Page 78 of When a Duke Loves a Woman
She pressed her mouth against the crook of his neck as he carried her toward the bed. “Have I mentioned that you’re gorgeous?”
“Scars and all?”
“They give you character.”
“They show me to be a fool.”
“They show you to be a man determined to survive.”
“I hadn’t thought I would,” he confessed. “Until you came along, and for some ungodly reason, from the start, I didn’t want to disappoint you. I desperately wish to not disappoint you tonight.”
“I couldn’t be disappointed when you’re with me.” She released a very unladylike snort and buried her face against his neck. “Now I’m the one spouting ridiculous flattery. We’ll both be casting up our accounts if we continue along this vein.”
He laid her out on the bed as though she were a gift to be unwrapped, although she was already unwrapped, so perhaps a gift to be admired. “Spout all you want, princess, and I shall do the same. Neither of us will cast up anything because what we say is for our ears and our ears alone.”
Standing there, he trailed one finger—only one when she craved them all—along her shoulder, down her arm, over her hip, along her leg, across her feet, and all the way up the other side until he pressed the tip of that finger against her lip. “You’re gorgeous, every graceful lithe lengthy inch of you.”
He left her speechless, but she expected to look down and see herself glowing as though she’d swallowed moonbeams. He made her feel like the princess she’d once imagined herself to be.
The bed dipped with his weight as he stretched out beside her, cupped her cheek, and blanketed her mouth with his own. He no longer had to urge her to part her lips; they did so on their own accord, welcoming his deepening of the kiss. She rolled up slightly so more of her skin was touching his, skimmed her foot up his calf, then over his knee until her knee was fairly resting on the other side of his hip, her feminine haven cradling his groin, the hard length of his cock growing even longer and harder, granite covered in velvet, pressing into her belly. He growled low and predatorily, and while she hadn’t thought it possible, he took the kiss even deeper, with an urgency that caused stars to erupt behind her closed eyelids.
Little wonder this was considered a sin because if people weren’t discouraged from engaging in such behavior they would be doing it all the time. As frequently as possible. How was it that married folk, who were allowed, ever got anything else accomplished?
Everywhere their bodies touched created tiny sparks of pleasure that spiraled out to create even larger sparks. She became lost in the sensation of him, the wonder of him, the eagerness with which they touched each other.
Tearing his mouth from hers, he shoved himself down a few inches, plumped up her breast with one hand and offered it to his questing mouth as though it were the finest morsel ever served. As his lips came securely around the turgid nipple, he suckled, and she very nearly came off the bed as pain and pleasure warred for dominance, and pleasure won, sending armies of sensation throughout her. She pressed her honeyed canal against him, tilting up her hips, bowing her back in a way that allowed her to rub her intimate core along the length of his hard shaft.
If the way he jerked was any indication, now he was the one close to coming off the bed.
“You witch,” he growled, and she laughed, wondering if such was allowed, but how could it not be when there was so much joy taking place in her bed?
She loved everything he was doing to her, all that she was doing to him. The touching, the caressing, the kissing, the suckling. Here within the shadows with doors locked and windows shuttered, everything felt acceptable. No, it was more than that. Everything felt ordained.
They had created their own little world where sins and regrets didn’t exist. Where delicious secrets could be harbored in safety. Where bodies rejoiced with the freedom to explore and be explored.
Bracketing her sides with his large hands, he nibbled at her ribs, leaving little love bites on each one as he journeyed farther down, rolling her onto her back as he reached her stomach and nestled between her legs. His tongue circled her navel, lapped at her skin as he slipped his arms beneath her thighs, his hands coming around to open her wider.
Lifting her back off the bed, curling forward, she reached down and cradled his face between her hands. “Thorne.”
He raised his gaze to hers. The desire and yearning she saw mirrored in his dark Guinness-shaded eyes caused liquid fire to pour through her veins and tremors to roll through her. Within the brown depths she saw more than a promise, she saw a vow: he would possess, he would pleasure, he would make her forget her name.
Using his thumbs, he spread the folds as though he were the sun causing petals to unfurl until the small bud hidden away could receive its warmth. Lowering his head, he closed his mouth around her most intimate core and suckled as though she were made of toffee to be slowly savored. Releasing her hold on him, she rested back on her elbows, her spine arched, her eyes closing, her head dropping back, her breaths coming in short shallow gasps. His tongue swirled and taunted. His hands came up to knead her breasts, his thumb and forefinger gently rolling her nipples. Everything was tautening as though he had laced a thousand bits of string through her, threaded them through her nubbin so every time he sucked, they pulled every part of her toward him. Suck and soothe, suck and soothe.
Tremors began undulating through her. Cries escaped through her parted lips. The pleasure was unbearable—
Then it ripped through her, in a maelstrom of glorious colors and magnificent sensations. “Oh my God, Thorne, oh my God.”
She heard his dark satisfied chuckle, and it somehow managed to make the sensations even more intense. She felt as though she were falling from the heavens, unafraid because he would catch her.
The bed rocked as he moved up and dropped down beside her. Turning her head to the side, she placed her palm against his cheek. “That was marvelous. But there’s more.”
Nodding, he skimmed his knuckles along her chin. “But I’m not as recovered as I thought.”
She sat up abruptly. “You’ve hurt yourself.”
“No, but I don’t think I can support myself as much as I should to ensure you again see stars. And you being beneath me probably wouldn’t be good for your healing head either.” He patted his stomach. “Straddle me, princess.”
“Not until I’ve tormented you for a bit.”
