Page 16 of The Duke and the Widow
He didn’t protest and allowed her to pull him down the long corridor until they reached the foyer that led to the grand staircase. The other guests would emerge soon, seeking their chambers to change into dry clothes, so they must hurry.
After pulling him up the stairs and to her chamber, she opened her door and dragged him inside.
“My lady,” Molly said, shocked as she worked on what Rosina expected would be the dress Molly had selected for her to wear to dinner.
“Molly, will you return in an hour?”
Her faithful maid smirked at her and carefully put the dress to the side. “Of course, my lady.” She nodded to James. “Your Grace.”
As soon as Molly departed and closed the door behind her, Rosina locked it, then threw herself against the duke, practically climbing him like a cat climbed a tree to catch its prey. She took his lips, and when he wrapped his arms around her, she gripped his cravat and jerked it loose from his neck.
Their tongues warred with an unbridled frenzy as she worked the buttons of his coats and his shirt beneath until all hung open, but still on his shoulders, giving her access to rub her hands across his chest into the smattering of dark hair.
He groaned and grabbed her wrists.
“Rosina.”
“Remove your clothing, Duke.”
He didn’t release her wrists or do as she instructed, so she pulled back so she could look at him. The duke watched her as if he were searching for something in her expression.
“Our arrangement isn’t one of affection and attachment, and I am truly sympathetic to your loss, but I don’t wish to be with a woman while she thinks about another man.”
“Duke, I am not—”
“You don’t think,” he started, cutting her off. “I noticed how you were lost in thought and in a state of unease. And then you bring me to your bed?”
She closed her eyes and drew a breath, trying to find the words to convince him of how wrong he was. “James,” she whispered. “I have been in a state of unease because my body wants you. You. That confuses and hurts my heart to acknowledge so, but I assure you that right now, I am wet with anticipation from thinking of you.”
He released a low growl and pulled her wrists so that her body was against his, then took her lips again. James released her wrists, and she spun around so he could aid in removing her riding habit. Once he released each of the buttons, he lifted the dress over her head, bringing her chemise with it. She had never been more thankful that she wasn’t wearing stays.
Rosina turned to face him, and he was shrugging out of his already unbuttoned coats and shirts. She leaned down to remove her stockings.
“Stop,” he commanded, staring at her otherwise naked form. The wetness reached her thighs from the way he ran his tongue along his bottom lip. He unbuttoned his breeches and pushed them down around his hips. “Leave them on.”
Chapter 7
Asmuchasitwould have killed him, James had been ready to walk away from her. He might have wanted to dip his wick in the luscious woman before him more than anything in the world, but he had a bit too much pride to do so if he thought she would just close her eyes and pretend he was another man. He wasn’t sure why such a notion bothered him so much, since their arrangement was one of enjoying each other for pleasure, yet it irked him.
Thankfully, he hadn’t needed to test his resolve after her declaration. His cock ached at the sight of her. While he kicked off his hessian boots so he could free his legs from his breeches, she grabbed something from her dresser drawer. He couldn’t help but notice how her arse rounded, and he moved close and cupped both cheeks with his hands, squeezing the soft flesh.
She sighed and leaned back against him, and he slipped one of his hands deeper between her legs, drawing a deep breath when his fingers were met with the wet heat of her folds.
Rosina spun around and pushed against him, walking him backwards until the back of his bare legs were against the settee. She urged him to sit and then straddled him, allowing his shaft to rub against her.
Cupping her breasts so he could massage them, he kissed along her shoulder and neck until he reached her lips. She sucked his tongue into her mouth and raised herself off his lap and then lowered so she speared herself with his cock.
“Bloody hell,” he whispered against her lips when she took all of him in the single movement.
She pressed her hands against his chest and pushed him against the back of the settee while she rocked herself against him.
“Do not come, James,” she commanded, throwing her head back.
“I make no promises if you keep taking me like this.”
She rocked against him a few more times and then lifted herself off him, still straddling him with his cock protruding between them.
“Why on earth did you stop?” he ground out.
