The Blushing Bounder (An Iron Seas Short Novella) by Meljean Brook

painful anymore but just so there , it was all that she could feel.
    His body shook. With her hands on the bunched muscles in his shoulders, she urged him to move. He withdrew and surged, and that easily Temperance forgot herself, forgot everything but the strength of his body, the sweetness of his mouth, the heat of his skin. The tension came again, building, and she strained to meet it, rising with him, falling, circling her legs around his hips to hold him close, arching her back as it swept through her, coming again and again with each heavy thrust. He called her name then, his body suddenly still but for the pulse of him deep within.
    With a groan, he settled over her. Temperance wrapped him in her arms, felt the heaviness over her chest that was her constable, pinning her to the bed—and for the first time not making her fear that she was dead, because she’d never been so alive.
    She kissed his jaw. “I love you,” she said, and laughed as he rolled over, carrying her with him. “And thank you for saving my life.”
    “Saving you saved mine,” he said gruffly.
    “I’m glad,” she said, and smoothed her hand down his side. His blush rose, and she grinned. “I ought to warn you that I’ve just discovered that I’m also a Woman With Appetites .”
    He smiled. “Then it’s a fine thing we’re in London. No one will come when you scream.”
    She laughed and lowered her head. Yes. A fine thing to be in London, indeed.

THE BLUSHING BOUNDER
    Copyright © 2011 by Meljean Brook
     
    Originally published August 2011 in the anthology WILD & STEAMY.
     
    Cover design by Meljean Brook. Victorian building photo © Chorazin - Fotolia.com. Starry sky and balloon photo © Rosario Rizzo - Fotolia.com. Riveted steel photo © Andrey Kuzman - Fotolia.com.
     
    This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
     
    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
     
    MELJEAN BROOK
PO BOX 781
DALLAS OR 97338 USA
     
    ISBN: 978-0-9894611-3-9 (EPUB)
    DECEMBER 2013