One Night of Surrender: The Brothers Mortmain, Book 1 Read Free Page A

of the fire and now the heat of his body were enclosing her. His mouth grew more determined in its exploration and she felt his tongue claim hers, stroking it, as if to perform some strange mating dance.
    This was unlike any kiss she’d ever experienced, and the sensations it created in her mind and body were also beyond her understanding. Her breasts ached, and as if he knew it he reached again to place his open hand over first one and then the other. Beneath the borrowed worn-out clothes was nothing but her bare skin, and she knew he was as aware of the weight and softness of her flesh as she was of his warm hand.
    By now her nipple was so hard it was almost painful, and it butted against his palm as if to demand his attention. He smiled at her, a knowing smile, as if he was secretly pleased by her reaction, before bending his head to nip and kiss at her throat, which she obligingly arched to give him better access.
    Katherine already knew she wasn’t going to stop him. His touch, his kisses, had begun a fire and she wanted to let it burn. She was on a voyage of discovery just as she was whenever she opened a new book and began to read.  
    But this wasn’t like any book she’d ever read before, not even the handbill with the crude naked images someone had left behind in one of the bedchambers at the inn. Women astride men, women wide-eyed as men drove into them. And everyone looking as if they were enjoying themselves immensely.
    But how could that be? Katherine had asked herself, her hands trembling as she’d carried the crumpled papers to the window to see them better. Were such things really this pleasurable? In her experience the sexual act was something to be endured, not enjoyed.
    And then Edward had come looking for her, snatched the handbill from her and she’d never seen it again. That night he’d come to her bed, pawing her, breathing hard as he thrust into her again and again. She’d born it with gritted teeth, telling herself this proved that the little book was a lie. A fairytale. A fantasy. What woman would look so when a man took her body with his?
    But now Katherine knew her own face looked like the women in the pamphlet. Passionate, wondrous, full of bliss.
    Because what Gervais Hawley was doing to her was bliss.
    Yes, Katherine was on the road to self-discovery and she had no desire to turn back.

Chapter Three
    Gervais stroked the pearly flesh of her throat, drawing his finger down so that he could dip beneath the frayed neckline of her gown. He could see she was already enthralled by his skills. Although, he admitted wryly, he hadn’t used many of them yet.
    He’d had it in his mind that he would tempt Katherine into his power with the promise of setting her free. Once he had her then he’d punish her for her lover’s underhanded actions. Edward Prime was the cause of Gervais’s downfall. Why shouldn’t Katherine pay for Edward’s treachery just as she was already paying for his debts?
    But she’d looked like such a frightened little mouse when she came into his cell that he’d abandoned all thoughts of such a brutal revenge. He’d almost abandoned the thought of tupping her. Why not leave her be and wait out the night in separate chairs? Then he could be the sort of man he’d always aspired to be. Honest, upright, worthy. Decent.
    Yes, he’d be all of those things and more. He would save the wench and go to his death like a hero.
    But Gervais Hawley was no hero. Katherine was a beautiful woman and when she’d stood there in the doorway, staring at him as if she were a maiden in a fairytale, waiting for her prince to awaken her, he’d known he would have her once, twice, many times before cock crow. And she’d wanted him too, even if she didn’t realise it. He’d seen her desire in the tremble of her mouth, and the beat of the pulse in her throat, even the way her thick dark blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders. She was a woman made for the carnal pleasures.
    Lust had fired