Page 47 of The Duke and the Runaway Bride

He reached down and took hold of the blanket, gently pulling it down,

Beatrice resisted for a moment before she let go. Edwin pulled the fabric down, and the hemmed edge rose and fell to uncover her glorious breasts once more. She crossed her arms over her exposed bosom and looked up at him.

“I must thank you for last night,” she said quietly. “I have never felt that way before. I am glad we waited to do that. I don’t know why, but it felt much better than it would have been if we had engaged in the act immediately after the wedding. I hope I can return the favor one day.”

“Return the favor?” Edwin asked, confused. “What do you mean?”

“You made me feel wonderful, and not only once.” Beatrice bit her bottom lip and smiled. “I want to make you feel that way.”

Edwin laughed softly. “You have nothing to return, my dear. You made me feel wonderful, too.”

“I did?” Beatrice asked. “But I didn’t do anything.”

“You certainly did.” Edwin trailed the back of his hand over her cheek and down her neck. “The way you kissed me and responded to my touch was perfect. You might not have seen it because you were lost in the moment, but I don’t think I have ever felt like that before.”

“Really?” Beatrice’s eyes widened. She shivered slightly under his tender touch. “You don’t know how that makes me feel.”

The Duke ran the back of his hand over her shoulder, then down her upper arm, her forearm, and across her covered stomach.

Beatrice looked him in the eye with some nervousness, but she still removed her arms from her breasts and lifted them above her head, stretching her body out.

Edwin moved his hand back up, turning it over to caress her torso with his palm. He moved from her stomach, up over her breasts to her collarbone, and then back down to her breasts again.

“I would very much like to make you feel the way you felt last night,” he murmured.

“I cannot stop you now even if I want to,” Beatrice replied.

Edwin ran his hand over her nipple and then down to her navel again. His hand trailed over her side, leaving goose pimples in its wake, before going back up to her neck and then her cheek. He leaned closer to her and kissed the swell of her breast, his lips lingering there. He kissed her creamy mound again, circling her nipple.

Beatrice breathed heavily through her nose, moaning.

Edwin finally reached her nipple, kissing it gently before nipping it.

Beatrice opened her mouth to moan. She reached for his head and brought his lips to hers. She let out another moan as their lips came together, and Edwin pressed his body to hers, enjoying her warmth. One hand remained on her cheek, and the other explored her body.

He fondled her other breast this time, the one he had not teased with his mouth, rubbing her nipple and squeezing it. Her curves excited him more than anything else, and he had trouble letting go of her plump mound. Eventually, he did, and his hand trailed down her body. He skimmed over her stomach and finally explored beneath the blankets.

Edwin pushed his tongue against Beatrice’s, just enough for her to push back, and their supple muscles explored each other, licking languidly. His fingers ran through the small tuft of hair above her warm entrance, and then he rubbed her inner thigh, building up the anticipation.

His fingers danced over her skin, going down, then back up, and just as he was about to touch her special place, he moved to the other thigh. That elicited a frustrated moan from Beatrice as they kissed, but the frustration would soon come to an end. He stroked her other thigh and then brought his hand to her wet cave.

Suddenly, an almighty crash came from downstairs.

Both Edwin and Beatrice jerked back as if someone were in the room, and Beatrice pulled the blankets back up to her neck. Edwin looked around, on high alert in case an attacker had come.

A smaller crash came from downstairs, followed by what sounded like cursing. Edwin’s mood shifted from turned on to grumpy. He didn’t know what had happened, but he was confident his mother was involved in some way. He looked at Beatrice, and she smiled sweetly and amusedly.

“I have to make sure everything is fine down below,” he told her. “And down below, I mean, down below, and notdown below.I will return as soon as I can.”

Beatrice nodded, smiling. “I understand. I shall be waiting for you. Please don’t be too long.”

Edwin leaned back down and kissed her before he stood up, prancing around the bedroom stark naked. The crash from downstairs had terrorized him so much that the blood had gone straight to his head. This came with the benefit that it did not take long before he was ready to venture downstairs without his arousal being on show.

The Duke finished getting dressed, not putting on so many clothes that he could not remove quickly, but making sure to not be underdressed either, and he went downstairs to discover what Modesty had done.

At the bottom of the stairs, he found Elizabeth.

“What is going on?” he asked.

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