Page 45 of An Innocent Maid for the Duke
‘Precautions,’ she said from behind the screen. ‘No unwanted mistakes—’ A small sound of triumph. ‘Sponges and what not.’
Heaven have mercy on him, she was taking charge of the whole business. And what a relief it was to know she thought as he did and her preparedness eased some of his doubts about taking advantage. ‘What a competent woman you are, Rose.’ But responsibility was not hers alone. ‘You know there is no guarantee.’ He almost kicked himself for his honesty. His lust almost kicked him, too. He ignored those selfish male urges. ‘I, too, will take precautions.’
She appeared from behind the screen looking adorably flushed with embarrassment. ‘Then we should be doubly sure.’
He lifted the sheet with a welcoming grin and she skipped up the steps and on to the bed and into his arms.
‘Now,’ she said, sounding very pleased with herself, ‘where were we?’
He gazed up into her sparkling eyes, so full of mischief, the glossy strands of her hair falling around them trailing across his chest like tormenting fairy fingers. ‘You were kissing me.’
She ran a fingertip along his eyebrow and then patted the end of his nose, the admonishment startlingly novel. ‘Was I, now?’
He couldn’t resist, he flipped her on her back and leaned over her, grinning like a fool. ‘Or perhaps I was kissing you.’ He nipped at her earlobe. ‘What do you think?’
She shivered. ‘I think,’ she said solemnly, ‘we were kissing each other.’
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down, even as she rose up to meet him.
Such sweetness. He gave himself over to the pleasure of her lips and her tongue and the feel of her tiny fingers wandering his back, tracing his spine, exploring the shape of his buttocks beneath the sheet wrapped around his hips. He wanted those fingers on another part of him, but this wasn’t one of the many bold lovers he’d had over the years. Ladies knowledgeable in the art ofamour.
Her modest blushes were a testimony to hurried couplings in the dark of an evening off. The housekeeper at the ducal estate where he had lived as a boy had explained this to him and his brother when they reached thirteen. She had warned them off all the maids in the house with threats of dire consequences. Something he’d taken to heart, until his brother had introduced him to a local widow who knew all the tricks required to keep a lusty boy happy.
He’d never bothered the maids in the house. But here he was bothering his grandmother’s lovely, adorable and terribly sweet companion.
Which was worse. She was under his protection.
He broke the kiss. ‘Rose, are you really sure you want this?’
The dreamy smile on her lips as she gazed up at him was enough to drive a man mad. ‘I am really, really sure.’
The words drove his conscience into a deep dark corner even as it noticed there was a touch of sadness in her voice his desire refused to examine in detail.
Learning how to please Rose, when likely she did not yet know the answers, was going to be a pleasure and a delight.
He pressed a swift kiss to her lips, her chin, her jaw, then swirled his tongue around the rim of her ear.
She squirmed, her hip nudging against his painfully hard erection, making his head swim. He sucked in a breath and she stilled.
‘You liked that,’ he managed to ask.
‘It tickled.’ She sounded bemused. ‘Everywhere.’
‘Including here?’ He laid his palm over her breast, slowly letting her take the weight of his hand, feeling the tightly furled nub against his palm with a smile.
‘There, too,’ she said, arching up into his hand, encouraging him to stroke. He paid careful attention to that breast, teasing the nipple lightly through the sheer fabric of her shift, while watching the reactions flutter over her face. Surprise, pleasure, desire. Never had he seen anything quite so erotic as a woman learning her pleasures.
Having patience was going to kill him before he was through.
He moved to her other breast, performing the same gentle motions with hand and fingers while he lowered his mouth to taste the tightly furled nub of the first.
Then he suckled. Her thighs parted, her hips rolled into him and he pushed one knee between her legs, giving her the pressure she sought at the apex to her thighs. She moaned her pleasure.
He came up on his knees and gradually eased her shift upward until he could get his lips and tongue on her naked breasts. Beneath him, her hips arched towards what instinctively she knew she wanted, but he refused to be rushed, no matter how much delayed gratification pained him. He gritted his teeth and with his hands still playing with her breasts, he kissed his way down her ribs to lay his cheek upon her flat stomach.
She flattened her hands over his still cupping her breasts, as if she feared they would wander off elsewhere. They wanted to. He eased one out from beneath her clutching fingers and showed her how to stroke her own breast, while he continued to tease the other. He combed his fingers through the golden little triangle of curls and her hips came up in response.
The sensuality in that simple little twitch had him wanting to drive deep within her heat. Soon. He promised it would be soon as he gently parted her folds and felt her heat and the damp on his fingers.
