Page 27 of Unmasked By a Captivating Lady
His tongue explored her lips further, forcing her mouth open, gripping the back of her head tightly with his hands. It was so wonderful she felt dizzy with it.
Suddenly, the kiss changed. It was as if he was infected by a fever. He gripped her head harder, kissing her as if he was a man drowning and she was his only hope of rescue.
He inched her, bit by bit, towards the wall of the stable, until she was pressed hard against it. The whole time, he never stopped kissing her, or broke contact with her in the slightest.
His hands were slowly travelling down her body now. She gasped as he trailed his fingers over her neck, and then further down, gripping her breasts, kneading them. She felt a flame suddenly awaken inside her, shooting through her from the tips of her toes straight to her head.
She felt as if she were about to faint.
Slowly, one of his hands drifted lower still, in an almost blindly seeking motion. All the while, his other hand kept caressing her breast. She gasped in shock as that hand slid into the bodice of her gown, gripping the bare flesh, tweaking her nipple with his fingers.
Oh, sweet Lord, she thought dazedly.This is very improper. This is very improper indeed.
Her eyes shot open in alarm. He was blindly groping her dress, pulling it high so that it gathered around her hips. What on earth was he doing now?
She couldn’t stop the high gasp of surprise as his fingers found her most intimate place, seeking it like a bee seeks a flower.
“No,” she gasped desperately, trying in vain to push him away. “I must not…”
He gazed at her steadily. “There is no shame in it, Ara. It is only natural, what happens between a man and a woman.” He paused, his eyes ablaze. “I want you, but I will not force you against your will. Do you want me as well?”
She stared back into his dark eyes. He had stilled, but he was trembling with emotion. She knew how much he wanted her to say yes. And suddenly, she didn’t care that it was improper, what they were doing in this stable. She didn’t care that she would be chastised soundly, and probably sent to a nunnery if she was caught doing this with him.
She had simply never felt anything like it in her life. It was truly astounding what her body felt under his touch, and she did not want it to stop.
“I want you to do this to me,” she whispered, staring him straight in the eye.
He kissed her gently at that, and his fingers resumed their exploration. Her head fell back against the thin stable wall, in a delirious trance. He was firm, but gentle, stroking her masterfully. She could feel something strange building within her, some tension that was aching for release, as if she was climbing towards some unknown summit…
Suddenly, she gasped, gripping his back as if she were about to fall. Wave after wave of exquisite sensation pulsated through her. He gazed at her steadily as she succumbed to it, keeping the same rhythm going with his fingers until she slumped against him, feeling as if she had just sprinted miles up a mountain.
He stilled, extracting his hand, pulling down her gown. He kissed her tenderly, then stepped back, gazing at her with eyes still ablaze with an inner fire.
“What was that?” she gasped, staring at him wide eyed. “I have never felt it before and did not know that it even existed!”
He smiled faintly. “That is amour, Ara. That is what the poets and the artists rhapsodise over. The pleasures of the flesh….”
She blushed. “Have I sinned? But then, how can something so lovely be sin?”
His smile widened. “Some call it sin or say that it should only happen between those who are wed, but I do not believe that.” He gazed at her tenderly. “To see you in that moment of ecstasy is a beautiful thing, and there is no shame in it, as far as I am concerned. You do not feel bad about it, do you?”
She hesitated. Even now, she felt different. As if she were basking in some luminous afterglow of sensation. She felt changed, as if she had discovered something wonderful that had previously been hidden from her.
Slowly, she shook her head. “No, I do not feel bad about it.” She gazed at him, almost shyly. “But is there no pleasure in it for you?”
He shuddered a little at her words, gripping her face between his hands tightly. He stared at her intensely.
“I want you,” he whispered, stroking her face. “I thought that I would never feel this way again about a woman. But you have changed everything.” He hesitated. “I want to see you again, Ara. I want to do the same thing to you again, but more. I will wait for you….”
Her heart started thudding harder, again, at his words. But the words were nothing compared to the look in his eyes. The ardour within those dark depths was almost overwhelming. She felt herself trembling beneath it, consumed with some other aching need that had nothing to do with what had just happened between them.
Suddenly, there was a noise, just beyond the stable. Footsteps, approaching it.
Quickly, he stepped back from her, smoothing down her gown.
“Ara?” It was her mother. “Where are you, child?”
Ara trembled anew. She gazed at the Duke, not knowing what to do.
