Page 30 of Her Duke at Midnight
Cecily arched a brow, confused and uncertain. “What are you suggesting?”
Was he asking that she be his mistress? She’d already considered that they could meet again once they’d returned to London, but she’d never considered being any man’s kept mistress.
He stared out across the fields of Greenmere, then looked up at the stars. Anywhere but at her, seeming to want nothing so much as to avoid her question.
“Perhaps we should go inside,” he told her, even while he drew her closer. “It’s cold out here.”
Cecily nodded, and they made their way back down the winding stone staircase that led to the library. Once inside, they both moved toward the fire and chafed their hands as they held them over its heat.
“Still cold?” he asked her after a few minutes.
“A bit. Perhaps if you held me again, I’d warm up.”
He chuckled at that. “You needn’t ask twice.” He lifted his arms, and Cecily went into them, laying her head against his chest. His heartbeat thudded wildly against her cheek.
“You’re anxious?” She arched back, pressing a palm to the spot where his heart raced.
“I think the word you’re looking for is aroused,” he told her in a husky whisper. “Seems to happen every time you’re near.”
“You did say you’d offer proof,” she teased.
“My galloping pulse isn’t enough?” He swept a hand down her back, sliding lower to cup her backside.
Cecily’s body heated instantly and pulsed everywhere she longed for him to touch her.
Adam pulled her flush against him. “Do you feel how much I want you?”
Cecily slid her hand down his chest, then lower to shape her palm over the hard length of him.
“I believe you now,” she whispered, but she didn’t stop exploring. She traced her fingers over him, stroking until he gasped.
“Cecily.”
She lifted onto her toes and took his mouth. He responded instantly, his tongue sweeping inside to taste and explore. With his hand on her backside, he nudged her closer while his other hand slid against her nape, angling her head so he could take her lips again and again.
Suddenly, she wanted the ball gown she’d been waiting weeks to wear off her body. And she wanted all of Adam’s clothing gone too. She wanted nothing between them, nothing holding them back from exploring the power of what they felt for each other.
When he broke the kiss to lick the skin of her neck and nuzzle the curve of her shoulder, Cecily braced her hands on his chest and pushed away from him.
“I think we should lock the door.” She didn’t wait for his response before crossing the room and flipping the latch to lock the library door. “There,” she told him quietly. “Now…” She drew in a breath. This was the moment for that bravery she’d been looking for in herself. “I want you to undress me.”
“Cecily—“
“I won’t be talked out of this, Adam. I want this. I want you.”
“And I want you. For longer than tonight.” He swallowed hard and finally approached. Reaching out, he traced a finger along the neckline of her bodice. At her shoulder, he slid the satiny fabric down. Then he bent to kiss the flesh he’d exposed.
He went on as he’d begun, unbuttoning, unhooking, peeling back fabric, and then greeting each inch of her body with his mouth. A kiss, a taste, the stroke of his tongue.
When she was finally free of her dress and chemise, corset, and drawers, she lay back on the green velvet sofa in the room, one knee bent, staring up at him like a siren.
“You’re overdressed, Duke.”
“Are you asking to see the rest of me, my lady?”
“Yes.” She leaned back on her elbows and watched avidly as he worked the buttons on his trousers. Once he’d pushed them down and toed off his boots, he strode toward her and relished the way she licked her lips as her gaze took him in.
“I don’t see any other tattoos,” she said, her gaze flickering up to his before she scanned his body again.
