Page 91 of The Untamed Duke
“Yes,” Grace admitted softly. “I’m terrified of what I feel for you. And that you will grow bored with me.”
He stared at her while Grace steeled herself for one of his cutting, distant remarks. Instead, he brushed a kiss over her mouth and murmured, “Turn around.”
She rotated, hands at her sides as he took her hair, gathering it into a rope he held in his fist. His other hand slid around her waist, and he pulled her flush against his body. Her insides twisted into knots of anticipation. Shameful creature that she was, after just one bout of their bodies joined in exquisite passion, she was eager to repeat the experience. Spanning the graceful flare of her hip, Nicholas positioned her so her bottom sat cradled against the hardness of his sex.
Pressed against the muscled solidity of his chest, his breath whispered hot against her neck, sending shivers racing through her. He held her like that for a long moment, and Grace savored how cherished she felt.
“I won’t tire of you, Grace. I promise you that.”
Nicholas turned her back around, his smile heat and sin and wicked promises. The jutting arousal of his erection rubbing her belly drew Grace’s curious eyes down, and when her gaze jerked away, he chuckled.
Taking her hand, he walked them both to the lake’s edge. The warm water was soft and silky. A slight curl of steam rose from the surface, disappearing into the air. Nicholas entered first, and she followed until the water reached above her waist. He ducked under, wetting his body completely, and Grace did the same, slicking her hair so it lay sleek and wet down her back.
Neither said a word, Grace’s eyes wide with excitement, Nicholas’s glinting with desire.
“Come here, Grace.” An undercurrent of steel threaded his softly spoken command.
At that moment, he resembled nothing less than a rogue pirate ordering a captive wench to do his bidding. And Grace was willing to be that wench.
She slipped through the water until she stood flush against him, her hips and legs fitting between his wide spread thighs. His arousal prodded hard against her belly as she brought one hand up against the muscular expanse of his chest, her face tilted to his. In this position, her breasts were flattened, and they tingled with the contact. Every nerve ending in her body was electrified, her breath mingling with his harsh exclamation as their flesh molded together.
“Put your arms around my neck,” he ordered, his voice raspy.
Grace complied. Her fingers laced together at the back of his neck, and because he was so much taller, she stood on tiptoes, the water providing buoyancy but no leverage. She could only drape against him, feeling a bit helpless. When did giving up control become so bloody exciting?
A triumphant smile flitted with Nicholas’s next words. “Now, kiss me.”
Chapter 36
Grace hesitated before obeying him. Parting his lips as he’d taught her, her tongue slipped inside his mouth before she drew back and nibbled the inside of his lower lip.
Nicholas did not place his arms around her. No. He simply stood there, accepting her attention as if he were a sovereign king and this was his due. Grace ruffled the wet silk of his hair, the strands shifting through her fingers, and she kissed him again with growing urgency. Without conscious thought, her lower body undulated against his shaft.
Still, Nicholas did not embrace her.
Piqued, Grace shifted, concentrating kisses on his neck instead. Splaying her hands on his chest for support, she slid until her mouth reached his hard, flat nipples. Hesitantly, then with greater boldness when he remained still as stone, Grace licked them in turn, the point of her tongue gently teasing. Feeling his cock swell, she drew one nipple fully into the heat of her mouth, swirled her tongue around it and gave it a sharp nip with the edge of her teeth.
Nicholas’s entire body jerked into awareness, his low growl hot and gratifying to her ears. Vindicated, she continued on, trailing further south, tracing the line of his bisected abdomen with her mouth.
Each horizontal contour created by ribs and the muscles overlaying them was explored as she slowly drifted, sketching the path of dark gold hair that led to the straining length of flesh beneath the water’s edge. Before she went under, a quick peek revealed Nicholas now gripping her shoulders as if she were a lifeboat in stormy seas. Eyes closed in desperation, his jaw clamped tight.
He no longer appeared to be the indolent pirate.
As she slipped beneath the surface, instinct told Grace what to do, told her to slide her hands over his firm buttocks to anchor her position. With a wickedness she was still surprised to discover existed inside her, Grace sank to her knees, opened her mouth and swallowed most of his thickness for the space of five heartbeats. The mingled flavors of warm flesh, some undefined spice and the sweetness spring water swirled on her tongue.
“Bloody hell!”
Even muffled under water, Nicholas’s curse sizzled her ears. He yanked her off him, scooping her up as easily as if she were a minnow in a tiny teacup.
She flashed wet and gold as he hauled her against him, his palms under her rear, lifting her until Grace instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. Locking her arms about his neck, their mouths fused together in a heated tangle of tongues as he carried her, sloshing through waist-deep water until he reached one of the rocks. She’d not noticed this one before. It wasn’t really a rock at all, but something formed more in the shape of a narrow table, rising from the water, constructed of the same dark stone
Not a giant stone, but an altar of some sort.
Setting her down, Nicholas spun her so she faced away from him. He knocked her feet apart, fitting himself between her thighs. “Do you trust me, honeybee?”
“Yes. Always. Forever.”
“Hold on to the rock. Don’t let go.”
