Read The Earl in My Bed: A Forgotten Princesses Valentine Novella for Free Online Page A

this. But it was Jamie. His mouth. His hands. Her mind shied away from the shocked whisper winding through her mind. She didn’t want to think. She only wanted to feel .
    She had wanted this. She had thrown the wish out there and he had answered it. At the moment, nothing else mattered. Not that this was Jamie, her childhood nemesis. Not that it was Owen’s brother.
    He turned his attention to her other breast and she moaned anew, her head falling back against the tree as his mouth pulled and sucked at her.
    His hand swept around her back, gliding down her cloak, inching inexorably lower and landing expertly on her bottom. Cupping her with one hand, he lifted her against him, bringing her closer to the prod of his manhood. Even through her skirts, she felt it, she knew what it was, felt the evidence of his desire for her.
    She felt a deep tug low in her belly. She squirmed closer, instinctively knowing, aching for the press of him against her. She lifted one leg, attempting to wrap it around him to get closer, to satisfy the desperate ache at her core.
    He growled in approval and lifted his head from her breast and kissed her again. This time she had no hesitation. She met his lips, his tongue, with her own, took as much as she gave.
    His hand curved under her thigh, supporting her leg as he ground against her, rubbing himself at the juncture of her thighs where she burned and throbbed. She moaned into his mouth, the hard press of him against her exciting her more than she could stand.
    “Jamie.” She whimpered his name, a tiny, desperate mewl at the back of her throat. “Please.” Her plea, her need for him, her need for more, was unmistakable even to her ears.
    Gradually, he stilled against her. His mouth lifted. She chased after his lips with a small sound of distress, her hand skimming along his jaw as she tried to reclaim his mouth.
    His body eased away and he released her thigh. Her leg slid back down to the ground slowly, shaking no matter how she tried to control it. He was withdrawing from her bit by bit.
    “Paget,” he said hoarsely. “We have to stop.”
    “Why?” She blinked up at him, focusing her hazy vision on his suddenly stern face. The locked jaw. The merciless eyes. No. She didn’t want to see that Jamie again. She wanted the Jamie with heavy-lidded eyes and scalding lips.
    “You belong to Owen. You always have.”
    The words struck her like a slap. “Why is everyone so certain of that?” She wanted to stomp her foot and throw back her head and shout.
    “Why are you not? You love him. The two of you were inseparable. I well remember that. Neither of you had any interest in my existence.”
    There was something in his voice. Jealousy? Hurt? She didn’t know if it had to do with her or his brother—perhaps both of them—but she heard it nonetheless. And she had a sudden image of him sitting astride his horse, watching as she and Owen scrambled up a tall rock wall that they were convinced he couldn’t jump, hoping to avoid him. They had been children. Silly and thoughtless in their determination to leave him out. The memory shamed her now.
    “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
    It was the wrong thing to say. She knew that at once. His eyes hardened. “Don’t. Keep your pity.”
    “We weren’t . . . very kind to you. I see that now.” See that you were lonely. That maybe you still are . . .
    “Stop,” he growled. “Don’t. This is not about me.”
    But she wanted it to be about him. And her. Them .
    She sighed and reached for him. “I don’t want to talk about Owen anymore.” She supposed she sounded wretched saying so, but staring at Jamie she only wanted more. More of him. More of the desire he’d just shown her. It was like waking up to a whole new world of colors.
    As though he could read the desperate hunger in her face, he stepped back two paces, leaving her cold and alone against the tree. Reality slowly descended. His gaze slid down to her chest. She glanced down,