Page 74 of The Secret Life of a Lady
He fumbled with his breeches. Moments later, his unsheathed cock pressed against her entrance. Without warning, he plunged deep, gliding along her clitoris in a devastating stroke of friction. She cried out at the sudden invasion. Her body wept with joy.
He pulled almost entirely out before slamming back in. Deeper. Harder.
Hannah wrapped her legs around his hips. Killian reached beneath her, his unrelenting fingers digging into the soft flesh of her bottom. He pulled her to him. They were a frenzy of motion. His mouth feasted on her skin. Her moans melted into his groans. Skin slapped hard against skin. The desk creaked in protest of such abuse, but their bodies rejoiced as his ruthless rhythm drove her higher, sweeter, hotter, deeper into the abyss.
She imploded into a thousand jagged pieces of light as his cock stretched her taut flesh even tighter. Her body clenched around him. She felt his shudder of release as Killian plunged into her and held tight, pulsing in rhythm to her heartbeat.
‘My God. Hannah.’ His deep voice thundered along her nerve endings, intensifying the echo of her climax.
‘Killian,’ she breathed his name like a prayer. How could she let him go?
They stayed frozen in a desperate embrace until slowly Hannah’s soul returned to her body. She loosened her grip and melted against him.
‘We must talk.’
Hannah pressed a kiss to his chest as the laughter bubbled up. ‘Talk? Now? I can barely breathe.’
He pulled away from her, and chill air raised goosebumps over her skin. ‘I love you, Hannah.’
Time stopped. Hannah’s heartbeat tripled; her lungs froze. ‘What?’
‘I love you. And I don’t want to marry you because of duty.’
Hannah unwrapped her legs, and unsteadily balanced her weight on the ground. She pulled her bodice up, reclaiming some modesty.
He loved her, but he didn’t want to marry her. Okay. That made no sense. But fine. She didn’t want to marry him either. The bastard. ‘At least we can agree upon that.’
Killian quickly buttoned his pants before gripping her shoulders. ‘You don’t understand. You said before that I was a man of honour. That the war didn’t take anything from me. And I have spent the last four days thinking about your words. Thinking about you. I’ve reached a conclusion that will likely become a regular habit for me. You were right. Youareright.’
Well, that was some small consolation. He wouldn’t marry her, but at least she could remind herself on cold, lonely nights that she was right. She opened her mouth to reply, but he kept talking.
‘I am a man of honour. But I don’t want to marry you because of my ideals. Or my beliefs. Or my familial obligations.’
Dear God. He didn’t have to beat her to death with it. He didn’twant to marry her. Wonderful. She wasn’t thick. She understood him the first time.
‘I’m not asking you to marry me,’ she hissed pushing into the anger. ‘Marrying you is the last thing I want.’Or the only thing.But that was inconsequential.
Killian blinked. ‘Well, that’s unfortunate. Because I desperately want to marry you.’
Come again?
‘Come again?’ she asked.
‘I want to marry you. Not for honour, not for duty, but because I love you, Hannah. Only you. And I can’t imagine any kind of joy in my life if you aren’t by my side.’
There was a loud buzzing in her ears. She shook her head. She couldn’t have heard him correctly. Hannah’s brain wasn’t working. Her body still vibrated with the ecstasy of their union. Her heart stuttered at his declaration.
‘I’m sorry, what?’
Killian’s laughter was strained. ‘I love you, Hannah. Please, marry me.’
She hadn’t misheard that. He wanted to marry her. But could she actually marry him? What about her career? Her freedom? She felt like she was trudging through treacle and making no headway. ‘I don’t understand… what about Philippa?’
Killian’s second attempt at laughter held more mirth. His dark chuckle stroked along her nerves like a silken caress. ‘I don’t want to marry the duchess, Hannah. I want to marry you.’
Hannah pushed him away, grasping at a safe emotion. Annoyance. ‘Of course you don’t want to marry her. I mean, what about my, er, relationship with Philippa?’
‘That depends on what kind of relationship you’re describing. Do you wish to marry Philippa? For a woman who is so opposed to scandal, that seems rather bold.’
