The Mermaid's Knight by Jill Myles

there.
    A shiver crept across her flesh, and her breath began to quicken at his touch. She closed her eyes and leaned into the caress.
    He groaned, his hand sliding down to her ass and pressing her against the junction of his hips. “I want you, Leah. You know this. I’ve never lied to you about what I want.” He bent his head close to her own, his mouth skimming along the edge of her jaw, teasing at her throat.
    “What I don’t understand is what you want. You can’t speak, but your eyes tell me that you want me, too – but every time I touch you, you tense up like a scared virgin.” His lips found the shell of her ear and she felt his teeth gently tug on the sensitive skin, teasing her into mindlessness. A soft moan escaped her.
    It excited him. He pulled her hips against his own, squeezing at her buttocks. “That’s it, Leah,” he breathed into her ear. “Let me touch you. Let me wipe those other men out of your mind. You’re mine.”
    She stiffened against him at his words, struggling to break free of his grip.
    He ignored her struggles, his head dipping against her throat. She could feel his mouth on her skin, and he sucked, hard. It shot a thrill through her body, and her fisted hands unclenched, and then clenched again, this time against his shoulders. Her body loosened against his.
    Slowly her hands un-fisted and she clung to the front of his tunic, angling her face toward his. His lips brushed hers once more and then he pulled away, as if waiting to see her response to him.
    Leah wasn’t ready for the kiss to be over. She tugged on the neck of his tunic, jerking his face back down to hers and planting her mouth firmly against his. Teeth clashed and her lips felt bruised, but she didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was his mouth on hers.
    When she reached up to continue the kiss, he groaned against her lips and leaned into her.
    His tongue delved into her mouth in a slow, hypnotic rhythm, and he ground his hips against hers with each thrust. She wanted to sink against him and be absorbed into his skin, part of him forever.
    He lifted her hips up against his once more, and then he was lifting her back onto the bed, nudging her legs apart and resting his knee between them. His lips left hers and she felt his hand roam away from her buttocks to her thigh, stroking her leg and easing her skirts up. Her breath quickened and her eyes slid open at this new, dangerous angle to their embrace, and found him watching her with narrowed eyes as he laid her back on the bed. “Do you want me to touch you, Leah?”
    She wanted it very much, she realized. The barest brush of his hand against her skin was doing wild things to her mind, and when his fingers skimmed along the inside of her thigh, her whole body clenched in anticipation. She arched her back toward him, indicating that yes, she would like very much to be touched.
    Royce’s fingertips slid up her knee, then skimmed her thigh. Closer and closer he came to the hot, throbbing spot she wanted him to touch more than anything, the thought of which was making her mindless. “Do you, Leah?”
    She nodded, her hands sliding over the shoulders of his tunic, her eyes closed as she swam in the sensations.
    “Then ask me for it.”
    Her eyes flew open. Humiliated, she tugged her skirts back down around her legs and slapped his hands away, then leapt off the bed and shoved past him. Tears of embarrassment and hurt flooded her eyes, but she averted her face. She didn’t want him to see that he’d hurt her.
    He didn’t follow her. “If you want me, Leah, I’ll be waiting for you. But you’ll have to make the first move.” Royce’s voice was wintry in its arrogance.
    Leah didn’t look behind her. Instead, she tore out of the room and down the hallway, seeking refuge in her own bedroom.
    And as luck would have it, Lady Matilda was coming down the hall, accompanied by one of her ladies. She stared at Leah, her eyes growing narrow when she noticed the room