Read Simply Shameless for Free Online Page A

you sucking my cock."
    She drew back and used the tip of her tongue to torment the slit on the pulsing crown, swirled her tongue around the head until he cried out. With a growl, he jerked back and knelt between her thighs, plunging his shaft back inside her pussy in long hard strokes.
    Her climax took her by surprise, sending her spiraling into ecstasy with a suddenness that made Philip come too. He barely managed to pull out in time, and his hot cum spilled on her belly. He continued to hold her close, his hips still moving in the rhythm of love.
    Helene bit her lip as his now-familiar weight settled over her. He'd reminded her that even the ecstasy of his lovemaking was all too brief a joy in a life that might end tomorrow. She'd lost too many of the people she'd loved to ever believe such perfection could last. Her fingers tangled in his damp hair, and she fought back tears. For the first time in years, she found herself praying, but whether her prayer was for forgiveness for daring to hope or for a miracle, she couldn't tell.
    Philip risked a wary smile at Helene over the coffeepot. She was all calm politeness, but something had changed. Something indefinable but vital had slipped through his fingers during the cold unknown hours of dawn while they slept. A knot of tension formed in his gut as he studied her.
    He couldn't stand to part from her. The realization held him frozen in shock, his cup half raised to his mouth.
    She wore her own clothes again. The patched and worn garments of a lower-class woman. He put down his cup. It didn't matter to him. He was prepared to buy her anything she ever desired.
    "Would you like some more coffee, Philip?"
    "No, I thank you."
    Abruptly he stood up and started to pace the room. Helene put the coffeepot down and watched him carefully, a small frown creasing her forehead.
    He turned to face her. "I can't go through with it."
    "With what?"
    "The marriage to Anne, the whole stepping into my dead brother's shoes."
    "Tell your father when you see him. Perhaps you misjudge him and he will understand."
    Philip fought off a shiver. "He will never understand. For him, duty to your family is almost as important as duty to the king and God."
    She bit her lip. "I do not know how to help you, mon ami."
    He held her gaze. "Yes, you do. Marry me."
    She blinked rapidly, her face paling as she stared at him.
    "I. . . cannot do that."
    "Why not?" Anger rose, displacing the fear. He was proposing marriage, goddamn her — why wasn't she smiling? "I promise I'll be a good husband."
    "That's not the point. You hardly know me; we are not of the same social class, or even the same nationality."
    He stalked back to the table and leaned over her. "I know you."
    She gazed back at him, her beautiful features composed. Her mouth quirked up at one corner and fueled his gathering incomprehensible rage. "Philip, you know my body. Sex doesn't tnake a marriage."
    He stared down at her, his breathing harsh. "I want you; you want me. Isn't that enough?"
    "Not for me."
    He pulled back as if she'd hit him. "I am not good enough for you? Who is waiting for you in London, the king?"
    Pain flickered across her face, and she gripped the arms of her chair harder. "That is not what I meant. You are young; you have the whole world to discover. If you want to get out of marrying your Anne, just tell your father the truth. You do not need to pretend to fall in love with me just to give yourself an escape route."
    He glared at her over his shoulder. "She is not my Anne."
    Her cool logic cut at him, reduced him to a raging impotent child. He moved away to pace the floorboards again. How dare she turn him down?
    "We can go to Gretna Green, get married there."
    "And how will we support ourselves when your father cuts off your income?"
    He swung back to face her, his rage dying as he studied her beautiful face. "I think I could love you, Helene."
    She stood up so violently her coffee cup fell to the floor and shattered.
    "You have no