Page 23 of An Extraordinary Lord

“What’s wrong with that?” Her warm breath tickled his fingertips in an almost-kiss to his fingers. “A woman should use every weapon at her disposal.”

“Not with me.”

“Especiallywith you.”

She’d meant that as nothing more than a declaration that battle lines had been drawn, yet the seductive murmur heated his loins and made him ache.

“Not with me,” he repeated firmly, although more as a reminder to himself of who they really were, why they’d been forced together. A reminder that fell on deaf ears when he trailed his fingers down her throat and had to stop himself from letting them drift even lower. “What favor did Fernsby do for you?”

She swallowed, and that gentle undulation moved deliciously beneath his fingertips. “I wasn’t hanged or transported.”

“I’m to believe a thief-taker convinced the court that you’re a criminal with a heart of gold?”

“There are far—” She choked off when he strummed his thumb over the hollow at the base of her throat where her pulse beat wildly. She pulled in a jerking breath to find the strength to ignore his touch as she began again, “There are far more unusual things.”

“Hmm…unicorns, mermaids, fairies…”

“Barristers who prowl the city streets at night.”

He froze, his thumb halting in midcaress.

“You’ve seen my world. You know who I am.” Her voice emerged as a low and throaty purr that vibrated into him as she pressed, “But who areyouin the daylight, Merritt?”

“No one important.”

Her eyes gleamed as she brought her mouth to his ear and gave his earlobe a sharp nip in punishment. “Liar.”

The pleasure-pain of that bite reverberated through him. Merciful God, he wanted nothing more at that moment than to have her mouth on him. Everywhere.

When she edged herself away and flipped her hood back into place, he realized the bite wasn’t his punishment—the loss of her was.

But he wasn’t ready to surrender the moment just yet. “I’m only a barrister, day and night.” He once more slid back her hood and brought his mouth to her ear, allowing nothing between his lips and her skin. “But you find barristers attractive, don’t you?” When she parted her lips to give that absurd question the putdown it deserved, he interjected with forced sobriety, “It’s the gown and wig. Drives all the women wild.”

She kept her gaze straight ahead at the river and the few lights that began to dot the wharves as they drew closer to their destination at Blackfriars. Only a slight twitch of her lips gave away that she was fighting down laughter. “Well, you know what they say…”

For a million pounds, he couldn’t have resisted asking. “No, what?”

“It’s not the size of a man’s gavel that matters.” She turned her head to look at him, bringing her lips tantalizingly close to his. “It’s how he pounds it.”

Sweet Lucifer.Longing sizzled through him so fiercely that his toes curled in his boots. He’d never wanted a woman more in his life than he wanted Veronica at that moment, even knowing she represented everything he’d sworn to fight against. Thank God the waterman stood only a dozen feet behind them, or he would have made love to her right there in the wherry, taking her twice before they reached the opposite bank.

“But barristers don’t have gavels, do they?” She slid a glance between his legs that made his cock jump. Feigning acute disappointment, she sighed. “Pity.”

He grimaced, chagrined. But before he could volley back a barb of his own, she reached up to touch his chin and keep him turned toward her. He froze beneath her touch.

“Whoareyou, Merritt Rivers?” she murmured. Her eyes narrowed on his face in unfettered curiosity. “I don’t believe for one second that you’re nothing more than an ordinary barrister.”

This was not the conversation he wanted to have with her. Although, to be honest, it wasn’t talking that occupied his thoughts. “I told you. I’m a peer of the realm.”

Her lips twisted. “Are you indeed, Mrs. Fitzherbert?”

He grinned. Perhaps a secret identity had its benefits after all.

As if knowing she’d not gain any more information from him on that score, she dropped her hand and scooted away. Only a foot of distance separated them on the bench, but damnation, it gaped like a chasm.

So he moved closer. He simply couldn’t help himself and slid his hand down the rear edge of the bench behind her until her shoulder nestled against his chest.

“By day, I truly am a barrister, complete with silks and peruke, poring over my law books and winning in court,” he admitted.