Merlyn's Magic by Carole Mortimer

this
unexpected pleasure at the moment of her release making her groan and
arch against him as she felt him spill his seed inside her time and
time again.
    His face was softened with sensual pleasure as Merlyn
gazed down at him as he lay against her breasts like a satiated child
that had drunk its fill.
    She had expected his lovemaking to be little more than
rape, knowing that even though she wouldn't have fought him she
couldn't have responded either. Instead, it had been nothing like that,
Rand giving not taking.
    'Again!' he suddenly groaned, pain in his eyes as he made
the admission, his mouth closing hotly over one moist nipple.
    If Merlyn had thought he was like a satiated child she
soon found that Rand never had his fill, taking and taking until she
shuddered her fulfilment beneath him, feeling as if she couldn't give
any more as he moved against her in silent demand.
    This time her thrusts matched the intensity of his in
their feverish clamouring for release, and she knew a pleasure-pain
unlike anything before as her body shook and quivered to shuddering
satisfaction.
    Her arms tightened about him as he tried to move away, his
hands firm on her shoulders as he pushed her back down into the bed as
he stood up. His body maintained its aura of power even though his
passion had momentarily been satisfied.
    He gave a hard smile as she watched him dress with eyes
full of contentment. 'Don't worry, I'll come back tonight,' he derided
the sensuous compliance of her expression. 'This afternoon has shown me
that I can't stay away!'
    Women were no longer subservient to men, didn't have to
accept their physical demands because they were a possession and it was
a man's right to take what he wanted when he wanted, as it had been in
another era. And yet that was exactly what Rand was asking—
commanding! And she wasn't saying no.
    'You'll find me a demanding lover, Merlyn,' he told her
calmly as he tucked his shirt into the waistband of his trousers. 'So
demanding that I expect you to tell whatever man you were waiting for
when I arrived that you're no longer available.' His tone was hard. 'I
want to be the one who claims your body every night and any other time
of the day I want you!'
    The thought of being the recipient of this man's desire
made her dizzy. 'And what do I get out of the relationship?' she
challenged.
    'Me.' His gaze was icy. 'And you do want me, don't you,
little witch?'
    She swallowed hard. 'No—'
    'Oh yes,' he nodded, pulling the sheet from her naked body
to kneel on the bed beside her. 'I saw it here the first time you
looked at me.' His thumbtips moved lightly over her eyes. 'I taste it
here every time I kiss you.' He touched her swollen lips in the same
way. 'I see it here every time I caress you.' Those hands moved surely
to her breasts. 'And I feel it here every time I enter you.' One hand
cupped the moistness of her womanhood. 'You want me, Merlyn, and you're
going to have me—because neither of us can say no!'
    She did want him—he had already demonstrated how
much!—but she also wanted love and affection, things he was
incapable of giving. They had touched on the deepest level possible
physically, but emotionally they hadn't even said hello.
    'Rand, I can't cope with that sort of relationship.'
Merlyn shook her head.
    'It isn't a relationship, it's an arrangement,' he
corrected grimly. 'Be honest with yourself—and me, Merlyn. I
didn't force you to do anything just now, you wanted it all.'
    Did she love this man? She had a feeling that she soon
would if she didn't already—because she
did
want it all. But he was prepared to give so little.
    'I can't handle this,' she shook. 'Not now.'
    'Because of your work on the film,' he nodded. 'I'm not a monster,' he soothed. 'I understand the demands
of your career, and I'll accept it when you're too tired to do more
than collapse into bed at night.'
    Of course he understood it, he had been the husband of an
actress for eight years. But she couldn't be just a