Merrick Read Online Free PDF Page B

your
plan didn’t work,” he replied in his low, velvety voice.
    Damn me. Damn it.
I felt it again. Damn this darkness! It confounded my senses! Desperate to
quell my body’s strange reactions, I struck one of the matches against the
stone shelf.
    Merrick’s amber
eyes gazed at me with the same patient amusement I heard in his voice. His
smooth face was as handsome as a Greek sculpture. His nose was straight and
fine, his jawline strong and sharp, and his lips were more soft and sensual
than any lips I had ever seen. His black hair fell in waves about his ears,
brushing his forehead and partially covering his fine arched brows. I was
gripped by an incredible urge to reach up and brush those shining locks aside,
to run my fingers through them.
    Oh, no. If I’d
meant to calm my traitorous body, well, no plan had ever backfired as badly as
this one had. “You look scarcely older than me,” I whispered stupidly.
    “Yes,” he
murmured, and pursed his beautiful lips to blow out the match just as it was
about to burn my fingers. “And you have an interesting reaction to my
proximity.”
    I drew a breath as
he pressed against me, against the hardness growing between my legs. “Forgive
me, sir. I do not know…”
    I couldn’t speak
another word. He had gripped my hips in both hands and pulled me hard against
him.
    “Is this what you
want?” He was close enough that I felt his breath on my lips.
    “God forgive me,”
I whispered weakly, my head falling back in a moment of dizzy despair. I felt
his fingers graze my neck, tracing a path down my throat to where my nightshirt
parted at the neck. My sex was as hard as stone between us, and it took all my
will power not to move against him. What is wrong with me?
    “Have you been
with a man before?”
    I stiffened,
startled out of my daze by the suggestion. “No, sir,” I said unsteadily, and
put my hands against his broad chest, ready to push him away and argue my case.
“On my mother’s name, I never even thought…”
    He released me
slowly and stepped back. His hand smoothed my hair gently. A moment later he
said, “Rest, William.”
    I stood frozen as he
returned to the bed, my entire body burning with humiliation. Not only with
humiliation…but it was too humiliating to think about what else had me burning.
That he had been kind enough to forgive my childish attempt to trick him, and
to humor my deviance, to gently decline my body’s wanton invitation, only added
to my mortification. “Forgive me, Master Merrick,” I whispered, tears pricking
my eyes.
    “Rest, William,”
he said again. “And never again toy with such concoctions without my guidance.”
    “I understand,
sir. It will never happen again.” So he blamed my misuse of the resin. That was
some small relief. I wished I could do the same. I lay down stiffly, miserably
praying for my body to settle down.
    How I wished I could confidently blame the resin, or the darkness, or circulation, or any
other factor for the stirrings I kept feeling when he touched me. How I wished!
     
     

Chapter 6
     
    The next morning,
I half-expected to find Merrick in the kitchen without his hood. But there he
was in his chair as usual, concealed from head to toe beneath that robe,
flipping slowly through an almanac. I greeted him humbly and sat at the table
with some breakfast, trying to look unbothered. At least I never had to worry
about meeting his gaze. With his face covered, it felt okay not to look in that
specific direction.
    “It’s a good day
for dandelions, William,” Merrick said as he turned the page. “Do you recall
how dandelions may be used in poultices?”
    “Yes, sir. Along
with yellow dock, it can be used to soothe dry, cracked skin and other
aggravations.”
    He nodded. “The
weather will cool soon, and many will begin to suffer from such ailments. I’ll
be needing them in some quantity. There’s a pasture I’m sure you’ve seen
between the curve and the creek where you should find a large