Page 51 of A Sinful Virgin for the Duke

“You drive me mad, Gemma,” he whispered, his voice strained with longing. “You awaken something in me; something dark, wild and completely beyond my control.”

She shivered at his words, at the raw intensity in his gaze, but before she could speak, his lips claimed hers again, softer this time, but still commanding.

His hands moved with a steady, unyielding purpose, guiding her towards the desk behind them. She felt its edge press into her back as he lifted her onto it, his hands cradling her face with surprising tenderness.

A tremor ran through her as his fingers slipped down her arms, raised them above her head and pinned them together with one hand. She arched involuntarily, her breath catching as his mouth found her neck and his teeth grazed her skin. Her body responded automatically, her legs tightening around him as a moan escaped her lips.

“Say it,” he murmured, his voice a velvet caress against her skin. “Say you are mine.”

Gemma felt her cheeks flush and her pulse pound in her ears. She tried to look away, but his fingers lifted her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“I… I am… yours,” she managed, her voice breathless.

A satisfied smile played on his lips and he pressed another searing kiss to her mouth as his hands wandered over her curves. He leaned over and trailed his lips down her neck to the delicate hollow of her throat and the soft swell of her chest.

The sensation made her shudder and her head fell back in bliss as his lips found the sensitive skin between her collarbones.

She hardly recognized herself as she responded so freely and so full of need under his electric touch. His hand slid under her skirt, and when his fingers touched the gap between her thighs, Gemma felt herself freeze, her heart pounding with fear and desire.

“I… I have never…” she whispered, her cheeks blazing with embarrassment and thrill.

“Good,” he murmured against her lips, his voice thick with desire. “This means you are mine in every way.”

“Oh…” she breathed.

He kissed her deeply again, his hand roaming higher, exploring and teasing her with a tenderness that left her weak and trembling.

“Tell me you want this too, Gemma,” he urged, his voice a low growl.

“I… I do. I want you, Frederick.”

A deep, satisfied sound escaped him then, and he kissed her with renewed passion, his touch bold and assured as he explored her, pushing her toward sensations that were both thrilling and alarming in their intensity.

She lost herself in his breathtakingly sensual touch, her body alive to every caress, every whispered word.

A loud noise suddenly sounded from outside the library doors, abruptly breaking the spell.

Frederick groaned with frustration, pulled away from her with obvious reluctance and gently helped her down from the desk. She clutched at his coat, still breathless, unsteadied by the magnitude of her desire.

“Come… my Lady Gemma,” he whispered, a mischievous glint in his eye as he guided her toward the door. “We should return to the ballroom.”

“Y-yes… all right…” She could barely catch her breath, but before she could leave he pulled her close to him again, his lips meeting hers in one final, consuming kiss.

“Do not think this is over,” he murmured, his lips brushing her ear and sending another shiver through her. “We have only just begun, my lady.”

CHAPTER 19

That night, Gemma lay awake in her chambers, her mind restless and buzzing with thoughts she could barely understand.

Her body still tingled from Frederick’s kiss, the intensity in his words and caresses, and the way he had looked at her as though no one else in the world mattered.

She’d never imagined that someone would look at her with such desire and passion that it made her tingle to even recall it.

She turned over in her bed, clutching the sheets tightly.

What are you thinking, Gemma?

She chided herself and pressed her face firmly into her pillow, as if that could somehow muffle her wild thoughts.

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