Page 66 of The Untamed Duke
“Whatever I ask for.”
“I’ve given you that as part of the five nights.” Grace frowned. “You want something more?”
“I will limit my demands to three.” His features darkened in the lamplight. Mysterious. Wicked. “First, do not go to Beaumont. Stay here or come to Oakmont. Either way, I want you close.”
“Sebastian will suspect…”
“I don’t care. You want me as much as I want you.” His next request made the blood boil in her veins. “Second, kiss me. Kiss me as if you are mine.”
“I am yours, Nicholas. For three more nights.” Her voice quavered with the thought of being completely his. And with the very notion of Nicholas at her mercy. Even if for a brief moment. “And your third request?”
“I cannot ask for the third yet. But when I do, you will grant it without question.”
Grace nodded, then, slowly leaned forward and embraced him, her fingers tracing the scars and welts crisscrossing his muscular back. Nicholas barely breathed as she did this, but she felt his heart hammering against her own as their chests touched. How she wished she could heal every single one of those awful marks. Erase every hurt he’d suffered, replace pain for pleasure. Change the past, changehimbefore he became wicked and dangerous.
And sinfully damaged.
With gentle hands she soothed him, standing on tiptoes and nuzzling his throat. She scattered soft, butterfly light kisses along the corded column of his neck and the space under his chin. The rasp of his unshaven jaw was a rough contrast against the plushness of her lips. Rubbing against him as an affectionate cat would, a small purr-like sound tickled the back of her throat.
When she licked his ear, her tongue darting hot and quick in discovery, Nicholas’s hands tightened on her waist, the white cambric of her robe squeezed by his fists until it was in danger of ripping.
Sliding a hand around the back of his neck, Grace urged his head down, tangling her fingers in the tawny silk of his hair. She sighed with pleasure as the waves sifted with her touch. When their mouths finally met, her moan was captured by Nicholas’s rumble of approval.
Grace kissed him as if her life depended on it. Like he was her reason for living, the air in her lungs and the blood in her veins. She kissed him with all the fire, passion, and confusion rioting inside her. Until this moment, she’d thought it was enough...having her horses and the estate. Her stables. All of it hers and hers alone. But now she wasn’t so sure. Now, she wondered if perhaps, she wanted...no, needed, more than that. She wondered if having Nicholas, forever, was her heart’s desire. She couldn't imagine never kissing him again. Couldn’t fathom how she would exist if she never again felt his hands on her body.
“You may ruin me, if you like.” Her offer was brashly given when he drew back for a moment. “That is, should you wish…”
“All in good time, pet,” Nicholas chuckled darkly.
He released her waist, wrapping one arm around the small of her back. His other hand swept the neckline of her wrapper out of his way, then the lace-edged bodice of the nightdress was tugged down, exposing her collarbone and the tops of her shoulders. He kissed her again, although Grace was becoming lightheaded from the increasing ferocity of Nicholas’s mouth on hers. It was as though he expected a ceasing of their activity at any moment and was determined he’d get as much of her as possible.
Slipping a hand between their bodies was more difficult than it should have been. Nicholas had her anchored tight, but she was able to trail her fingers along the hardness between his legs. When she palmed the fabric covered heat of him, he responded with such a feral growl, Grace’s knees almost buckled.
The next instant, Nicholas scooped her up, carrying her to the sitting area before the fireplace. He sank into a large, overstuffed chair, cradling her in his lap. With both her legs dangling over his thighs, she felt the iron-like length of his erection pressing her hip. She kicked her slippers from her feet and continued kissing him, or more precisely, he began devouring her. Deep, soul-searching kisses that left Grace dizzy with need. She twisted and squirmed in his lap, arms looped about his neck, agitated and searching for a closeness that could occur only one way.
“Be still,” he murmured against her lips.
Grace swore shetastedhis slight smile. It intoxicated her, enveloped her, made her wish for things she shouldn’t.
“I—I cannot,” she replied honestly, almost plaintively. “I want to be closer…”
Nicholas hesitated, then abruptly yanked her nightgown high over her bottom, while at the same time rotating her body until she straddled him. Now, her legs rested on either side of his hips, knees cushioned by the plush chair, her gown fluttering down and covering the upper portion of her bare buttocks and the base of her spine.
Beneath the lacy hem, Nicholas palmed her bare cheeks, the sudden heat of his hands on her naked flesh startling Grace. She was infused with such desire, she couldn’t help kissing him even more fiercely, his touch causing a reaction so visceral and overwhelming, she didn't feel in control of her own body.
She ground herself on the hardness rearing up between Nicholas’s muscular thighs, sobbing against his lips as the resulting lightning strike sizzled her bones. In some sane portion of her mind, she knew her actions were dangerous, but it didn’t matter.
I want him...here. Now. I don’t care how…or that it’s sinful. I want him. Inside me...inside me.
With clumsy fingers, Grace unfastened the top row of buttons holding his breeches closed. She unfastened the second. Then a third, all the while kissing his neck and shoulders with sweet, scalding brushes of her mouth. Nicholas trembled beneath her, tiny earthquakes rippling across the flat expanse of his belly. She pulled the last button holding his breeches together, pushing aside the fabric. His erection sprang free. Hard, throbbing insistently for relief.
I can heal him and hope he loves me as I love him.
Her fingers coasted over hot flesh, tracing the ridges of his abdomen, tugging slightly at the dark gold hair just below his navel. She could not give up Bellmar Abbey, and she could not give him up. Which was just as well. Nicholas would never wed her, but he might decide he’d keep her as a mistress once their contract was done. Grace reconciled herself to that fact. It was possible to have both him and her estate. Could she live with that? Having only a portion of his affection? Yes. Yes, she could live with and she reached for him, her mind made up.
Nicholas tore his mouth away, sucking in a breath of intense lust.
“Goddamn, Grace…” Her hand, so incredibly tiny compared to his body, tried wrapping about his cock, and he hissed in fiery response,“Fucking hell…”
