Page 54 of A Virgin for the Ruthless Duke

“Perhaps you should speak up.” He raised his head from her neck, seizing her mouth in a kiss that stole her wits. “Did he kiss you this way? Enough that you forgot to be nervous?” he asked. “No?”

“Please,” she panted. “Please touch me, Richard.”

“Hmmm,” he murmured. “Perhaps you would prefer that it was your beloved Peter who was touching you.”

“No,” she said, writhing, fisting the fabric of his shirt.

“You will have to give me what I want before you are rewarded, don’t you think?” he said ruthlessly.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Good,” he replied, his hand finding its way back to her breasts, squeezing and rubbing the tender globes until a gasp escaped her throat. “You want me to touch you here?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

“No, lower. I want you to touch me lower,” she panted, her head thrashing against the door.

She was magnificent in her passion, so beautiful that he needed to touch her, pleasure her, and bring her to the heights of ecstasy.

His hands moved to her knees, pulling her dress up so that his fingers could find her inner thighs. His eyes were fixed on her face so he did not miss any changes in her expression. Every hitch in her breath, every moan, stoked a place inside of him while arousing him even further.

A flick of his hand and he was cupping her most intimate place. She was so soft and wet. Temptation incarnate. He wanted so badly to be inside her—he wanted to taste her there.

He wanted to do even more scandalous things to her, but with the strength of the lust swimming in his veins, he could not risk it if he wanted to keep her reputation intact. It was against what his body wanted, but for her sake, he withdrew the hand cupping her heat, ignoring her disappointed whimper.

“Tell me what I want to know,” he rasped. “Perhaps I might bring you to satisfaction.”

He waited, his body trembling with pent-up need while she regained her composure.

“What do you want to know?” she asked, panting.

“Tell me the reason you have been nervous around me.”

“You are the reason,” she said, staring up into his eyes.

He could feel himself drifting and drowning in those vibrant green pools.

“You make me feel uncontrollable—unhinged even. Perhaps I am not nervous around you. Perhaps I’m battling the urge to climb you and lick you all over and beg you to touch me,” she said in a rush. “I know that it is wanton behavior unseemly of noblewomen, but it is how I feel when I’m with you. I want you, Richard.”

With every word that fell from her lips, Richard felt himself falling deeper into the fiery pit of his lust. He wanted to devour her, ravish her endlessly until she forgot her name.

Since he could not do that, no matter how much he wanted to, he settled for a kiss. This one was rough and hungry. He devoured her lips, possessing her the only way he could.

His hand returned to its place, cupping her heat. This time, he rubbed her pleasure spot, swallowing her moans of pleasure until she convulsed with her orgasm. He kissed her, savoring her mouth till she came down from her peak.

In the silence that followed, he regained control of his thoughts enough to realize that he had just done what he had sworn never to do.

He had taken liberties with her, again. Pulling his hands from underneath her skirts, he stepped back far enough till there was a safe distance between them. Enough that he would not give in to the urge to touch her, seeing as what had just happened confirmed the fact that he had no self-control where she was concerned.

“My apologies, My Lady,” he said gruffly, studiously avoiding her eyes. “I should not have taken such liberties with you. It is an insult to your person. I shall make sure that it does not happen again.”

“You make it sound like you forced me,” Selina said, forcing out a laugh. “I was a willing participant—do not forget.”

“You are an innocent. I should never have seduced you or invited you to spend time alone with me. It was ungentlemanly of me, but I could not help myself. It will not happen again. You have enough knowledge now not to require my help or my lessons. I will step aside now to allow you to pursue happiness. Good night, My Lady.”

With that cryptic remark, he walked out of the library and—if he was to be believed—out of her life.

At first, Selina was stunned, then she became angry. The nerve of the man to blame everything that happened on himself when she had been the one that had been begging for his touch, desperate for his kisses.

She was a grown woman, not a naive debutante who was unsure of what she wanted. She knew what she wanted, and what she wanted was the Duke of Seymour in any way she could get him. She was going to tell him that to his face just as soon as daybreak arrived and she had found him.

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