“What I want—what I desire—is for you to permit me to love you. And whatever form that love is allowed to take, I will gladly accept.”
Kendal was more than just a rich nobleman’s son. He spoke to her on a soul-deep level. A relationship with him could be the best thing ever in her life.
It could also be your undoing.
She sucked in a breath. The decision she was about to make could be life-altering for both of them.
Her gaze settled on his long, fair hair, a soft smile coming to her lips as she recalled falling asleep thinking of running her fingers through his beautiful locks. Instinctively, her hand went to his face, brushing his hair back. She tucked it behind his ear, gasping when she caught a glimpse of a silver earring.
“How have I never noticed that before?” she said.
“Because I don’t always wear it. My father is not one for it; and quite often after you have been and gone from Follett House, I have to go and see him. I put it on today because I felt I wanted to. I am not a child—I can make my own choices.”
The earring was a small silver hoop, something she had seen worn by the various sailors who visited the local tavern. It was not what she’d ever expected to see on a lord. Kendal was a man of surprises and secrets.
The longer they stood there together, the more she was drawn to him.
Mercy leaned in and placed a brief, tentative kiss on Kendal’s lips. They had kissed before, but this was different—almost the sign of a change in the air. A transformation which told her that the longer she looked at him, the more certain she was that things would happen.
The shop bell tinkled downstairs. Her father may have been out of the house, but no doubt she would face an inquisition from either Anthony or one of the other tenants about her mysterious caller if Kendal lingered too long.
“Alright. I accept your offer. There are terms, however. The main one being that if I call a halt to things, you respect my wishes. I don’t want you going all Romeo and Juliet on me and standing under my window in the middle of the night.”
Kendal chuckled. “Oh. I had such grand plans for serenading you. Though your lack of a balcony could make things a tad difficult.”
He wasn’t always an easy man to read. When it came to the Noble Lords and his music, Kendal was deadly serious—too grave, at times, for her liking. His rant of this morning was still fresh in her memory. Then there were times like now when he was as playful as a puppy. Life with Kendal was never dull.
“And what other conditions are you placing on this affaire secrète?” he asked.
His hands came seeking; their fingertips touched. His gaze met hers and she was heartened by the serious look on his face. If she was peering over the edge of a high precipice, then he was standing right alongside her.
“That you do everything to make sure I do not fall pregnant.”
Chapter Twenty-One
She had wanted Kendal right from the start. That very first day in the ballroom when he had done his best to capture her attention, she in turn had done her utmost not to let him know he had succeeded. Every day since then, her desire for him had grown.
And with that growing need had also come both knowledge and fear. Knowledge that they would eventually become lovers; fear that she would end up abandoned and alone, carrying his child.
Kendal nodded. “There are ways to have congress which greatly reduce the chances. I shall do all I can. I have managed to have sexual liaisons thus far in my life without there being any unwanted outcomes.”
“Good,” she replied.
“And while we are on the topic of sexual intercourse, can I take it that you are not innocent in your knowledge of what happens between a man and a woman? I am not in the habit of deflowering young ladies,” he said.
Mercy took a step closer and Kendal wrapped his arms around her. “So, what you are asking me in an arse-about way is am I still a virgin? The answer is no. I had a long-term relationship with a gentleman who wished to marry me, but I called it off a while ago.”
“Why?” he asked.
Her reasons for ending things with Anthony were none of Kendal’s business, but she was heartened that he cared enough to ask. “You know how you speak about the passion of music—about how it binds the likes of you and I to its soul? Well, not everyone is like that. My previous lover could sit through a whole evening of music and song and not raise the hint of a smile. He is a nice man, but he was not for me.”
Kendal placed a gentle kiss on her lips, then deepened it. Their tongues worked softly over one another, the embrace tender, loving.
“I wanted to be with you from the first time you walked into Reid’s ballroom. My heart skipped a beat when I laid eyes on you. You were standing there all haughty-like and giving me death stares. I could tell you were not the least bit impressed with me.”
She chuckled. “So, all a woman has to do in order to get your attention is to treat you with contempt?”
He leaned in and nipped at her earlobe. “I knew you were interested in me; I couldn’t help but notice. You were doing your best not to show it, but I felt it. The air between us was crackling with sexual tension.”
“What?”
“Mercy, you are an incredibly beautiful woman; a man would have to be half dead not to be moved by your mere presence. But when I heard you play for the first time, that was when all the pieces fell into place. I could hear your love for the music, and I knew in my heart that you and I were destined,” he said.
She met his gaze, searching his smoky green eyes for the slightest hint of a lie. Plenty of men over the years had given her pretty speeches in order to lure her to their beds. Mercy could read people better than most. In Kendal, she sensed an honest soul—one which called to her own.
He looked as if he was going to say something else deep and meaningful, so instead of hearing his words, she silenced him with a kiss.
It was late morning. Henry Wood would hopefully not be home for several hours. If she wanted things to happen between her and Kendal today, she had to make that decision now.
“Have your driver take the carriage away. If my father comes home, I don’t want him seeing it and then to start asking questions,” she said.
