Page 48 of A Duke's Lustful Portrait
“Then show me,” she said into his mouth. “Show me how much you appreciate me, my body.”
“Very well.”
He pushed her aside so that she fell from him onto the seat beside him, discarded and wanton and loving every moment of it. He stood before her, and with painful slowness, he slipped off his shoes and his silk socks. He lowered his trousers to reveal that beneath, he was completely naked. She raised an eyebrow at him.
“No hose?”
His grin was mischievous and full of lust. “I rather like the feel of being free.”
She giggled. “No wonder you fit into the Lord’s Society so very well. You flout the norms of society even when nobody knows.”
“I know,” he said, creeping closer towards her. “And that’s all that matters. Are you ready, My Lady? For I am not sure I can wait another second.”
She looked down at him, fully exposed and standing proud. She had seen such things before, of course, but always within her artistic duties. This … this was something entirely different.
“I’m not sure I can either,” she said under her breath.
She laid back so he could mount her, taking control as she had longed for him to do. He pushed her legs further apart with his knee, briefly looking down at the sweet nectar hidden there, then he lowered himself onto her. He guided himself into her, stopping at her entrance to kiss her gently.
And then, all at once, he pushed himself inside her, and she let out a loud gasp.
“Good Lord,” she muttered, her voice high and strained.
He filled her so completely, more than she ever thought it possible to be filled. But the pinch of pain faded quickly, overtaken by her own body’s shameless longing. She pushed her hips up to meet his, and he drove deeper into her, his own grunts matching hers. He held himself still, allowing them both to become used to the sweet sensation, and then, slowly, he began to rock his hips.
Arabella had felt nothing like it before. Her chest flushed, the back of her head and her neck tingled. A knot tightened in her stomach, so taut it was almost painful, and all she craved was its release. She put her hands on his shoulders, his back, enjoying the feeling of his muscles contracting beneath them, digging her fingernails into his flesh.
The more the tension built, the faster Sebastian moved, grunting in time with his thrusts. As he rocked, he kissed her—her face, her neck, her ears, her breasts—his tongue roving across her body as he explored inside her.
“Oh!”
“You are too perfect,” he muttered. “And you are mine now.”
As he made his proclamation, the knot in Arabella’s stomach unravelled, slowly at first, then faster and faster until she threw her head back and howled, pushing her hips once more into his.
“Oh, yes, Sebastian! Yes, yes, yes!”
Chapter 23
“You wanted to see me, Sinclair?” Sebastian said as he once again entered the duke’s study.
He couldn’t deny the flash of anxiety that had crossed his body when he first received the summons. The last time he had been called to this place, Sinclair had revealed his discoveries. What had he discovered this time? An image of Arabella in the throes of passion arrived unbidden in his mind, and his breath hitched. Surely Sinclair hadn’t learned about that.
Or about the fact that I have fallen madly in love with her.
“Please,” Sinclair said. “Call me Edward. We’re friends now, aren’t we?”
“Edward then,” Sebastian replied with an uneasy smile.
Edward wasn’t seated as he had been the last time. He was standing by the unlit fire, one elbow leaning on the fireplace, a glass of brandy in the other hand. He looked every bit the distinguished gentleman. If Sebastian didn’t know any better, he would have thought Edward Sinclair perfectly proper.
“I hear the portrait went well?” Edward said.
He moved towards the decanter and poured Sebastian a glass of brandy without asking if he wanted one. Sebastian cleared his throat, hoping the rising heat in his body didn’t show on his cheeks. The memory of Arabella’s body pressed against him stirred within him, and he worried once again that Edward had somehow found out.
“Yes, indeed it did,” he replied, getting hold of himself. “I understand she is putting the finishing touches to it this week and that I shall receive it by Friday.”
Edward grinned and handed Sebastian the glass, the cut crystal sending a pattern of diamonds across the hardwood floor.
