Free The Price of Pleasure by Connie Mason Page A

moments before she burst into flame. The world spun away, and she rose up to meet it.
    She was only dimly aware of his husky voice urging her on, barely cognizant of the ridges of scarred flesh beneath her fingertips. Reduced to a bundle of quivering nerve endings, she clung to him, rocking her hips as her cries of pleasure filled the space around them.
    Moments later she convulsed, soaring higher than she’d ever soared before, visited places she had never seen. The view from the top shook her to the very core. When she felt Reed stiffen and go still, heard his hoarse cry, she grasped his hand to welcome him to paradise.
    Reed’s eyes closed in sensual pleasure that bordered on pain as Fleur trembled and quaked beneath him. When she grasped his hand and clutched it tightly, he could no longer help himself. Thrusting in a raw, urgent rhythm, he felt the explosion rip through him. He cried out his own savage release, his body clenching and shuddering with pent-up wildness, finally ending his enforced celibacy.
    Fleur had never experienced anything quite like what had just happened between her and Reed. She closed her eyes to better enjoy the aftermath, relishing the weight of Reed’s body atop hers.
    It was a memory to savor, to store and retrieve at will after Reed left. Emotionally drained, overwhelmed, Fleur felt Reed soften inside her and his weight lift away from her. He sagged to his side on the mattress, still breathing hard. During the lull, Fleur recalled the purpose of Reed’s nocturnal visit.
    “It won’t work, you know,” Fleur said.
    He rolled on his side to face her. “What won’t work?”
    “Using sex to convince me to leave.”
    “You misjudge me. Making love to you wasn’t my intention when I came to your chamber.”
    “You don’t need to explain, Reed. You haven’t had a woman in a long time, and I was handy. I don’t blame you for what happened between us. I understand your need, although I don’t understand mine.”
    “Didn’t you enjoy sex with your husband?”
    “Yes, I enjoyed that aspect of marriage.” She looked at him, then glanced away. “Though I have to admit what you and I did in no way compares to what I experienced during my marriage.”
    “Should I be insulted?”
    A long pause. “No, Reed, you have nothing to be ashamed of. I never knew I was capable of responding as I did to you. It was . . . intense.”
    “You were magnificent. When we return to England, we can see each other as often as we like. We’re both adults; we need answer to no one about our actions. Do you see now why I can’t leave you behind, Fleur?”
    Fleur saw a great deal. “I’m not looking for a casual affair, Reed. I’m not looking for a man at all. And as I told you before, I’m not leaving France until I absolutely have to.”
    “Fleur . . . ”
    “Say no more, Reed. Your grandmother moved heaven and earth to get you back home. The earldom needs an heir and you have a duty to marry well and provide one. Even if I returned with you to England, our lives would take different paths. And I absolutely refuse to become your mistress.”
    “I didn’t ask that of you and never will.”
    “Are you saying you want to marry me?”
    Fleur smiled when Reed appeared stunned by her question.
    “I wouldn’t rule that out,” Reed said after a long, telling silence. “You are as well-born as I am and certainly appropriate.”
    “No, I’m not,” Fleur confessed. “We don’t really know each other, and I can’t have children.”
    “What? You don’t know that.”
    “I didn’t conceive during my marriage to Pierre.”
    Another long silence ensued before Reed said with a hint of resignation, “Is there nothing I can say to make you understand the danger you would be in should you remain in France?”
    “I
know
the work I do is dangerous. I’m not stupid. But it’s what I want to do, what I need to do. Go home and forget me, Reed. Perhaps one day, when my work here is done, we will meet again