Page 97 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

Alice smiled at him as she pulled at the laces of her nightclothes and allowed the damp shift to slide off her body until she stood naked before him in the firelight.

She watched as his nostrils flared ever so slightly. Noted the clenching of his jaw. Saw how his eyes drank her in with a deep yearning.

“Then have me,” she whispered.

CHAPTER 40

Then have me.

Her words unleashed a dam within him, and Colin could only groan as he reached for her, pulling her close as his lips took hers in a kiss that left no doubt of his hunger for her.

His tongue snaked past her teeth, and she surrendered to him with an eager moan, her arms wrapping around him as she pressed her naked body to his. In the firelight, their shadows moved together, melding until it seemed as if they had become one entity.

“Alice, my Alice,” he whispered reverently as he trailed kisses down her jaw to her collarbone. “My sweet, little lamb.”

In response, her head fell back, exposing the smooth, graceful column of her neck. Her delicate fingers dug into the muscles in his shoulders as a delighted mewl slipped past her lips, the rosy tips of her breasts straining for his touch.

He dared not make her wait too much as he swept his hand past an aching bud, watching in delight as it puckered at his touch.

“Colin…” she mewled, her hand cupping his erection through his sodden clothes. “I need you.”

He groaned, as her touch had him nearly exploding in his breeches. “Patience, little lamb.”

He flicked his tongue against her nipple, enjoying how quickly she unraveled at his touch. Her body arched like a drawn bow, tense and waiting. Aching for him.

Only for him. He knew it now.

He gently bit the tight, little bud, drawing it into his mouth as he sucked it a little. Shuddering moans fell from her lips, serving to inflame his desire to see her undone. When his tongue lashed that sensitized peak, she let out a soft cry.

“C-Colin…!”

He loved hearing her calling his name, her voice dripping with need. Desire pooled into his groin, his tongue lashing her breast as her soft cries urged him.

He cupped the mound of soft curls between her legs, feeling the dampness of her desire for him. He slipped his fingers through her slick folds and found her already wet for him.

“God, Alice,” he groaned. “How can you be this wet?”

He circled the pearl of her desire, and her hips shifted underneath him, her body seeking more of his touch.

He caught her as her knees gave out, cradling her as he carried her to her canopied bed and laid her gently on the pristine sheets.

The covers had been pulled back, and he surmised that she must have gone to bed—or at least attempted to—before she came rushing out in the rain to find him.

The thought of Alice lying here, alone, suffocated in the pain he had caused her, stirred a poignant ache within him.

He leaned down and gently brushed the dark locks that fell over her forehead. Her green eyes glittered in the firelight as he gazed at her somberly.

“I have hurt you so much,” he murmured tenderly. “How will I ever begin to make it up to you, little lamb?”

She smiled up at him softly. The look in her eyes was so achingly gentle and filled with more love than he ever deserved.

“Just love me,” she told him achingly. “Hold me and love me…”

He groaned and pressed his lips to hers. “With pleasure, my love.”

He stood up and dispensed of his clothes, throwing off the wet linen shirt and his ever-tightening breeches until he stood before her fully unclothed. When her vivid gaze ran over him, from his chest down to the length jutting hungrily between his legs, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

“Do you like what you are seeing?” he teased.

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