Page 19 of Married Off by the Duke
“Tiring, too. I’ve reserved places for us to eat supper at the clubhouse dining room this evening. I may be the one who falls asleep during the ride home tonight.”
She sensed his hesitation. He wanted to ask where she spent her mornings. But Emma wasn’t going to tell him. Working at the bookshop was a much-needed reminder that she was not, in fact, a future duchess. This interlude would end, and soon.
The more she could keep that fact foremost in her mind, the less it would hurt to let go.
Or so she hoped.
“I believe that’s your signal,” she said. To her great surprise, Max bent to press a quick kiss to her lips before striding away.
CHAPTER 10
That night, they both fell asleep during the ride home. Emma, as usual, nodded off first, with her head on his shoulder. Max scooped her in close, and before he knew it, he was jolted awake by the footman putting down the step.
Emma barely stirred when he scooped her up and carried her into the house.
What the devil was she doing every morning?
He was half inclined to follow her, but that would be an invasion of her privacy. He was trying very hard to earn her trust after having spent years undermining it with sarcasm and insults, and he felt certain his efforts were working. He could restrain his curiosity for a few more days.
Max laid her on the bed, carefully undid her buttons, and wrestled the confounded corset off without waking her. This time, he went one step further than usual and removed everything except her chemise. Then he stripped down to his underwear and crawled under the covers beside her.
So much better than wearing his trousers to bed.
With less fabric between their bodies, a new problem presented itself the next morning. Pale light filtered in through the drapes he’d yet again forgotten to close. Max slowly registered the warm weight of a sleeping woman, her back tucked fully against his front. His erection nestled beneath her delectable arse. With any other woman, he would rouse her with kisses to the nape of her neck, and after a decent amount of foreplay, hike up her chemise and slide inside her.
But this was Emma.
Innocent, prickly, wary Emma. He’d been slowly introducing her to the delights of the flesh each morning. It required every ounce of his willpower to walk away unsatisfied each morning.
Removing his clothing had been a mistake.
Her calves whispered against his legs. He stroked the underside of her breast. Emma stirred.
He waited with bated breath.
Emma squirmed and covered his hand with her warm, soft, small one.
To his utter delight—and a rush of blood to his loins—she pushed his hand down.
“Stop teasing me and get on with it,” she ordered. Apparently, she’d been more awake than he thought.
Max rocked his erection against her bottom, rucking up her hem and finding her slick with desire. He sank two fingers inside her and began a steady stroking. Emma rocked with him, her pants turning into moans.
He wasn’t going to be able to summon the will to walk away. Not today.
Her back stiffened. Max smiled into her hair and worked her until his hand ached, reveling as he took her through the climax. “That’s it, sweetheart. Come for me.”
She pulsed around him, panting wordlessly, her hand clamped around his forearm. He would never think of forearms the same way again, after the way she’d stared and squirmed when he rolled up his sleeves in the rowing shell, and now the way she clutched at him in mindless desperation.
What was he going to do about his own torrid state?
Max pondered his options for returning to his own quarters while sporting a raging erection, without embarrassment, and quickly concluded there weren’t any good ones. Even the most discreet servants whispered about the scandal of a grown man and his grown but legally dependent ward sharing a bed every night.
Beside him, Emma twisted. She sat up, her luscious hair tangled and eyes bright. To his shock and delight, she straddled his thighs and said, “It’s my turn to try pleasuring you.”
Heaven help him, Max couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
CHAPTER 11
