Merry Misrule - St. Clair, Ellie Page 0,54

over where his mouth had been.

One hand fisted into the blankets at her side, the other gripped his shoulder, until he felt her begin to pulsate around his finger as she cried out his name. When she had finished, he captured her hips between his hands as he moved between her legs, on top of her.

She was no longer cold, her thighs tight and warm around him. He was right there, so close, but he needed to make sure this was what she wanted.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” she exclaimed, arching her hips to meet his, and he groaned as he could no longer hold himself back from her. He rocked his hips in one last question, holding her green-eyed gaze as he slowly slid into her, both of them silent, captured in wonderment of one another.

Until she winced, and he stilled. He leaned down, kissing her forehead, her temple, her cheekbones, then her lips.

“Relax around me, love.”

She nodded, and while she still seemed slightly hesitant, he tested pushing a little bit further. He was barely within, and it was killing him to still and slow, but he didn’t want to hurt her, didn’t want to scare her.

He already knew, however, that this would be unlike anything he had ever felt before.

Elijah could hear his own breath, intermingled with Joanna’s, hard and fast, as his heart pumped vigorously inside his chest. How he had managed to hang on for so long already — through her own climax, through her open wanting of him — he had no idea, but even now, staring down at her, her cheeks hot and flushed, clearly no longer cold, he could just barely manage to keep hold of his control.

She wanted him. She had chosen him. Elijah. A man who had always come second — or third.

He pulled out slightly, then pushed back, a bit deeper. He did so again and again, going a tiny bit farther each time, as he continue to kiss her everywhere he could access — her neck, her shoulder, her cheeks, her lips.

He began to kiss her again, until he finally buried himself inside her as far as he could go, kissing her thoroughly now, drinking in her gasp, as he began to move in time with the love play of his mouth.

He had never known anything so sweet, so perfect, so right.

She was his. Now and forever.

He would make sure of it.

Joanna was both amazed and in utter disbelief. He was with her. Inside her. Performing the act of love she knew was entirely possible but had never imagined could be so amazing. Astonishing. All-encompassing.

Any pain she had felt began to ebb away as he continued to gently move back and forth within her, and her hands couldn’t seem to help themselves as they wandered all over his tight muscles. He was so masculine, so hard, so unyielding, and she wanted all of him, more of him, as his muscles tensed beneath her.

Every time he moved, an exquisite tingle of pleasure traveled up through her, and she looked forward to it with every thrust.

Slowly that same feeling that he had summoned forth but minutes ago — she could hardly believe that it had even happened — began to build once more, a slow burn at first, until it began to steadily increase.

Now she understood why Caroline couldn’t keep herself from Thatcher, why she wanted this with him for the rest of her life. It was both absolute pleasure and yet torture in the same breath. She arched upwards, meeting him now, as he began to move faster and faster. His gaze was wild, his jaw clenched tightly, and she could tell that he was doing all he could to maintain control.

He was all she knew, all she wanted, all she never wanted to give up.

She loved him.

She loved this man, who had tormented her, who she had avoided at all costs. Who had moved through war, through pain, to become a better man, one who still held onto that mischievous streak that made him who he was, and yet who now better understood how to keep from hurting another.

But did he — could he — love her in return? She had no idea, and it was what kept her from saying it aloud.

He had disdained his sister’s attachment to a footman — was this a bit of Christmas fun for him, or did it mean more?

Her heart ached as his heat encompassed her, chasing away any cold that remained. He lifted