‘Try giving her another chance,’ Angel urged, surprising her. ‘I don’t get on with my mother either, but then she doesn’t make any effort to get on with me. At least yours is willing to make the effort.’
‘And when it goes pear-shaped, she blames me every time,’ Merry said bitterly.
‘You can be an unforgiving little soul when people fail your high expectations,’ Angel murmured softly. ‘I know you haven’t forgiven me yet for running out on you.’
Her face froze. ‘What makes you think that?’
‘Be honest. I’m still on probation. You’re always waiting for me to do something dreadful and show my true colours,’ Angel told her impatiently. ‘You hold back. You watch everything you say and do and always give me the carefully sanitised version.’
Merry clashed in shock with hot dark golden eyes and recognised his exasperation. Guilty dismay pierced her and she was even more taken aback by how very clearly he saw through her pretences to her fearful desire to keep the peace. He lifted a hand and traced the full, soft curve of her lower lip as she caught it between her teeth.
‘I don’t mean to be like that,’ she admitted uncomfortably.
‘I’ll have to work that pessimistic streak out of you. By all means, set the bar high because I do rise to a challenge,’ Angel assured her. ‘But don’t drown me before I can even begin in low expectations.’
‘I don’t have low expectations,’ Merry protested breathlessly, flipping over to face him, her colour high.
Angel grasped her hand and spread her fingers low on his belly with a glittering smile of disagreement. ‘Go on, tell me you’re too tired or just not in the mood for once,’ he urged.
Her small fingers flexed against his sun-warmed skin and then pulled defiantly free to trace the furrow of silky hair that ran down from his navel to vanish beneath the waistband of his shorts. Heat uncoiled and spread low in her belly. ‘You don’t get it, do you?’ she whispered, flicking loose the first metal stud separating her from him. ‘No matter how tired, I can’t help always being in the mood for you,’ she confided unsteadily. ‘It’s not fake, it’s not me trying to please.’
She heard the startled catch of his expelled breath as she attacked the remaining studs, felt too the hardness of the arousal he couldn’t possibly hide from her and she thrilled at his unashamed need for her. She had assumed that initial enthusiasm would die a death once she was no longer a novelty in his bed but he hadn’t flagged in the slightest. She jerked the shorts down and reached for him.
Angel watched her in fascination. Here she was again taking him by surprise, defying his own expectations with a bold counter-attack, despite her inexperience. And he treasured her ability to disconcert him, revelling in the reality that she appeared to have more interest in his body than she had in the new wardrobe he had bought for her. She was quite unlike any other woman he had ever been with, gloriously unimpressed by his wealth and what he could buy her. Her shy fingers found him, stroked him and the sweet swell of shattering pleasure washed over him. His breath hissed out between his even white teeth. He lay back, giving her control without hesitation.
Merry licked the long, strong column of him, swiping with her tongue, eager to return the favour of his attention even if it meant she delivered a less than polished performance. The muscles on his abdomen rippled, his tension building, his hips rising as a sexy sound of reaction escaped his parted lips and she smiled, loving his responsiveness, his unexpected willingness to let her take charge for a change. She closed him between her lips and he groaned out loud, long fingers knotting into her hair, urging her on, controlling the rhythm.
‘Enough!’ Angel bit out abruptly, pulling her back and slotting her deftly under him, rearranging her for what he really wanted and needed.
Splayed beneath him starfish-mode, Merry cried out as he plunged straight into her, all ferocious urgency and unleashed passion, his lean hips rising and falling between her slender thighs to send jolt after jolt of hot, sweet pleasure surging in waves through her. Her excitement climbed exponentially and when he flipped her over onto her knees and slammed into her again and again while the ball of his thumb stroked against her, he sent her flying into an explosive orgasm that left her sobbing for breath and control in the aftermath.