As she pulled her nightgown over her head, baring her glorious figure to him once more, he sighed contentedly.

“Exquisite,” he whispered, and she blushed prettily.

He stepped forward and placed his hands on her waist.

“I will have you tonight just like this if you will allow me.” He watched her eyes travel upward to meet his. “Will you?”

Louise shivered, amazed by how ready she felt for him to do just that. She was desperate for him to do as he pleased with her, but her nerves were warring with anticipation, muddling her mind such that she could not speak.

She could only nod her head.

Without any delay, he gently pushed her back toward the bed, where she sat down. She looked up at him as he lowered her to the mattress and lay beside her.

She could feel his hard length poking her thigh, and she closed her eyes as his hands roamed over her body, cupping her breasts reverently.

“I would have you ask for this, Duchess. I would have you beg me to touch you, and I will give you pleasure you have never experienced before.”

Louise took a shuddering breath as his fingers pinched her nipple, and she let out a moan as he took her other nipple in his mouth. He sucked on the hard tip as his hand trailed down her belly, flirting with the place she needed him to touch the most but never quite reaching it.

Then, he pulled himself on top of her, and she groaned as she felt his arousal press against the heat between her legs.

“Beg me,” he demanded, and this time, she could do nothing but obey.

“Please,” she whispered. “I want you to take me just as you wish.”

He smiled and lowered his face to hers, sucking her lower lip into his mouth and kissing her gently before moving down her body.

His hands ran down the outside of her thighs and then pushed her legs up as he lowered his head and lapped at her hot entrance.

She remembered this sensation from the carriage, but now, watching him do it while he was naked was a new and delightful pleasure she had not expected.

She could not suppress her moans as his tongue pushed inside her, lapping desperately at her folds, the sensual drag of his teeth sending shivers through her.

She plunged her hands into his hair shamelessly and ground her hips against his mouth, allowing him to worship her with his tongue until she felt a shocking pressure as he slid his thumb inside her.

Her back arched off the bed as she cried out. Christian moved back, sliding his thumb in and out of her as she moaned and writhed beneath him.

“I have never wanted anything more than to watch you come apart for me,” he purred as he replaced his thumb with two long fingers.

He moved slowly and steadily, gently adding pressure, waiting for her cues to keep going as she shuddered beneath him.

“All right?” he asked when both fingers were inside her to the knuckle.

“Yes,” she gasped as he curled them upward, and her hands came down to clench the bedsheets beside her hips.

He continued his ministrations for some minutes, using his fingers, his thumb, and his tongue to make her fall apart beneath him.

She could barely breathe by the time he pulled himself up from the bed and stood back, staring down at her with blazing need in his eyes.

“Are you ready for me, Louise?” he asked, her name on his lips, sending a fresh pulse of delight through her.

“Yes, Christian. I want you,” she said, reaching for him.

Christian gripped her hand briefly before kneeling on the bed. He pushed her knees back so that her thighs were pressed against her chest, and she felt pressure at her entrance as he notched his length there.

“Tell me if it hurts, and I will stop.”

The care with which he said those words made tears well up in her eyes as, inch by inch, he gently slid inside her. She gripped the sheets again, feeling the blunt pressure building.