Page 27 of Devil at the Gates
“Thomas, please,” he murmured, feeling foolish again for talking to the air. As the feeling began to fade, he exhaled in relief. He had a real, living, breathing demon now to defend against. He could not afford to worry about ghosts in the shadows.
Harriet had felt those spectral eyes upon her again. She shivered, but when she looked up, she saw only Redmond watching her, not a ghost. Her body began to hum as she noticed the intensity of his gaze.
She put her book down and started toward him. “Red?”
The duke acted fast, grasping her waist and pinning her against the nearest bookcase. He held her tightly to him, one hand wound around her back and the other fisting gently in the coils of her hair as he inhaled her scent and kissed her neck.
“I’m glad I found you,” he said. His words sounded odd, as though he had not expected to find her at all. It made her wonder if that was indeed what he meant.
What had begun as a gentle hold turned harder for both of them. The bookshelf creaked as Redmond pressed her against it, and she gasped as bolts of arousal shot through her. The duke’s desire was evident, but she was too short for him to easily reach down to kiss her mouth. She tried to curl one leg around his waist and cursed her cumbersome skirts. She dug at his coat, pulling it off him as he playfully nipped her shoulder.
She loved his possessive grip on her body as he lifted her up and set her down on the ledge of the bookshelf. He hiked up her mauve silk skirts to her waist so she could part her legs. Redmond was an excitement she had never imagined possible. Her hands tangled in his flaming hair as she quested for deeper kisses. Redmond groaned against her mouth, and his hands drifted down her back to her backside. He clenched her hard, urgently, pulling her tightly to him.
“I want you, Red,” she whispered frantically. “Here.” She didn’t care if anyone saw them. All she knew was that she wanted his body against hers. He dropped a hand to the front of his trousers as she pushed aside her underpinnings.
His eyes were the color of wheat fields, burning with a golden intensity as he stepped into the cradle of her thighs and slid one hand down to her core. He stroked her with his fingertips, teasing her until she wanted to scream at him for not being inside her.
“Please, you’re teasing me,” she growled, and he shifted his hips, penetrating her now, filling her up.
She moaned, her head falling back as he withdrew and thrust back into her. She bucked against him, delighting in their almost violent union, and she reveled in the pleasure that seemed to rebound between them. Redmond breathed hard as he plunged deep and fast. It almost hurt to feel him enter her over and over with such vigor, but she liked the exciting edge of uncertainty that came with making love to him. He was a man of intensities: intense passion, intense tenderness. Yet she knew he would never hurt her. She spread her legs more, clinging to him as he claimed her relentlessly. Then she pulled his mouth back to hers, her arms twining about his neck as he rocked back and forth.
The shelf behind her shifted with the force of their lovemaking. His hard length filled her, prolonging her desire to come. His strength was all-encompassing, his passion beyond words. It was like she was making love to a sun god, not a dark devil. He was all fire and pleasure. She gave in to the sinful force of their bodies colliding and could not imagine ever leaving him.
Redmond’s eyes glinted as he stared down at her, knowing full well the pleasure he was giving her. It only made him move faster, filling her body with his. His rough and possessive drive threw her over the edge into sizzling sensations of obliterating pleasure. She cried out. He covered her mouth with his, swallowing her scream and kissing her until she was quivering, feeling only the sensations of pleasure rioting through her body.
He gasped, holding her tightly as his muscles went rigid. Then he seemed to recover, and he rocked inside her, tender and sweet now as he pressed kisses to the crown of her hair. Her body clenched around him as aftershocks of pleasure made her womb tighten. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he shuddered, his body trembling almost as hard as hers. She wanted to hold him and never let go.
Her breath was shaky as she placed soft kisses against his neck. He stroked her hair, the ferocity of their almost frantic coupling settling into the sweetest of moments. The duke, with all of his near brutal seduction, was a masterful lover, and she was bound to him now, bound by adoration and fascination. She realized then—as he stole a deep, lingering kiss that made her toes curl—that she was falling in love with him.
You fell in love with him weeks ago, a voice murmured inside her head. She could not find a way to deny it.
When Redmond withdrew from her, she missed him instantly. He fixed his trousers and then put her dress to rights before he lifted her up off the shelf and set her on her feet. She almost collapsed into him on her shaky legs.
“Sorry,” she said shyly.
“Don’t apologize. A man likes to think he’s a good lover, and when he leaves a lady weak-kneed, that’s solid proof.” He caught her hand and pulled her toward one of the fainting couches near the windows and lay down, pulling her on top of him. She almost protested at the intimate position, but considering how they’d just made love against a bookshelf in the middle of the day…
His lashes fluttered down as he sighed and relaxed beneath her. She shifted to tuck herself in between the side of the couch and his body. He wrapped an arm around her, and she laid her cheek against his chest. The slow, steady beat of his heart was an unexpected intimacy. She stole one more look at him, counting the ghost of freckles upon his nose and cheeks in the bright winter sunlight.
“You should rest,” he said with a small chuckle. Blissful delight moved through her as slow as molasses, and she grinned sheepishly, even though his eyes were still closed and he couldn’t see.
“Red…” She spoke his name tentatively. “Can I stay with you?”
“Stay?”
“Yes. I don’t know what awaits me in France. I was so desperate to escape before, but now I feel safe here with you. I don’t want to leave in the spring.” She held her breath, knowing how very mad she was to beg him like this. “You don’t need to change anything. I don’t expect… I just wish to stay, in whatever way you would let me.”
He opened his eyes. “You would be content to be my secret lover?”
She drew in a deep breath. “As long as I can love you, that is all I require.”
He cupped her cheek and sighed. “You truly are the sweetest little creature I’ve ever met. Where were you seven years ago? Why couldn’t it have been you?” he uttered, his voice a little hoarse. She understood. Seven years ago, he’d pledged his heart to another woman, and he’d been hurt. Betrayed. He wished he could go back; it was clear in his eyes. He couldn’t erase the years that had passed by or banish the ghosts in the shadows.
“Sleep,” he said.
She laid her head on his chest, fighting tears over the fact that he hadn’t said she could stay. She would give him time, and she would wait to see if he changed his mind.
Just as she closed her eyes, surrounded by the warmth of his body and the sunlight streaming through the windows, she thought she heard him whisper, “Perhaps I will keep you.”
