Page 79 of A Duke Changes Everything
“Not far. Are you in much pain?” Nick stroked her cheek and his body hardened when she leaned into his touch, nuzzling against his fingers.
“No, but I wonder how much time we have.”
“Not as much as I’d like.” Nick replaced his fingers with his lips, brushing a kiss against her cheek, trailing down to the edge of her mouth.
He had no idea where he found the control to do it, but he held back. He was determined to let her decide this moment. With a gnawing desperation, he wanted her to want him—his touch, his kiss—as much as he wanted her.
“What exactly did you have in mind?” Nick lifted the hand he’d kept wrapped around her hip and traced his fingers along the edge of her breast.
“So many things.” She turned her head a quarter of an inch. A tiny, maddening movement. Not enough for their lips to align, but closer, so that he felt her every breath against his mouth.
Nick’s thighs trembled when she brushed her lips against his, but she immediately pulled away.
He slid a hand along her jaw, desperate to kiss her again. “Are you torturing me on purpose?”
“Of course not.”
He wanted to take the question back. They were no longer a hairsbreadth from kissing. Now she was inches from him.
Then she pressed two fingers to his lips, following the shape of them gently.
“I’m memorizing,” she murmured, carefully tracing the seam of his mouth.
Nick felt the stroke all the way to his groin.
“I don’t want to forget after you leave.”
Nick took her finger into his mouth, stroked the tip with his tongue, and bucked up against her when she moaned in response. “Mina.”
She leaned in, fitted her mouth to his, and he was lost.
All the raging need melted into pure pleasure, and the madness was he wanted to go slow, savor every second. Let Mina take the lead. He found a reserve of patience he didn’t know he possessed, his hands flexing against the small of her back while she kissed each corner of his mouth, then took his lower lip between her teeth.
When she moved back, staring at him in the dim light of the carriage lantern, he cursed himself for a fool. She tipped her head, assessing him. Nick turned his face, pushing his scarred side into the shadows.
Mina stroked her fingers through his hair, then down across his cheek, bumping along the edge of his scar. When she reached his chin, she nudged until he faced her again. “You’re so beautiful.”
“The carriage is dark,” he told her. She was the beautiful one and incontrovertibly mad. “You can’t see clearly.”
“I’ve seen you in full sunlight.”
“Exactly. The glare obscured your view. You never got a good look.”
“I looked very closely.” She leaned in to emphasize her point, and Nick’s skin heated everyplace her body brushed against his.
“The pain from your ankle must be making you delirious.” He glanced toward the hem of her gown.
“I know what I’m about. Strangely enough, I can hardly feel the pain.”
“Good.”
She kissed him again. Freely. Eagerly. Her mouth sweet and lush and warm against his. Fingers twined in his hair, she tasted him with her tongue, and he let her take everything. Even if he’d wished to hide or hold back, he wouldn’t have been able to. The woman tore down all his defenses.
Too soon, the carriage stopped in front of Lyon’s.
Mina peered out the window. “Goodness, it’s very grand.”
A flare of pride warmed his chest. “Much better on the inside.” As he maneuvered out of the carriage with Mina in his arms, she tugged at his coat.
