Page 32 of The Duke
“It’s too much,” she said. He slid out of her immediately, pulling himself away, the pain of being away from her excruciating. “I know this.” She gestured with her hands making circular motions as she stared at him with a strange expression on her face. “What it is to find… completion… but…”
Was Elsie rejecting him? Kit eased back, allowing her to drop down, to find her feet unsteadily on the floor. He had come on too strongly, been too demanding for her, too much for her. And he only had himself to blame.
She sucked in a breath and then gave him a tremendous smile, partly nervous, partly encouraging, and Kit closed the distance to brush his mouth against her lips. She clung to him again and whispered, “Did you…?”
“No.” At least he figured she was asking him if he had found his own end. Between their bodies, his cock still throbbed with want for her. Elsie let out a small laugh as she brushed her hips and then her hand along the length of him. “Did you want to continue?” He tried to make his question light when all he wanted was to be back inside her.
When she nodded, he bent his head and started kissing her neck, his mouth devouring the taste of her exposed skin, the two of them unevenly landing in a sprawl on the floor. The section they were in, a little secluded and padded with carpet. They rolled as parts of their formal wear were discarded, each of them tasting and touching whatever aspect of each other they could reach. Until Kit felt the burning sensation of his need for her consume him, and he knew he needed to be inside her again. They rolled over, and he pulled her body up against his, her back flat on hischest as his hands explored Elsie’s exposed front, tugging at her dress until it was beyond repair.
“I need to be inside you,” Kit said, his voice unrecognisable with need.
He felt her nod against him. Tilting her forwards at an angle, pushing the remains of her dress up to expose the rump of her arse, the roundness filling his hands briefly as she slipped into a better position in front of him. Kit pushed forward, keeping her steady and held her to him, as Elsie gasped out to find herself filled in such a way, her hands reaching out to the wall, ensuring she kept in close contact with him. In such a position, Kit let one of his hands roam over her body, exploring her as he rocked inside her, the motion making the pair of them cry out.
Pressure and light built up inside him, the feel of her tightening around his cock more exquisite and intense than he could ever have envisioned. Elsie’s body was a work of magic. A thing of enchantment. An endless maze of beauty… the compliments rolled through him until Kit was no longer sure what he’d said aloud and what he’d merely thought, what he felt certain of, and where he ended,and she began. The sensation built up in his body, flooding through as it claimed his mind too, and it was only with a distant realisation, he found his release. It crashed through him, bright and powerful as he pulled her close to him, his hands encircling her as his hips pumped into her, kissing the side of her neck and face.
All the while his breath was harsh and quick, logic and sense beyond him until the two of them crashed down on the carpet again.
Minutes crept by. Occasionally one of them would shift, adjust themselves into a comfortable position. Vaguely, Kit knew they should move. This was a public space. Someone, a servant might enter. But this distant thought could not stir him. His hand reached out as he pushed a stray strand of a curl off Elsie’s face as his eyes drifted down her body. They lay, him on his back andElise on her front, side by side, only a foot between them. A stupid smile played on his face as he looked at her.
“That was not your first time,” he finally said into the darkness. Perhaps someone might see it as a criticism, but he was pleased to see Elsie did not take it in that manner.
“No,” she replied. Her hand reaching out and resting on his chest. “I was ruined long ago.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Nothing could ruin you, Miss Keating. Ever.”
She laughed at this. “No, you cannot return to such talk. Now I can only be Elsie to you.”
“Will you tell me what happened?”
A shadow passed over her face, fleetingly, a memory which was not pleasant, and Kit felt guilty. “I can tell you what mine was like if you want to hear it?”
The exposed shoulder lifted in a shrug. “If it matters.”
The idea of hearing about it, of dwelling on another man, gripped him for a moment, and then Kit shook his head. “As long as it wasn’t against your will.”
“I was a fool, and I believed a soldier’s promised offer of marriage, but nothing was forced on me.” She looked up into his face as she spoke, and this released Kit of the burden of hunting the man down to kill him. No, he just needed to ensure that any memory of this soldier was burnt away entirely.
“Mine was with a tavern wench when I was at Cambridge. I am not sure what promises I made, but I’m sure they did not leave me with much dignity,” he said. The memory was a faint one, growing less significant with each year that passed, especially after what they had just shared.
Despite his fears, despite the ruined evening, despite everything that happened to spoil their best laid plans, Kit curled up closer to Elsie revelling in the feeling of pushing his worries away in her company. At least for these few snatched moments. His hands sought Elsie out, lightly touching her hair brushing it awayfrom her eyes and then pulling her closer. She smiled at him through the darkness, and Kit kissed her. Her mouth rewarded him, her lips generous beneath his.
“Are you going to tell me we should leave?” She came to rest her head on his shoulder. He enjoyed this closeness, knowing it would not happen again. A bittersweet knowledge playing with him that it could be repeatable.
“Not unless you want to.”
She mockingly pretended to stretch out, as if this floor in a partly smoky room, dirtier by the remains of the party, was the most elegant and refined of boudoirs. “We do have a good record of finding locations to get closer to each other.”
“What do you do?” he teased her. “This spot is…”
“Starting with our cave, nothing could compare,” she said.
“This is an improvement then,” he said, thinking that were they able to be together again they hopefully might be able to locate a bed. In response she laughed. It was a sweet soft sound, and it gladdened his heart.
Behind him, there was a crinkling sound of a door closing, and they both sat up staring down the length of the ballroom. Someone must have heard them, or worse, could they have been seen?
“I should go.” Her voice was low, and he hated that she spoke the truth. For everyone’s sake. “My reputation?—”
“I cannot offer for you.” He would not assign another person to be tied to his dreaded family. “I’m sorry?—”
