Page 12 (1/2)

The wet heat of hisinto the hardthe steel of his ued her, hard and deep, suckling on her clitoris and bringing her to the edge again with ruthless deter her panting and breathless, Rip pulling back to drag in his own shuddering breath She flinched as his fingertips trailed down her thigh, so sensitive and wrung out that she could scarcely bear it "Oh God, oh God," she whispered, again and again

Rip slid up her body, dragging her into his arain, as if he’d utterly destroyed her And then she was and he tugged her tighter, locking her face against his chest as if he could hide her fro a kiss to her hair He breathed out a rough laugh "Makin’ a ers in his shirt and glanced up, tears spiking her lashes together "That was a I just… I just…"

A slow smile curled over his lips "Aye Overwhel her lips to his throat She could feel the hardness of his erection between the her hand between theh his pants

Rip sucked in a sharp breath and rolled her onto her back, co on his elbows, he toyed with her hair, staring down at her with a look of sharp longing on his face "I want to," he admitted hoarsely "Want you sothe unspoken word

Rip shut his black eyes with a shudder "I could barely control h that," he admitted "I can’t risk it, Es his face

He shuddered "I can’t, Esme I can’t"

The ache of need was alh her But she could feel the tense line in his shoulders as she stroked her hands up over his shirt-covered back, soothing and whispering under her breath

"I’ll wait for you, John," she whispered "Always"

I’ll wait for you

So around his heart Hope? An incredulous disbelief? A cur like you couldn’t be that lucky But that was his mother’s pimp’s voice he heard He had to believe he deserved this, that Es at the world through a bottle years ago, with Whitey’s voice echoing in his ears

Rip curled against her, tucking her bodice up and ainst hi as she fell asleep Rip listened to the rain softening on the roof He felt like the luckiestthat marred his happiness

If he couldn’t learn to control hiive Esme what she wanted ? He hadn’t lied when he’d claimed that she’d be happiest as someone’s wife, so past her best child-bearing days What if he couldn’t give her children before it was too late? What if it took hih? Blade had admitted that it had been years before he hi too h he’d had no one to teach hihter, pressing a kiss to her hair He’d speak to her about it But not now Christmas was only a few days away and he kneforward to it Once it was over, he would sit her down and offer her the chance to stop this before it was too late for both of them

Even if it would kill a part of him inside

CHAPTER NINE

There were three days until Christmas Then two And then one The h Undertown and keeping guard on the rookery whilst Annie recovered Esme busied herself with the other wo the Warren for its first Christns of it in the heart of the City where the Echelon ruled, but traces of jollity sprouted everywhere in the East End

Mistletoe seele from every rafter in the Warren; Esme quite suspected whose hand had done that when she saw Blade laughingly snatch another kiss froed to lure Esme and Rip beneath it once or twice, where they’d been forced to share a chaste kiss Neither of theht and it irritated Blade to no end

"I only hat’s best for you, Es," he’d lecture her

"I knohat’s best for ht face as she bustled about her work Only when she turned aould she give herself the opportunity to shed in exasperation behind her There was no surer way to get at hiht she would sneak into Rip’s rooown and fall asleep in his arave her as much pleasure as he could, he would never let her touch hioose, ready for the er afraid he’d hurt her Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t quite telling her so

Christ the night and Eslass

"’Ave to get a bigger bed," he ainst her hair

"I don’t know," she replied, burying herself in his ar her head, she pressed a kiss to his lips His eyelashes fluttered open "Merry Christ Esme’s heart flutter "Why so it is," he drawled "Do you want your present?"

"It depends on what it is," she replied with a naughty little s her onto her sto out from underneath the bed The press of his body drove her into thea shtly wrapped box to her "Your other present’s downstairs, under the tree, but I wanted to give you this before…"

Before anyone else could see

Es in her lap Her heart stammered as she reached for the sh she told herself not to expect anything, she couldn’t help ree

"What is it?" she whispered

"Open it" His sleeful and she realised he’d probably never done anything like this before

Tugging off the bright paper, Esasped A sht with a strip of black velvet to tie around the throat

"D’you like it?"