behavior, she struggled to right herself.
    He lifted her easily, allowing her to straighten her bent leg. She scrambled off his lap and dragged up the straps of her shift. For some absurd reason, Sarah couldn’t bear to face this man until she’d covered herself again. Even then, she had to summon all her courage to turn and meet his gaze.
    It was lazy. Smiling. The look of a man well satisfied with the night’s work.
    As he should be, she thought. The Linx had surrendered to him without so much as a token resistance. So had the Notorious Lady S.
    And in doing so, she’d been awakened to a pleasure she’d often heard alluded to when married women gathered in gossipy little circles, but had never before experienced. How odd! How very, very odd. And so exceedingly ironic. After three years of marriage and several more playing the role of merry widow, at last she understood the magic that was supposed to take place in the bedchamber.
    Forcing her limp limbs to move, she went to gather her gown. Blake rolled to his feet, righted his clothing and followed.
    “Turn around and I’ll do the buttons.”
    Dragging her tangled hair over one shoulder, Sarah dipped her head to allow him access to the loops and cloth-covered buttons. The brush of hisfingers against her back raised tiny tremors, just as before.
    What was it about this man’s touch that stirred her so?
    The knowledge she would never feel it again raised another shiver, this one of despair. Her brief interlude of insanity was over. This moment out of time had ended. Sarah could no longer ignore her past or the future that awaited her when she and the American left this cabin.
    Blake finished with the last button and rested his hands on her shoulders. “Are you all right?”
    The concern in his voice was too close to pity for her pride to bear. Her back stiffened. Her chin came up. She’d made her bed, in the most literal sense of the word. She would now have to lie in it. Drawing in a deep breath, she turned to face him.
    “Yes,” she answered coolly. “I’m fine.”
    He searched her face, his own troubled. “What happened in this cabin is known only to us. No one else need be privy to it. You can tell Lowell—”
    “Tell him what?” she interjected scornfully. “That I employed all my wiles and failed to seduce you?”
    “Well, you see, lass, it’s like this. The truth of the matter is you didn’t seduce me. That implies a certain measure of gullibility on my part. I knew exactly what I was doing…and what I wanted.”
    “It doesn’t matter how we dress the matter, orwhether we dress it at all. James will believe what he wishes to. He thinks me a whore, you see. As I have just