At His Mercy Read Online Free Page A

his
head, the other hand a fist in his pocket.
    Enough time had yet to pass for her to
put their encounter in perspective. She hadn't recovered, or
forgotten, and still ached, still tingled, still wondered how mad
she must be to have stripped in a bar for a stranger.
    She looked from the number on the key
in her hand, to the number above her door. Then she looked over at
him. The novelist. The liar.
    "You could've told me you were staying
here."
    "I like surprises."
    The room behind him was lit with a soft
glow, a single lamp or a candle, and she could see the polished
footboard of his four poster bed as well as the edge of a quilt.
Donovan True. In bed. Soft sheets. Naked.
    "I understand you're a
celebrity."
    "That Wayne," he said, shaking his
head. "Some people think so."
    "Another surprise."
    "You're not a fan of
surprises?"
    She thought of the divorce papers
landing on Mark's desk. Thought of his arriving home to find her
gone. Then she thought of the flat tire and the surprise of Donovan
True. "Of some. Others, not so much."
    "Good enough," he said, taking a step
into the hallway and holding out a hand. "Give me your
key."
    She did, conflicted, then moved away to
give him space to open her door.
    He took hold of her wrist and pulled
her into his room instead. She wasn't but two steps inside before
he spun her and pinned her to the door.
    His eyes glittered as he looked her
over. Her face. Her arms and her waist. Her hips and the skirt that
was all she wore over her panties. He lingered there, the tic in
his jaw signaling the effort his control cost him.
    Breathing hard, he brought his gaze
back to hers. "What are you doing here?"
    His hands on her shoulders were heavy,
his strength undeniable, but there was nothing in his intent that
frightened her. And she knew his question wasn't as simple as the
words made it sound.
    "I'm in your room because you pulled me
in here. I'm in Danport because I had a flat tire."
    Still holding her, he dropped his gaze
again, taking in her neck, her chest, her breasts that he'd paid
too little attention to when he'd bound her to him in the
bar.
    Then, she'd had no thought for
anything. She'd been a body, rising and dipping as pleasure
swelled. Too focused on the play of his hands and his mouth, she'd
been unaware of what their intimacy had done to him.
    Now she knew. What had seemed so simple
was anything but. "I'm here because I am. A long road brought me.
Tomorrow it will take me away."
    At that, his head came up, his grip on
her shoulders loosened. He slid his hands down her arms, over her
elbows to her wrists.
    And when he brought her palms to the
center of his chest where his heart raced like a wild thing
captured, she knew whatever passed between them would cling to both
of them long beyond tonight.

Chapter Five
     
    "Why were you on the road alone so
late?" Donovan asked, shifting his hips to angle his cock deeper
and causing the woman beneath him to squirm.
    "I was on my way to New Orleans. I
didn't plan the flat. Now move. Up a bit. There." She ended her
breathless instructions with a groan, then added a gruff, "Push
harder."
    Keeping her pinned, he used his knees
to widen the spread of her legs, nuzzled his face to her neck,
ground against her until the friction steamed. Goddamn she was hot,
her body, her response. Made him want to crawl inside her. Work her
over until she couldn't move.
    "Are you running from? Or running to?"
He buried his face in her hair that smelled of summer fruit.
Berries, he thought, sliding a hand up her side to her breast where
her nipple pouted.
    "Who says I'm running?" she asked, then
gasped as he pinched and twisted.
    He moved down her body, sucked her
nipple into his mouth, stayed there until he crossed the line from
pleasure to pain and she begged him to stop.
    "I changed your tire, Lise." He bathed
her bruised flesh with his tongue. "I helped pack your things back
into your SUV." Her skin was so soft, her nipple tight, sweet. "No
one travels for fun