Page 82 of Claimed By Her Forbidden Duke
So she did, and she shivered when his warm body pressed to hers, his arms coming around her.
“I have heard stories of men who simply do what they do and then leave their lady in the bed as they go about their day. Business as usual.”
Her voice sounded hoarse from her cries and moans, and when Edmund didn’t answer her, she turned to face him. His face was twisted into a frown as he shook his head.
“I do not agree with those men. Coupling like this can be… intense, no? One must collect themselves. I did not like leaving you that evening in the library after I pleasured you.”
“I did not like leaving either.” The confession slipped free in a whisper. “I felt very shaky afterward, with little time to collect myself as I truly wished.”
“Then take it now.” His voice was quiet, although the suggestion was clear. It was clear enough as well that he would certainly take it. “I do not plan to move for a short while, and Julian will not be back until breakfast.”
The thought of the next morning made Penelope feel slightly ill. She pushed the thought away, for she had only one evening with Edmund and she should not suddenly expect him to whisk her away from Finley’s control. No, she would have to go back to her brother, and the reality of that shattering the peaceful, honey-like feel of this room, this moment, made her stomach clench with unease.
“I wish I did not have to go back,” she murmured.
“We can always return here whenever you wish.”
Penelope froze, her eyes searching Edmund’s face, but he was frustratingly impassive, save for his amused, small smile.
“What?” he asked. “You did not think I would bed you and discard you, did you?”
Yes.Although I hoped that was not the case.
He looked mildly offended as he turned to her better. She could not help but notice how the muscles in his chest and arms flexed.
“Penelope, I would like to see you again. In this manner.”
It is just a physical release, she told herself.There will beno conflict over an official courtship, and you have yearned to know pleasure. Who needs love? Who needs more than a body to tangle in luscious sheets with?
“If that is not agreeable?—”
“It is more than agreeable,” she said quickly. “I would… I would like to meet like this again.”
“Then I will arrange it in a similar way to how I did tonight. Is that too short notice?”
She shook her head. “May I ask you too?”
“You may.” His lips twitched. Not quite a smile, but more like he was suppressing one. “Although I imagine I will be the one tugging you back into this room, for I do not think I can wait very long for this to happen again.”
“Who says we will have to wait?”
Penelope found herself becoming more courageous, especially seeing how undone Edmund seemed to become in the heat of his pleasure. She trailed her fingers up the hard muscles of his chest, swirling her fingertip over his heated skin in a way that made him swallow.
He grabbed her wrist, pushing her onto her back when she had begun to lean up on her elbow. “Who says, indeed?”
And then he was over her again, his hand keeping her wrists pinned to the pillow in a way that made a thrill rush through her.
She was at his mercy, and she wished to be for a very long time. Long enough that she forgot about leaving and the thought of her brother finding out.
She let Edmund kiss down her body, let him lick away every doubt and worry, and when her chest heaved with another release, she barely had a moment to catch her breath, for he thrust into her welcoming heat once more.
ChapterEighteen
“Good evening, Brother,” Penelope greeted several days after her first secret meeting with Edmund.
He had not yet invited her for another night together, but she had been told upon their parting at dawn that Julian would require the house, as it was his own.
Their chances revolved around him making his abode available.
