Read Online The Magic of His Touch (May Day Mischief) by Barbara Monajem - Free Book Online Page B

powerful
masculinity far more compelling than what she’d imagined.
    Half-naked or not, he didn’t need rescuing, so she should
leave. She turned.
    He got to the door before her, locking it and pocketing the key
again. “Until you finally got here, I was wondering whether you believe in magic
at all.”
    “Mostly, I do,” she said. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have come to
make sure you were all right.” She firmed her resolve and went to the door.
“Please unlock it again.”
    He stood with his back to the door. “Not on your life.” His
smile broke her heart. “Do you come to check on every fool who tries to spend
the night up here?”
    She shook her head. “No.” She blushed. “Never before.”
    “Because you didn’t care about them. You do care about me.”
    Why must he gaze at her so tenderly? She tried to clench her
fists, but her whole being trembled with weakness.
    “You love me,” he said.
    Helpless to deny it, she nodded.
    “You rolled in the dew to call me to your side. You wouldn’t
have done that if you didn’t believe it would work. Well, it did work, and here
I am.”
    “Just because you’re m-my true love,” she whispered, “doesn’t
mean I’m yours.”
    “What sort of useless magic would produce such a lopsided
result? Come now, sweetheart.” He took the candle and key from her and set them
on the floor. “It’s all or nothing. Either you believe or you don’t, and if you
do, you’re mine as much as I’m yours.”
    He pulled her into his arms. She inhaled the masculine scent
that was his alone. Little sparks of desire flared into life within her breasts
and belly, and she was lost...
    No . She stiffened, turning her face
away from his. She mustn’t let her love for him overcome reason and common
sense. “You don’t want to marry. You told me as much, and Lucasta confirmed
it.”
    “Lucasta doesn’t know her own mind, much less mine. I didn’t
want to marry when we began our false engagement. I didn’t believe the woman
existed with whom I would want to spend my life—and then you came along, with
your courage and determination, your long legs and sweet breasts and kissable
lips, and changed everything. Why do you think Lucasta and I agreed to end it
whenever one of us wished to? Because either or both of us could have fallen in
love and decided to marry.”
    “Not Lucasta,” Peony said irrelevantly. The fires of pleasure
spread, licking along her limbs, making her toes curl and her fingertips yearn
to explore every inch of that bare chest and more.
    His kissed her hair. “I did fall in love, and whether or not it
was caused by your magic spell doesn’t matter to me. I love you and I want to
marry you, and that’s that.” His lips wandered to her temple, nuzzling and
kissing. The heat of his hands penetrated the thin fabric of her nightdress,
stoking the flames. His fingers caressed her back and strolled to her hips,
paused and then settled on her bum.
    She tried to wriggle away; this, she knew full well, was the
moment of truth. She couldn’t give in to him now and refuse to marry him. He
held her firmly against him, separating her buttocks slightly. Desire shivered,
swelled, rampaged through her. The long, hard promise of his member told her he
wanted this as much as she.
    Did she believe, or didn’t she? She thought of all the touches
of magic in her life thus far. She’d chosen to believe in them, but... “You
wouldn’t have bedded me if you’d known I was a virgin.”
    “Yes, I would have—but after we’d tied the knot.”
    That made sense, but how could she know for sure?
    “You’ll just have to believe me, Peony.”
    No, that wasn’t it, or it wasn’t all. And it wasn’t only her
belief in magic that was at risk. Magic might work as expected, or it might not.
One never knew.
    More than anything, she had to believe in herself. Believe that
she was lovable and beautiful. Believe that she was not hopelessly flawed, but
worthy of this man.
    He