Free Wicked Beloved by Susanne Saville Page B

with a purpose.” To his knowledge, she had never entered his
bedroom since that first night. He had told her she needn’t and she
hadn’t.
    “ Yeah. Ummm… it’s a stupid
question. But I’m here now. I…” She came closer and gingerly
lowered herself to the edge of the foot of his bed. “I’ve been
afraid to ask… What do you want me to be?”
    The question was clearly important to her,
but he wasn’t quite sure why. “I’m satisfied with whom you
are.”
    “ No, I mean, what am I
supposed to be to you ? You don’t treat me like…” She sighed. “Am I your cleaning
lady? Or your sex slave? Or what? I don’t know what I’m supposed to
be.” She gave him a little, helpless shrug.
    “ I suppose I think of you
as a pet.” He kept his voice carefully neutral. After that club
experience, she must be aware of his darker desires for her. He was
uncertain for what sort of assurance she searched.
    She nodded. “Pet. Okay. I can do that. Is—Is
that all you want?”
    He watched her, the way she perched on the
very edge of the mattress, the way her knee shook up and down.
“What else would you be willing to give?”
    She stared at the floor. “If… Would you
like…?” She stopped and seemed incapable of voicing more.
    He rose up on his elbows, the sheet sliding
down to his waist. He didn’t wear nightclothes. But she had come to
discuss carnality, so his bare skin shouldn’t unsettle her. “Do you
wish an honest answer?”
    In one smooth swivel, she turned, bringing
her legs up onto the mattress, and started crawling up the bed to
him.

CHAPTER
TEN
     
    This was unexpected. Unmoving, he watched as
she prowled over his body to sit straddling his hips. She wasn’t
wearing anything under the nightshirt. His blood burned in response
to the hot, damp heat of her. Then, her eyes never leaving his, she
undulated her hips ever so slowly, making him feel each small,
sinuous movement along his rapidly hardening erection.
    Every cell of his body gave her its full,
undivided attention, despite the sheet separating them. He wanted
that sheet gone. He licked his lips, mouth suddenly dry.
    “ I… don’t think you
realize… what you’re doing to me.” He could have winced with
embarrassment at the husky desperation in his tone. If she hadn’t
known, his voice would have informed her, loud and
clear.
    She looked so beautiful, gazing down at him
with smoldering eyes half-closed. Never breaking her rhythm against
his aching length, she leaned forward and smoothed her hands up and
down the skin of his torso. Her fingers traced the delineations of
his muscles. The contact was excruciatingly delicate and it wasn’t
enough. He needed more.
    Almost convulsively, he sat up, wrapping his
arms around her, and captured her mouth with his. The kiss was
messy and too forceful. He knew he was bruising her lips but he
couldn’t stop.
    Losing control like this was strange to him.
He should suppress these feelings or harness them or something. But
instead he was yielding to the unbelievable sensations she provoked
inside his body.
    She was kissing him back with equal fervor.
Her fingers carded through his hair. Her touch was so wild and yet
so gentle. He was accustomed to pain and passion but this… this was
unique. He had no name for it. If this was love, enjoying it so was
wrong, but he did. He couldn’t imagine losing this, losing her.
    He broke the kiss, moaning softly, wanting
to plunge inside her and claim her fully. Claim her. Yes, she was
his.
    He wanted to feel himself thrusting deep
inside her, feel her hot, slick flesh gripping him tight. He wanted
his name on her lips when she cried out with pleasure. Not his
title. Not “master.” He wanted her calling his name.
    A spike of pure lust convulsed him. The
yearning that coiled deep in his groin acquired a painful edge.
Broken, hitching breaths and little guttural moans struggled out of
his open mouth. His body was going to shudder itself apart.
    His lips found the