Page 57 of My Demanding Duke

“Yes, my love?”

“If I asked you to take me now… would you?”

His eyes darkened, desire flickering to life.

“I have never wanted anything more than to make love to you,” he said softly, reverently.

He took her hand and led her to his bed. She stood before him, trembling as he untied the laces of her nightrail and let it fall to the floor. His eyes swept her bare form, not with lust alone, but wonder.

“I love you,” he whispered, bending to kiss her. “I love you so fiercely I scarcely know myself.”

The kiss turned hungry, hands roaming her skin with increasing urgency. He lifted her onto the bed and followed, stretching out beside her as he shed his clothing and drew her close.

He rained kisses down her neck and gently teased her nipples with his mouth, until she was slick and wet with wanting. She could guess, from the press of his erection against her, that he was wanting too.

“Take me,” she demanded, wriggling her bottom away from him to spread her legs in invitation. She did not care that it was wanton, her only desire was to feel him inside her.

“I will not last long,” Hugh warned, with a pained laugh. “Not after imagining this for so long.”

Anna smiled, drawing him down to her. “Then you must make it count.”

He was between her legs in an instant, the tip of his member pressed against her wet lips. For a moment, Anna knew a moment of panic, as she wondered how on earth she was supposed to accommodate his frightening girth. Hugh noted the flash of fear and kissed her lips softly.

“I’ll be gentle,” he swore. “Do you trust me?”

She nodded, “With my life.”

He entered her slowly, his size stretching her with an ache that whispered it would soon give way to pleasure. There was a brief gasp of pain as he breached her maidenhead, but he stilled, eyes on hers, giving her time.

She gave a sigh of contentment as the pain abated and she adjusted to the feel of him within her. She had not expected this sense of joining as he filled her—the perfect rightness of their two bodies becoming one.

And then he began to move; deep, rhythmic thrusts that stole her breath and made her clutch at him, gasping his name. She clung to his back, urging him ever deeper and deeper, lost in the dizzying rhythm of their shared need.

When her climax overtook her, it was sudden and all-encompassing; a shattering wave that left her trembling. She arched against him as a low, urgent pleasure rippled through her—unfurling, unstoppable, and utterly consuming.

Assured of her pleasure, Hugh groaned her name, driving into her once more as he reached his own release. He shuddered as he spilled inside her, filling her with his heat, his body taut with the force of it

They clung to each other afterward, still breathless.

She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “I love you,” she whispered, and he smiled against her skin.

“And I you,” he murmured, his voice low and sure. “Now sleep, Anna. You are safe. You are mine. And, as I will be expecting to repeat that at least three times before sunrise, you will need your rest.”

“You’re incorrigible,” Anna whispered, with a delighted giggle.

“Yes, we established that already,” Hugh growled, as he pulled her closer to him.

And in the arms of her demanding duke, Anna finally slept.

EPILOGUE

THREE MONTHS LATER…

After years of tension, worry, and uncertainty, Anna’s life had finally settled into something that felt whole.

Even her father had improved. Since the night Hugh had “won” her, Lord Mosley had stayed away from the tables. Their relationship was fragile but it grew stronger with each month that passed in which her father did not break her trust.

Anna had everything she never dared hope for—even things she had never dreamed to hope for, like a duke for a husband.

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