Page 87 of Trapped with the Forbidden Duke
“I am sure we can send them away.”
Edwina reached for him again, but he laughed quietly, catching her wrist in his hand once more. Instead, he pressed her into the mattress and kissed her lightly.
“When you are aching with want,” he said slowly, the knuckles of his free hand brushing her chest, trailing beyond her navel, caressing her hipbone, “and you can think only of the fullness from having me sheathed inside you, then I shall remind you that it was your decision to have company today. All because you are a stubborn, nosy duchess who would not mind her business when told to.”
“So take me now before they arrive,” Edwina breathed, already aching between her legs.
Lucien only nipped her neck, her collarbone, and the tip of her shoulder. “I think I shall make you wait, so you may learn a lesson.”
“And you?”
A slightly irritated look crossed his face. “I believe my frustration at having to face my cousins is enough to keep me limp. Although, I shall remind you that the moment I think of you, I shall be at full mast.”
“Then you may take me the moment they leave,” she whispered, pulling his face down to kiss him.
She purposefully deepened the kiss, her hips seeking and searching, trying to grind against his to see if she might arouse him.
But he only laughed, angling his hips away, and eventually pulled away from her. Edwina only kept the teasing smirk on her face.
“You are right,” she sighed. “Ididinvite them over, and Iama nosy, stubborn lady.”
“You are a duchess,” he corrected.
“YourDuchess,” she emphasized. “As you told me to cry out only two nights ago. Did it make you feel good?”
At the reminder of that night, Lucien’s eyes darkened. “And I shall have you cry it out once again the next time I take you.”
Her mind lingered on the newest promise.
Every time they were intimate, he seemed to leave her with promises, as if reassuring her that there would always be a next time. It sent a thrill through her to know that he wanted to take her over and over.
“You seem happier, Your Grace.”
Lily was putting the final touches on Edwina’s hair—simple, pale green beading that matched Lucien’s eyes. Edwina had discreetly asked her lady’s maid to add some sort of matching element to every outfit she wore, a subtle hint about her marriage to Lucien to remind her thatshehad saved herself, that she had found her own life, and that it pleased her.
“I am,” she agreed. “Married life certainly seems to… agree with me.”
Lily smiled in return.
Edwina could only imagine the things the staff had heard, but she struggled to mind very much. Facing the mirror once more, she took in her lavender-colored gown. The square neckline, thesilk skirt that fell around her ankles, and the textured bodice made her feel confident,good.
She needed it to meet with her husband’s family, especially when this meeting was so hard-won. She had used a few persuasive techniques, asked when his defenses were down, and when he realized what she was doing and how she wouldn’t relent, he had finally accepted.
And now she found herself oddly nervous. She already knew that she would not meet his mother or his father, but she had the sense that his uncle and aunt were just as important to him growing up—only to now find themselves estranged.
Edwina wished to understand why her husband shut down whenever they were mentioned.
“Edwina.” She looked over to find Lucien standing in the doorway, already taking in her gown with an appreciative, long look. “Hamilton has informed me that they are waiting in the drawing room.”
His face was tight, and she hurried to him, leaving her chambers on his arm.
“Do you dislike me for asking this of you?” she asked quietly as they made their way to the drawing room.
Lucien shook his head, but his jaw was tight. “As you once said, I meddled in your family’s affairs, so it was only fair that I allowyou to meddle in mine for a brief time. Just… do not ask more of me. Not yet.”
“Very well.” She nodded as they rounded the doorway of the drawing room.
Edwina spotted Allan, who she was already familiar with, and a lady with hair almost the same color as Lucien’s, only slightly more copper.
