Page 74 of A Bride for the Beastly Duke
“What did he tell you?”
Edward looked at her. “I want to tell you, but I feel that I need to confirm some things first. Will you give me some time?”
Slowly she nodded, reaching a hand out to him. “Come here.”
He took her hand and let her pull him to sit on the bed in front of her. She put a hand around his shoulder and began to rub gently at his shoulders. “So tense,” she murmured. “Would you like me to relax you a little bit?”
He moaned, closing his eyes and throwing his head back. “If you would, please.”
“Mm, so polite.” She maneuvered him to lie back on the bed. Straddling him, she began to unbutton his shirt slowly. Once itwas completely open, she took some olive oil from the bedside table and rubbed it on her hands. Slowly, she began to massage his chest. He groaned. “That feels wonderful,” he said, his eyes closed.
She continued to massage him, pulling the shirt off his shoulders, so she could squeeze and knead them before working on his neck. She could feel his erection between her legs, poking at her thigh, and she smiled.
Shimmying lower—and making him groan—she pulled down his breeches. He canted his hips with a moan, but she ignored him, clutching his thighs and kneading industriously.
“Yes, just like that.”
His hardness bobbed in front of her as she avoided it, going around it to massage his hips. She bent down and kissed his inner thigh. He cried out, widening his legs to give her greater access. A thought occurred to her, and she wondered for a moment if she could do it.
Then she grasped the bottom of his hardness. The moan he let out made her wonder if she was hurting him, but when she went to loosen her grasp, he gave a wordless protest. Slowly reaching down, she kissed his tip.
He moaned, hips canting, his hardness seeming to seek her mouth. She kissed him again, pausing to suckle his flesh and pulling a sound out of him she’d never heard before.
Emboldened, she began to kiss down his length, pausing now and then to lick and suck. His cries of pleasure were spurs that goaded her to lick and kiss him harder. She was surprised to find that she derived a lot of pleasure from hearing him in the throes of ecstasy.
Edward bucked uncontrollably as Ava took him into her mouth, making her feel positively feral at having him at her mercy like this. She did her best, choking as she tried to take his whole length, the saliva dripping from her mouth.
“Ava!” He sounded wrecked as her name was punched out of his mouth, his body arching up from the bed. “I—” he began to say, and then her mouth was flooded.
Not knowing what to do, she swallowed it down, grimacing a bit at the salty taste. He reached for her arms, pulling her up towards him before smashing their lips together passionately. She relaxed into him, letting him lick her mouth, devouring her like a starving man.
“Ava,” he moaned into her mouth before kissing down her body. He pushed her night rail up and out of the way, the better to lick and suckle at her soft flesh. She moaned, twitching as he fingered her sensitive flesh before giving herself over to the pleasure of his warm touch.
It wasn’t long before she was giving herself over to an explosion of pleasure, her body shaking convulsively as her eyes rolled back into her head. She collapsed on the bed, panting, feeling replete.
He slid to the side, hand around her waist as he smiled at her.
“I didn’t…” she panted, “…know.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Know what?”
“That it could feel like that. That our bodies were such receptacles of pleasure, not just…”
“Intercourse?”
She nodded and swallowed hard. “There is so much more.”
“Yes.” He smiled. “There is.”
His eyes drifted closed, and his breathing slowed. Soon he was snoring gently as she stared up at the ceiling, still marveling over what they had done. However, the stress of the day soon overtook her, and she drifted off to sleep.
It was the smoke that woke him up. He could barely breathe, and the air was thick and impenetrable. His heart began hammering in his chest as he realized what was happening. He reached out and shook Ava hard, but she remained unresponsive.
“Ava!” he shouted desperately. “Ava, wake up.”
She gave a moan of protest, and he almost collapsed in relief.
“Ava! We have to go now.” He slid out of bed, shaking her hard. She was still lethargic and unsteady, and so he pulled her to a sitting position before picking her up. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked around as he hurried to the door.
