Page 86 of The Untamed Duke
“I’d rather you not destroy it too. Fortunately, I brought my own clothing this time.” Grace giggled, landing a kiss on his jaw and reacquainting herself with the shape of his ear using her tongue.
“What do you mean?”
“Robbie, my stable lad, accompanied me again. He drove our pony cart containing a few of my things. Martha placed them in the room adjoining yours before I awoke you.”
“You were so sure I would let you stay?” Nicholas leaned back, his eyes dark.
“I had great hopes of convincing you it was a grand idea.”
Nicholas thought about that for a moment. Should he be angry? That she knew him so well and he wouldn't resist her? He quickly dismissed that thought. If she manipulated him, it was because he wished it. He wanted her here. With him. He wanted her.
“Clever girl,” he murmured. “Are you always so clever?”
“No. Oftentimes, I am very foolish. For example, I confess my love with no promise it will be returned.”
“Patience, little bee,” Nicholas replied softly. “I’ve never been in love before. It is my nature to be cautious of such things.”
Grace looked as though she wished to say something, then changed her mind. Nodding, she gave him a sweet smile instead. “Kiss me again, Nicholas. I need to feel your mouth on mine.”
He obliged her, lowering her arms so he could peel her jacket off, then her blouse, and finally her skirt. Kneeling for a moment, he quickly unlaced her riding boots so she could kick them aside, then he was undoing the laces of her corset, the tapes of her drawers, removing each article of clothing until finally, she stood before him in a flimsy ivory chemise. Her nipples were visible beneath the sheer fabric, peachy colored flesh that tasted so sweet on his tongue.
“God, Grace, you are so damned beautiful. So beautiful.”
Struck by a bolt of shyness, she crossed an arm over her chest, but Nicholas stopped her, taking her wrist and kissing the tender skin hiding the fragile veins. She was wearing the bracelet, and the sight of it sent a possessive leap of desire through his blood.
“Don’t ever hide from me, Grace. Ever. I want every inch of you. Do you understand? Every inch.”
“Yes,” the word was barely a breath of a whisper.
Holding her hand, Nicholas pulled her toward the massive bed, remembering the last time they were here. When he’d simply held her all night, then woke in the morning to find her gone.
Wrapping his hands about her waist, he swung her up onto the middle of it and stepped back to remove his own clothing. Grace watched with wide eyes, drinking in his body as it was revealed, and when he was finally nude, he crawled beside her. His heart raced so fast, it felt it might burst from his chest. Reaching out, he lifted one of the straps of her chemise with a finger and eased it off her shoulder. She did not move as he did the same with the other side. The silk garment slid down until it was held in place only by the tips of her breasts.
“Grace,” he said.
She whispered. “Nicholas.”
“I’m a hair’s breadth from losing control. Remove this before I rip it to shreds.”
Reaching for the hem, she fingered it for a moment, then slowly raised it over her head, shaking her hair free and tossing the garment to the side. Nicholas closed his eyes at the sheer beauty of her, and when he looked again, he was sure everything in his soul was bare to her.
Leaning forward, he pressed his mouth softly to hers, drinking her in, easing her nervousness. Grace kissed him back, without hesitation, with her whole heart as she did everything. He moved her back until she lay against the pillows, the coverlet shoved aside so he could see her body in the shafts of daylight filtering through the half-closed drapes. She was a sunbeam in his bed. Gold and warm and shining. Something otherworldly, something made of fairies perhaps. Positioning himself over her, Nicholas held that way for a long moment, wondering if he would be able to control himself when he took her.
“Don’t be afraid, Nicholas,” she whispered. “I won’t break.”
He choked on a laugh. “Grace, you have no idea what I want to do to you. How badly I wish to—it should be you who is afraid, honeybee. This will hurt...”
“I know you won’t hurt me if you can help it.” Her eyes were huge. Like shining pools of sunlight. “But I expect a little pain. It’s all right.”
“I don’t think I can be gentle.”
“You don’t have to be.”
I’ll be inside her...claiming her…. just a heartbeat away from making her mine and…fuck. The condoms. The sponges. They were tucked away in the drawer of his desk. In the study. Where they’d sat for more than a month, waiting for this exact moment.
“Goddamnit. The French letters.... we forgot them.”
Grace stared at him, arousal turning her skin a gorgeous shade of rose-tinted gold. Her arms clutched about his waist, keeping him with her. “Don’t leave me.”
