Page 44 of Three Nights with the Beastly Duke

As the dance ended, they performed their final steps beautifully, bowing toward one another as they finished. To his surprise, he heard a round of polite applause rise around them, and he finally took his eyes off Lavinia.

Around them there were no sneers or looks of horror, but instead polite smiles and nods. He looked from face to face, unable to believe what he was seeing. But when he saw an old, familiar face that he hadn’t laid eyes on in nearly eight years, he froze.

Grace was not seated like the other guests but was on the arm of a man who looked deeply involved in a conversation with his small group. Instead of facing her suitor or friends, though, Grace was staring directly at him, a look of clear shock on her face.

Arthur felt his chest constrict, and for a moment, he lost himself. There was no disgust or fear on Grace’s face, as there was when she’d broken his heart, but instead pure shock. He wasn’t sure how long Lavinia had been trying to get his attention—it could have been seconds or minutes. But he finally heard her soft voice full of concern whispering, “Arthur, are you well?”

He didn’t want to take his eyes off Grace. Nor did he want to go over to her either. He didn’t know what he wanted, other than to leave. Finally, he was able to turn his gaze back to Lavinia and saw she had the most worried expression on her beautiful face.

“I am,” he assured her, raising his hand to caress her cheek.

It wasn’t a move he’d meant to make, it just happened. But the moment his palm touched her cheek, Lavinia nestled into it tenderly.

“I believe we should retire for the evening,” he told her, ignoring the stare he felt from Grace. “I wish to revisit the offer you made me last night.”

Immediately, Lavinia’s eyes lit up, and she nodded. “Very well, dear husband. Let us bid our goodbyes and go home. I have had a wonderful time.”

“As have I,” he replied, meaning it.

Arthur led Lavinia to his mother and Susan, and after assuring they had a proper carriage to take them home, the two of them left the party. Little was said on their ride home, his mind being pulled in two conflicting directions. However, once they reached the top floor and were in Lavinia’s rooms, his wife rose on her toes, her hands gently cupping his face, and she gently kissed the monstrous scar around his eye.

The ache of the past hurt suddenly dissolved as a more feral sensation took over, and Arthur lifted his face so that he could kiss Lavinia’s lips. An incredibly sensual moan left her lips as his mouth took possession of hers, and instantly, all of his thoughts became about her. How she was patient with him. How she defended him. Lavinia had more than proved her loyalty to him, and he no longer wanted to hold back from being with her fully.

With a heady groan, he picked her up, taking her from her sitting room to her bedroom. Immediately, Lavinia’s arms wrapped around his neck, and her small, pouty lips rained kisses over his neck and the cravat she had made for him. He made a mental note to take it off carefully when the time came, not wanting to ruin the thoughtful gift.

“I missed your touch last night,” Lavinia breathed as he placed her at the foot of her large bed.

Dark lust came over Arthur as he watched Lavinia begin to pull at the pins out of her hair and remove her jewelry as if she were as thirsty for him as he was for her.

“Shall I relieve your ache tonight?” he asked, trailing his fingertips down the front of her bodice.

Lavinia’s cheeks flushed a dark red as she nodded.

“Tell me,” he urged, his hands trailing further down her dress until he was on his knees.

He lifted the hem of her dress and shift then, his hands running up her bare, sculpted legs. His fingers hooked into the edges of her undergarments, and he looked directly into her eyes as he slowly began to drag them down.

Lavinia drew in a conquering breath, seemingly willing to rise to his challenge, and a teasing, confident smile spread across her lips.

“I want you to be with mefully, Arthur,” she told him, her eyes hot with arousal. “I want to be with you as a wife is meant to be with her husband.”

Arthur’s need spiked as he heard the sultry tone in Lavinia’s voice asking for him, and he grinned devilishly as he lifted her skirts again, this time pulling them back down over him so that he was beneath them. Lavinia gasped, then moaned as his fingertips began to massage her hips and backside, and he pressed his face into her mons, taking a long inhale of her sweet scent.

He knew immediately that he was ready to give in to her request, but before doing so, he couldn’t help but taste her sweet juices first. Lavinia moaned and trembled as he began to flick his tongue over her already swollen clitoris. With a vice-like grip on her legs, he held her steady, not allowing her to fall back onto the bed for support.

All too soon, Lavinia’s moans of gratitude turned to quieter mewls of need, and her hands were pressing hard into his shoulders so she could steady herself. Arthur felt her hips beginning to buck, silently urging him for more, and his pleasure heightened.

He had told himself over and over that Lavinia didn’t truly want him. But now, with her body so easily consumed by his touch, he couldn’t deny the truth anymore. Laviniaachedfor him as he ached for her, and he was not going to deny either of them anymore.

Arthur’s name came out as a strangled cry from Lavinia’s lips as she came undone. Hearing the sound of it nearly drove him to make love to her, clothes and all.

* * *

Joy and pleasure burst through Lavinia as Arthur came out from under her skirts and began to undress her with haste. Her legs trembled, still rocked by the intense orgasm Arthur had just given her. Hands shaking, she pulled at his jacket and was relieved when he actually let her slide the fabric away from his shoulders. One by one, their articles of clothing were dropped to the floor, and when they finally stood bare in front of one another, Arthur lifted her and laid her on the bed with surprising gentleness.

A gasp left her lips as she felt Arthur’s hard body slide atop her, and her hands gripped his bare shoulders. This time as her fingertips roamed down the tapestry of scars over his back, he did not pull her hands away. Instead, he moved closer to her, as if reveling in her touch. She felt his hips press into hers, and between them, his hard, throbbing member nestled against her mons. Instinctively, she bucked her hips against him, and Arthur let out a groan as he captured her lips in another world-spinning kiss.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked, his voice raw with need when he finally pulled his lips from hers. “It may hurt quite a bit at first.”

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