Page 74 of Taken By the Duke of Stone

"I will always take care of you. Always." He began to move inside her, drawing his hips back and forth and rolling them, gaining speed with each thrust till they were both moving in a mindless rhythm. She felt so full to bursting and every thrust wound her up tighter and tighter.

He was so deep in her that she didn't know where she stopped and he began.

They groaned and moaned and grunted. She clawed at his skin with her nails, aching for a release only he could give her.

His fingers stroked down her center, just above where they were joined and he touched something there that made her scream even louder, till her throat was hoarse.

"I..." she panted, "I want you. I want you."I love you. I love you.

"Come for me, darling," his words were an order her body couldn't refuse and she let go, dropping into the crevice andshattering into a million pieces. The whole world went white around her and she could hear her own heartbeat.

Lavinia felt like she was floating and only the man above her was keeping her from floating away.

"So perfect, so beautiful," he was whispering, stroking her face, her hair, her body, mouth following every touch. She was in heaven and she wanted to remain there forever.

She clung to him as tight as she could and pressed her mouth to his shoulder to keep her useless feelings in where they belonged. There was no room for such feelings here.

They weren't welcome.

And so she held him tight because she knew that it was the last time she ever would.

Lavinia woke up slowly, body loose and relaxed. There was a warm body wrapped around hers and she had never felt so content in her life.

She sighed, wanting to remain like that forever.

She was happy, until she remembered where she was and what she had done. Raising her head from the pillow, she stared down at the man at her side. The first rays of sun were just beginning to fill the room, and he had never looked more attractive to her.

His brown hair was tousled carelessly over his head, the long locks falling into his shut eyes. His long lashes fanned over his cheeks. The bed cover was pulled to just over his hip and his entire upper body was on display, those strong arms curled over her.

Last night he had taken her over and over again till neither of them could even do so much as sigh.

In the light of a new day, her night of pleasure now stared at her like an accusation. And it suddenly occurred to her that there could be consequences of their actions.

Carefully, she slipped out from under his arms and out of the bed. Then carefully and without making a sound, she began to drag on her clothes, hastily doing up most of the buttons of her dress and shrugging on the heavy, dark green cloak she had used to sneak out the previous night.

Ransacking through his desk, she found some stationery and a pen and scribbled down a note that only made her feel more miserable. She placed it on her side of the bed and then dared to say the words that had been in her heart for a while now.

"I love you, Victor."

The words brought her no relief and finally, she slipped out the door and stole down the stairs like a thief. The butler was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs like a menacing shadow and she gasped as she came upon him.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"My lady," he nodded, "I have taken the liberty of calling you a hackney with a trusted and discreet driver."

A dark feeling curdled in her stomach as she wondered how many other times the man had had to make such arrangements for the Duke's other paramours.

She nodded in gratitude and then left the Wyld house just as silently as she had come hours ago. Nothing had changed and at the same time, everything had. For the rest of her life, she knew she had no hope of ever feeling anything close to this again.

Leaning her forehead against the glass door of the hackney, she closed her eyes and wept.

"Your Grace, shall I draw you a bath?"

The Duke of Wyld opened his eyes slowly and blinked, wincing at the light pouring into the room. He stretched his arms, yawning and the whole time there was a smile stretching his lips. He had had the best night sleep of his entire adult life and-

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when the events of the previous night came rushing back.

Lavinia had been there.

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