Page 81 of Anything But a Duke
“Diana.” Her name rasped out on a low, primal growl and he bent to draw her in for a kiss. He started slowly, tasting, and teasing, and all the while he urged her farther back onto the bed.
He followed her, his hard, warm body sheltering hers as they settled onto the mattress. He braced his hands on either side of her, held his body above hers so that he wasn’t crushing her beneath him.
It was far too polite. Far too practiced. Diana needed him closer. She wanted to make him lose every bit of control.
“Closer,” she told him. “You’re too far away.” Reaching up, she laced her hands behind his neck and tugged.
Aidan smiled down at her. “I do love your eagerness.” He placed a knee between her legs, nudged her thighs wider, and settled between them. “But we needn’t rush this.”
The thick, hard length of him slid against her belly. Then he shifted and fitted himself against her, rubbing along her sex until she moaned for more.
He watched her with the tenderest expression. The way he’d always looked at her had filled a space inside her. Made her feel warm and wanted. No one had ever looked at her the way that Aidan looked at her.
“Aidan.” Even the merest whisper of his name seemed to affect him. He captured her mouth in a searing kiss.
But when he retreated again, she gripped his shoulders to keep him close. “Wait,” she told him. “Stay close.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here, Diana.” He rested his body against hers and finally let her take his weight. She spread her thighs, wanting him closer. He tangled one hand in her hair and then reached down with his other hand to slide a finger along her slit. Every nerve in her body drew to that single point where she was wet and desperate to feel him.
He seemed to know that she couldn’t wait, but he still hesitated, sliding his length against her until she thought she’d go mad.
“Please,” she whispered. Her mind might be pleasure-addled now, but she’d made this decision with a clear head, knowing the consequences.
As he often did, Aidan seemed to read her thoughts.
“You’re certain, Diana?” As soon as the question was out, he bent his head and took a nipple between his lips.
It made it harder for her to speak, but it changed nothing about her answer.
“Yes,” she hissed, and before she could take her next breath, he slid into her. Diana gasped at the sensation. She’d imagined how this night would go, everything that might happen between them. But not this, not how it felt to be so close to him. How right it felt when their bodies were joined.
He began to move, building a slow, steady rhythm. But Diana didn’t want that; she lifted her hips, bucking against him, then lifted her head to pepper kisses along his jaw and take his lips.
“Diana.” His thrusts quickened, deepened.
“I want all of you,” she told him.
Aidan kissed her then, hungrily, possessively, and when his release came, he spoke her name again on a ragged whisper against her lips.
He lifted his body from hers and rested on his side, pulling her close. Diana laid her head against his chest and thought she’d never heard anything lovelier than the wild thump of his heartbeat.
“You’re well?” he asked when his breathing had steadied.
Diana laughed and ran her finger down his chest. “That is an insufficient description.”
“Tell me then.”
“Wonderful,” she told him quietly, though it was the kind of superlative she rarely ever used. But it was true as it had never been before. “And what are you?” She lifted her head to look into his eyes.
He smiled at her and stroked a hand through her hair. Then he frowned and his eyes widened, as if he’d come to some realization. “I’m content.”
“You sound far too surprised.” She pushed at his chest playfully.
“I am,” he said earnestly. “I’m not sure I’ve ever felt it before.”
“Why?” She thought perhaps she understood. She too felt a sense of rightness in his arms that she’d never imagined feeling with anyone. But she sensed there was more, and she knew instinctively that it led back to his family.
So she waited and laid her head against his chest. He took a breath as if to speak, but no words emerged for a long while.
