Page 73 of The Dravenhearst Brides
“Because you want children?” he supplied, his eyes finally snapping to hers. Gold on fire.
“Well, yes…and…”
“And?”
And because I wantyou.
Margot licked her lips, tasting the words but refusing to say them. She hated him a little for expecting her to. She wanted him to say it first, to make her feel safe. He was usually so good about it, but not with this. Not with his heart.
“Why are you making this so hard for me?” Her frustration overflowed. The rickhouse was unbearably hot. “This isyourissue. The least you could do is explain.”
“Myissue?”
“Yes. Yours,” she said. “All red-blooded men have…needs. I’ve been wondering why you’ve barely touched me all these weeks. And now, come to find out—”
His lips slammed over hers before she could say another word. Hot and fierce. Demanding and powerful. Tasting like bourbon and salty sweat.
He sucked every ounce of oxygen from her lungs. Pulled her heartbeat straight out of her chest. Her pulse pounded in her temples. Dizzying.
“Yes, Margot.” He pulled his lips away but drove her backward until her spine hit a rack of barrels. His chest rose and fell in a pant. “I have needs. Needs I’ve handled myself all these years.Alone.Needs I’ve been perfectly capable of handling, of controlling, until I met you.”
She barely breathed. Lips parted, unable to speak.
“I saw you at those parties in Louisville, and you were…” His eyes glittered. He bit his lip. “You didn’t see me, but I saw you. I saw you from the goddamn start! I was desperate—that’s the reason I was in those ballrooms to begin with. But it was never about the money with you, not completely. Not for me.”
“The Collingsworth gala…and the Feinstein’s?” Margot asked, recalling the references he’d made the night they met. He’d known what she’d worn to both parties, right down to the pearl necklace.
“Yes.” His gaze snapped to hers. “Yes. The most beautiful woman in the room both nights. How on earth could I miss you?”
“I—”
“You were never mine to have, Margot, but goddammit, Isaw you. And now, after everything…” He groaned, a sound of the most tortured longing. “I want you so badly, I can’tthink straight. I’ve never…I didn’t expect it, and I sure as hell don’t know what to do with it…because I’m not supposed to have this. I made my peace with it decades ago, no more Dravenhearst brides.” His eyes were wide, vulnerable. “No more heirs. No more goddamnmiseryin this godforsaken house.”
Oh.
“But here you are,” he continued. “Here you are, having no business wanting me or this twisted, miserable house…but somehow…somehow wanting us both nonetheless. Right?” Naked fear showed on his face now. “You do, don’t you?”
“I do.” She nodded. “I want you so much, Merrick. And you—”
This time when his lips closed over hers, they were positively aching. Tremoring with need. With hope and want. All of it and more.
“I want you,” she breathed. “Please, let me have you. I’m begging.”
His shoulders shuddered under her hands. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he murmured. “I’ve never done this before.”
“Please.” Her fingers moved to his shirt, began undoing buttons.
“You should be running,” he whispered against her lips. “Why aren’t you running?”
She shook her head, her hands continuing down his shirt, revealing the smooth muscle and dark hair underneath. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He groaned when she placed her palms flat on his broad chest.
“Your heart is racing.” It was thundering, pounding relentlessly beneath his hot skin.
He took a shaky breath. “It’s for you. It’s yours. Black and mangled and cynical…andyours. If you want it.”
She curled her fingers into a fist, nails gently scratching his chest. “I want it. I want all of it.”More than anything in this mortal world.
