Page 30 of Dance with the Dragon Duke

An image of his fingers put to good use sent a web of shivers down Tomorrow’s back. She met his eyes, and all thoughts of the gods and stars fled from her. His dark orbs were as smooth and reflective as volcanic glass. She could swim in those soulful eyes.

Overwhelmed though her senses were, she didn’t pull away. His lips were coming closer to hers, and the lines of pretend and reality felt entirely blurred. Like an invisible tether connected the two of them, dragging him nearer.

“Is this for our audience?” she whispered.

“No,” he breathed. “This is for me.”

Then he kissed her.

His touches were always dragon hot, but this one was blissfully tender. He teased her bottom lip, and then his tongue stroked inside her mouth. She laid a hand on his chest and opened to him. She felt his tail winding loosely around her ankle, then up under the hem of her dress to graze her calf. It stole her focus. It was such an intimate part of him, a piece that she had grown so comfortable with in his bed. She wanted it to move up higher, willing it closer to the cradle of her thighs—a nighttimefantasy she returned to when it held her under the covers they shared.

He cupped her cheek. Then her throat. His thumbs traced the slopes of her breasts over her neckline, a temptation. He kissed a path down her jaw, burying his face in her neck. Wicked fingers swept across her tightening nipples over her bodice, and she felt a corresponding tug of pleasure behind her navel.

A lover with talented hands was indeed the best sort of treasure.

When she pulled back, she tried to peek around him at the parlor beyond.

“Don’t worry about them. They can’t see you here.” His touch skittered down her thigh, stopping to circle her knee, and her legs tremored. “I want to touch you—not for an audience. For you. Because I want to make you feel good.”

Tomorrow swallowed. “I—I don’t know how to say no to that.”

She didn’twantto say no. She wanted his touch all over her. Need had her pressing her thighs together and inching closer to him on the banquette seat. Her pulse surged in her neck and between her legs, a restless thud that demanded all of his attention. But—

“Then don’t say no,” he said, voice husky and sure.

But! But there were things she’d kept to herself. Things that haunted her now and made this whole situation feel so out of balance.

“Dark, we shouldn’t. We haven’t known each other very long at all, if you think about it. I haven’t been entirely forthcoming.”

“I know who you are.” His attentive tail traveled higher up her leg like it read her longing. Uncertain, she retreated the smallest bit.

But then his tail pulled back, and she couldn’t stand it. The loss of heat made her heart drop. She shifted in closer.

Dark’s clever hands grew more brazen, palming her breasts and dropping deep kisses down the column of her throat. He encircled her with his arms, dragging her nearer still.

“I know you,” he insisted.

Her heart soared. This beautiful dragon man knew her because hebelievedher. Believed her at her word. Just. Like. That. Believed her in a way so few had ever bothered to. Tomorrow had taken her plight to every authority: to constables, inspectors, magistrates, to politicians and lords. She’d even written letters to court royals, and none of them could help protect her. Many hadn’t even tried.

It meant so much to her that he would, that he cared, that he tried. Thanks to him, she’d get her revenge finally.

“Do youwantme to touch you more?” he asked, his breath warming her throat.

“Yes,” she gasped, eyes rolling back in her head. “It’s theshouldyou touch me more that I can’t seem to get my mind around . . .”

“I should,” he insisted.

“Oh, but—”

His lips reclaimed hers, and she leaned into his embrace. Her fingers, which should have been pushing him away, fisted in his waistcoat, dragging him closer. He kissed her until words like ‘wait’ and ‘but’ were far from her vocabulary. Unable to resist any longer, she pushed his hand down her body, demanding more.

“Yes, there,” she murmured as his touch moved below her navel to cup the top of her sex.

“Spread your thighs for me, Sunshine.” Before his command was finished, her knees were open to him under the table.

She gathered her dress in her lap, still trying to peer around him. She could see the edges of the potted plant beyond his broad frame and could hear the parlor filling with people.

Her cheeks burned. “It feels so . . .”

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