Their lips met once more, then Kendal released her and moved toward the door. As he headed down the stairs, Mercy made her way into her bedroom.
Time was of the essence. This may well be the only chance they would get to spend a morning alone in the apartment. If her father did hear of her having a visitor, she could find a convenient lie to tell him, but there were too many nosey neighbors in the rest of the building for her to consider conducting an ongoing affair at home.
She slipped out of her coat, then set to work on the laces of her boots.
By the time Kendal returned to the apartment, Mercy was down to her shift. Hungry eyes greeted her as he stepped into her bedroom. She shivered as his gaze roamed over her body. His searing stare was soon replaced by his warm hands. With nimble, experienced fingers, he released her hair from the blue velvet ribbon, smiling as her dark tresses tumbled down her back.
She waited for him to hand her the ribbon, but instead he slipped it into his jacket pocket. “I want to wear this when I play with the Noble Lords. It will remind me of you.”
“But how shall I hold up my hair?” she replied.
He leaned in and kissed her. “When you arrive at Follett House tomorrow, I shall have a dozen new ribbons waiting for you. I promise. In return, you must gift me this one.” Kendal brushed his fingers over her hardened nipples, taking a moment to flick his thumb back and forth through the light fabric. Then, in a deft move, he gripped the sides of her shift and lifted it over her head, tossing it onto the floor.
She stood before him, fully naked.
“You are so damn beautiful, Mercy. I don’t know whether to cry or to write you a bloody poem,” he said.
“Forget about the poetry and kiss me.”
As their lips met once more, Merc
y’s clever fingers worked their magic over the buttons of Kendal’s jacket and trousers. She helped him out of his coat, then paused.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“My former lover didn’t like me seeing his body. On the few occasions that we did make love, we were under the blankets or in the dark. I haven’t yet seen a man naked in full light,” she replied.
Kendal bit down on his bottom lip and for the first time since she had met him, Mercy sensed he was unsure of himself. She placed a hand on his cream linen shirt, over his heart. The hard thump of it beating in his chest pulsed through her fingers. “Don’t tell me you haven’t been naked in front of a woman before. I thought you nobles were all for wild sexual romps in your birthday suits.”
It was true. The world outside of the ton was of the opinion that the rich and powerful were scandalous in their behavior.
Kendal shook his head. “Not everyone in elegant society is wicked. There are plenty of puritans. But yes, I am comfortable with being naked; it’s just that I have markings on my body and some women find them confronting.”
She frowned. “Markings? What sort of markings?”
“Tattoos. Lots of them. In fact, there is little of my torso which is not inked. My friends all have three or four of them, but I have so many that I am basically a living canvas,” he replied.
Mercy smiled. It was sweet that he thought she might be taken aback by the sight of his tattoos. His worries, though, were unnecessary. She was used to dealing with sailors and foreigners, many of whom had tattoos and piercings on their faces. “Well, how about you show me them all and I will let you know if any of them offend my sensitive nature,” she whispered. Mercy pulled on the end of Kendal’s impeccably tied cravat, loosening it. She unwound it slowly from around his neck, humming softly as she worked.
“You are going to be the death of me if you plan to strip me this way, every time we are alone,” he said.
She shook her head. “I would suggest that these moments will be as rare as diamonds. Your friend Lord Follett won’t stand for you to be sneaking me into your bedroom, and I would not wish to cause offense to Lady Eliza by trying to do so. And we cannot meet here.”
He frowned; disappointment evident on his face.
“Believe me, you were watched when you arrived, and there will be those who know exactly how long you stay in the building.” She continued to work on the long ties of the cravat, finally pulling it free and letting it drop to the floor. With hands placed either side of his shirt, she lifted it over his head and let it join the rest of their clothes. Kendal stood only in his trousers and boots.
The sight which met her eyes was astonishing. He had been true to his word; every inch of his torso was covered in striking black images. Mercy stood with her mouth agape at the sheer number of pictures and designs which graced Kendal’s body. She pointed to the large tattoo of a lion which covered most of his stomach and chest. “May I?”
“Yes. You may touch any of them. You won’t hurt me.”
After tracing her fingertip over the outline of the lion, she moved on to the whimsical figure of a mermaid which snaked up the side of his body and stopped just short of his armpit. The giggle which had started when she realized that the hair under his arm framed the top of the mermaid’s head was quickly cut short. To one side of the tattoo was a long, ugly scar.
“What happened there?”
He shrugged. “During the war against France, I occasionally undertook secret missions to the continent on behalf of His Majesty’s government. I met one of Napoleon’s spies in a tavern in Maubeuge. He had a sharp blade. Fortunately, I had a pistol.”
Mercy gasped, shocked that Kendal had been in such danger. She reached for the scar, but he took a hold of her hand. “We don’t have time for you to play with all my lovely ink or old wounds. We need to get naked and on that bed.” He toed off his boots, then dropped his trousers. Mercy’s mouth went dry as Kendal turned and faced her in all his naked glory.
There were tattoos on his thighs, but it was the huge engorged cock jutting out from between his legs that caught and held her attention. She swallowed deeply. Kendal was more than well-endowed.
