Free Her Quicksilver Lover: Even Gods Fall in Love, Book 6 by Lynne Connolly Page A

this.”
    When she tried to pull away, he held her firmly. “I don’t make a habit of taking servant girls, especially ones in my employ.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “But whatever else you are, you are in my employ, are you not? What if I tell you that you are no longer working for me? What then?”
    Fury rose like a tongue of flame inside her. “Is this your way of dismissing me?”
    He smiled wryly. “No, it’s my way of seducing you.”
    Before she could protest, he kissed her again, sealing his mouth to hers. She should push him away, she truly should. Lifting her hands, she tried to do just that, but when she touched the back of his head, she threaded her fingers through his hair instead, tugging it out of the velvet bow that fastened it back. It was silky and seductive, like the rest of him. With a moan, he plunged his tongue deep, and she went flying.
    No, not flying—he’d bent, tucked his arm under her knees and picked her up. She should not allow this, but her resolve had turned so soft that it might melt away completely. He lifted his lips from hers, glanced around, and moved backward, taking a seat on the large, blue sofa and laying her across his lap.
    By now Joanna was mindless with desire. She burned for him. Reaching up, she tugged his head down to hers. Before his mouth took hers, his lips quirked. “It’s the same for me,” he said before he kissed her again.
    What did he mean by that? The same as what? He couldn’t possibly feel as helpless as she did, nor as lost. He’d done this before. She had not.
    Willingly she opened her mouth to the onslaught of his. Tipping her head back, she found support on the arm of the sofa. Her fichu loosened as he tugged it free of her bodice, his mouth left hers and he kissed her throat, lingering at the base of her ear, nipping her earlobe and licking the pain away.
    “Ah!” When he sucked her earlobe and raked it gently with his teeth, thrills coursed through her, down and along her skin, making her moan with increased sensitivity. He kissed down her throat, nuzzling with lips and tongue, the slight prickle of his beard giving her delicious contrasts to the softness of his lips.
    “Yesss,” he murmured when he touched the hollow at the base of her throat and she flinched. “You are so responsive, sweetheart. You feel so good. Say my name. Call me Amidei.”
    “Amidei,” she breathed.
    “It sounds so much better on your lips.” His voice slurred, and he kissed along the edge of her bodice, nudging the rigid edge down with his chin. The impossible softness of his hair poured over her hands in a cool cascade.
    A sharp pull at the bottom of her jacket and her breasts popped free. She would have pushed them at him, eager to discover what joys he brought her next. Lifting her leg, she wound it around his lower body, annoyed when her skirts prevented her from doing so.
    He kissed around her left nipple, raising its sensitivity to impossible levels, and then sucked it.
    Joanna shot up from the sofa, not in protest, but in reaction. She had never allowed anyone to touch her there before, and now she knew why. Vulnerability was the least of her concerns. She lost her mind, what there was left of it.
    Threading her fingers through his hair, combing it with her fingers, Joanna let one hand drift down over his coat, the fine silk coolly slippery.
    Caressing and kissing her breasts, he still managed to drag up her skirts, enough to get his hand underneath. Now she whispered “Yes,” as he stroked up her leg, his hand pressing against her thigh, the first man’s hand to do so. His nails dug in slightly, and his head was buried between her breasts.
    “No!” His voice was sharper, louder, echoing around the room. Shouldn’t she be saying that?
    Cold air hit her when he pulled away so abruptly she felt like a fish landed on the riverbank. All at once awareness rushed in. She became aware of her state of undress, of what she nearly did, what she was still