Noble Scoundrel - Amy Sandas Page 0,85

other beneath her hips to hold her against him in a solid, encompassing embrace.

“It’ll work. Trust me.”

She did trust him. Somewhere between their first meeting and this moment, she’d come to trust him implicitly. She looped her arms around his neck and lifted her head to flick her tongue over his lips. “Show me.”

“Demanding wench, aren’t you?”

She slid one of her legs out from underneath him and hooked it over his hip. Tilting her hips, she tried to align herself to his hard heat. “Do you intend to refuse?”

“Hell no,” he denied vehemently. “I’ve wanted to fuck you from the second I saw you pointing that bloody pistol at me.”

His crude words stirred the fierce need clawing inside her. The rawness of him. The blatant hunger in his eyes. The pure, unfiltered evidence of his desire.

There was no need for tender words or unkeepable promises. Right now, in this moment, their insatiable need for each other was enough.

It was everything.

The heat between them. The hollowness inside her. The lustful craving for more of the pleasure he wanted to give her. The desire to pleasure him in return.

It was lust. Simple. Real. Honest.

Looking into his eyes, she saw a perfect reflection of the deep, bold desire she felt inside. But she saw something else as well. A question. An uncertainty. “Are you sure you want this?” he asked thickly.

The thought that he might be doubting the depths of her need for him—even for a moment—inspired a sharp ache in her chest. She was suddenly desperate to ensure he knew exactly how badly she wanted to experience every intimacy with him. But what could she say at a moment like this...?

The only thing that came to mind was to speak to him in words he’d easily understand. Words she was shocked to even consider uttering.

After the vulnerability and generosity he’d shared with her, surely she could find it in herself to be bold. To be as exposed and brazen as he was himself.

With her heart thundering, she gave another urging motion of her hips, making his jaw muscles tense, before she brought her mouth to his and whispered breathlessly, helplessly against his lips, “Please. Fuck me.”

Chapter Twenty-six

Mason’s heart stopped.

Had she really just uttered those filthy, beautiful words? Spoken in her husky, lust-filled voice with perfectly refined intonation?

He had to believe it because everything in him was suddenly clamoring to do exactly what she’d demanded. His cock throbbed so hard it felt like he’d burst. His whole body shook with the need to thrust into her soft, wet heat.

He kissed her. Hard. With all of the violently wound passion inside him. And when she kissed him back, just as fiercely, he wondered if he’d lost his mind.

How could he be here otherwise?

He was a hulking brute who’d been born and raised in a hovel to a prostitute mother and gin-loving father who demanded obedience in his children with his fists. He was a bare-knuckle boxer turned moneyman who wasn’t a stranger to using intimidation and fear to gain what he desired. A man who’d nearly lost his daughter forever due to his own selfish neglect.

What twist of fate had allowed an arsehole like him into the bed of this fascinating woman?

After her breathy whispered words, she’d stilled, awaiting his response.

Another time. Another him. Another woman, perhaps he wouldn’t have hesitated.

He brought his hands up to frame her face. Holding himself on his elbows braced beside her shoulders, he took in the sight of her.

A soft, silken cloud of dark auburn hair pillowed her head in a stark contrast to the white bedcovering. Her strong eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she allowed his perusal. He could see she was starting to worry about his delay but was doing her best not to show it. She was so brave. Still, he took his time admiring her perfectly straight nose. Her strong but elegant jawline. The modestly curved arches of her upper lip and the full cushion of her bottom lip that begged for his teeth.

After lingering for a moment on her mouth, he finally met her gaze. Dark, guarded eyes met his from within a thick fringe of lashes.

In the short time he’d known Lady Katherine Blackwell, he’d come to expect certain indisputable things about her.

She was fiercely loyal, courageous, and clever. She didn’t trust easily. Her stubbornness could be frustrating, but he knew it came from a need to control the uncertainties in her life to best protect and guide her brother. He also