He also appeared hard as a rock. Kendal placed her hand on his erection, confirming her assessment. Her fingers wrapped around it and without thinking, she began to stroke him. He groaned and met her gaze. His eyes bore straight into her heart.
“This belongs to you as of this moment—as does my whole body. No other shall know me as long as you have a claim,” he said.
“And I am yours.”
His hand settled on her hip before he brushed his fingers over her arse; and he took a firm hold of her buttock. “I love a woman with a rounded backside; they are so magnificent to hold onto while I am fucking. And you and I are going to fuck.”
“Yes,” she replied.
“But first, a small entrée.” Kendal gently brushed Mercy’s hand away from his body and she released her hold on him. He sunk to his knees before her and she gasped. His face was level with the opening of her sex.
Anthony had most assuredly never done this.
With his thumbs placed either side, Kendal gently drew open the folds of her labia and set his tongue to her flesh. Mercy closed her eyes and her body shuddered. This was something entirely new to her. And it was good. It was bloody magnificent.
He licked her deeply, then with soft, fluttering moves he worked his way up to her sensitive nib and flicked his tongue over her clit. It took every ounce of her strength not to cry out. The walls in the building were not well soundproofed and she didn’t want to have to be explaining any strange noises which had emanated from her apartment to her neighbors.
She settled her hands on the top of his head, all the while trying to remain upright. Her knees went weak and she feared that any minute now, they would buckle.
He slipped a finger inside her and Mercy whimpered. “Oh.”
Strong, deep strokes pumped in and out of her heated sex and she put a hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs. This was beyond anything she had ever known before, ever dared dream of. The pressure built higher and higher, tension inside her coiling.
He withdrew his fingers, kissed her clit one last time, and sat back on his haunches. Looking up at her, he smiled. “We can’t have you coming like this—not the first time anyway.” He got to his feet and steered her toward the bed.
It was only a small single mattress, with not a lot of space. The creaking noise of the iron frame as he lay her down echoed in the narrow room. Kendal climbed on and straddled Mercy.
When he rocked his hips back and forth, the bed continued to protest. “Hmm, this could be a problem. I don’t normally have a worry about making too much noise, but if your neighbors are likely to have their ear trumpets placed firmly against the wall, we might need to improvise.”
Mercy laughed. She had never thought that sex and humor could be connected, but with Kendal, it most definitely was. There was a spark about him that she had never seen in another man. You are devilish and angelic at the same time. How is that possible?
He pulled her from the bed and stood her on the floor. Her legs were still wobbly from the wonderful things he had been doing to her only a few minutes ago. She wanted him to do them again.
With both hands gripping the side of the mattress, Kendal proceeded to drag it off the bed and onto the rug, kicking their clothes out of the way as he did. He really was quite dexterous.
With a saucy smile on her lips, Mercy sunk down onto the mattress. She curled her pointer finger and beckoned for him to join her.
“If the floorboards creak, you will just have to tell your neighbors that you were mopping up a particularly nasty stain,” he said.
She giggled. Laughter was such an aphrodisiac. She could understand why women fell for the mirthful charms of Lord Kendal Grant.
He rose over her once more. “Now, where were we? Ah, yes. You were going to open those lovely legs of yours and I was going to
show you heaven.”
He positioned the head of his cock at her entrance and Mercy lay her head back and closed her eyes. Oh, sweet perfection.
Kendal rocked into her, slowly. The friction of his cock and her aroused sex was heavenly. He ground himself against her, the base of his shaft rubbing her clit.
“Oh, God, Kendal,” she groaned.
“Look at me,” he said.
She struggled to open her eyes, lost in the heady sensation of pleasure. The things he was doing to her body were beyond her wildest imagination.
“Mercy, I need you to look at me.”
Finally, she found the willpower to open her eyes, meeting his smoky green gaze through her lust-filled vision.
“This. Us. Now. This is not just fucking. I want you to know that it means more to me than that,” he said.
The pure honest passion written all over his face held Mercy enraptured. It threatened to tear all sense and reason from her mind. “Yes.”
She hoped that would be enough for him, at least for the moment. Whatever this was right now, she didn’t want to think what it might eventually become.
He captured her mouth in a kiss which had ripples of pleasure fluttering through her body. Kendal slipped a hand under her arse and, holding her to him, thrust deeply. Mercy sensed she was on the verge of coming. His own climax could not be that far behind.
“You have to pull out before you come,” she implored.
He lifted his head and gave the barest of nods. “Yes, just a few more strokes. I promise.”
His next deep thrust sent her over the edge into the blinding light of her climax. As the first scream of her orgasm left her mouth, Kendal covered her lips with his.
He pumped once more, then grabbed a hold of his cock, pulled out, and spilled his essence into the folds of his cravat. He continued to stroke himself, his face contorted in all its post-orgasmic glory. “Oh, that was . . . Mercy, you have no idea.”
She watched him, fascinated by the sight of Kendal as he slowly came back to earth. He rolled over and joined her once more on the mattress, placing soft, tender kisses on her lips. As he wrapped her up in his arms, Kendal whispered, “I might not have you sent to the colonies after all.”
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