Page 41 of Any Duke in a Storm

The blush on her cheeks descended all the way down her chest. “That’s not fair. For mercy’s sake, cease the sultry French, you dreadful man. I don’t know what I want.”

“Don’t you?” he teased. “Ask me properly and you’ll get it.”

Of course she knew what she wanted. Lisbeth swallowed. “You’re really going to make me beg, Saint?”

“Raphael.” He blew a stream of air against her sex that made her hiss and arch like a wanton. “And yes. Good girls get rewarded, remember?”

Stubborn to the end, she still didn’t concede. “What about good dukes? You’re not being very ducal or nice at the moment.”

“You should know by now that I’m the last thing from nice.”

The look he gave her was full of wicked intent. It washer only warning before his mouth latched on to her sex, the first taste of her nearly making his eyes roll back in his head. Salty and sweet like the most delicate ambrosia. He lapped at the pearl crowning the top of her sex, nipping it gently, and then grinned as her thighs squeezed compulsively around him.

“Raph—” The second half of his name devolved into an indecipherable moan.

“Is this what you what?” he teased with a long, slow lick from bottom to top that had her whimpering and writhing into his face. “You want me to devour you?”

“Ngnh.”

He smiled. “If this was all it took to get you to stop quarreling with me, I would have done it a lot sooner. I would have dined on you for… Every. Single. Meal.”

Forget good girls becausegood Lord, she was going to die.

His last three words were punctuated with hot, flat-tongued lashes against her quivering sex that made her entire body turn to liquid before he set his mouth to her body to feast. And feast he did. The man was gorging on her like he’d been famished for weeks at sea.

Lisbeth glanced down. Other lovers had performed this act before, but the sight of those broad muscular shoulders wedging her thighs voluptuously wide did something to her. Made her feral with desire. When one thick finger slid into her tight passage, she felt thepleasure uncoiling within start to build in intensity, more so when he added a second, and she shivered sensuously from the delicious stretch.

“Oh, that’s good,” she whispered. “Faster.”

“You’ll get what you’re given,” he growled against her damp flesh, making her writhe from the rumbles of his lips. God, that voice! So gravelly and carnal.

Lisbeth trembled. She wanted to cry out as he pumped in and out of her in time with the punishing stripes of his tongue over the sensitive bundle of nerves at the top of her quim. But when he crooked his fingers inside of her and sucked, the whine that came out of her was ungodly. Her body seized as waves of intense pleasure crashed over her and her passage clamped down on him, drawing out each ounce of bliss.

“So fucking tight,” he said, that fringe of dark lashes lifting to reveal molten-silver eyes that were full of pure satisfaction. “I can’t wait to feel you clenching like this on my cock.”

Lisbeth swallowed, apprehension dancing on the heels of his words and dousing the bright glow of her orgasm. His girth was much thicker than his two fingers…and thatpiercing. The thought of the drag of the metal inside of her made her shudder. From nerves or excitement? She wasn’t sure if she could take it. Take him. Or worse, not be enough to accommodate or please him. Her brain took over, dampening the pleasure she felt.

He pulled up to his full height with a slight frown, reading her face and the slight stiffening of her body. “What’s wrong?”

“I haven’t…” Face burning, she trailed off. “It’s been a while since I’ve been with a man,” she confessed.

Saint’s smile was warm, a soft genuine one she hadn’t seen before. “We’ll go as slow as you need, Lisbeth. Or we can stop right now, if that is your wish.”

Her brow wrinkled in surprise. Given their state of undress, the act he’d just performed upon her, and his own unfulfilled state, would he truly? And he was definitely still erect. She could feel the hard brand of him against her thigh. In her limited experience, most men would expect or demand reciprocity of some sort. Then again, Raphael Saint didn’t seem to be like most men, as she was continually discovering.

She offered him a small, wry grin. “I thought you were the captain?”

“I might be at the wheel, but you are the ship’s rudder. You decide the course. I do not want to rush you or do anything that you’re not comfortable with.”

Wasthatit? The source of her trepidation? Was it about her comfort? Since when was she so worried about sexual performance? She couldn’t begin to unravel the sudden tangle of knots in her chest, but maybe her fears were something deeper than surface level arousal. It wasn’t about his piercing or his size.

More with Saint would complicate things. Complicatewhoshe was, and for some reason, that didn’t feel like something she was prepared for. Her stomach dipped.Bloody hell.Would her refusal disappoint him?

“And you?” Lisbeth glanced at the length between them.

“I’ve been that way before, and besides, it’s nothingthat my own two hands can’t handle.” He gave her a soft kiss on the lips. “If you prefer to wait, I’ll wait. And if you decide that this is not what you desire, that’s fine, too. I want all of you to be present.” He touched her temple and grazed her hip. “Hereanddown here.”

Heavens, how did he know exactly what to say…how to articulate her own convoluted worries? But it was the sincerity and unguarded care in his voice that made her tension loosen. Coitus for her was never only physical. Things in her head had to be in alignment, and while the worry of not being good for him was real enough, shewasn’tready to go further. It felt bigger than she was ready to deal with…on all levels.

---