Page 27 of Three Nights with the Beastly Duke

“Not a thing,” Arthur replied, still trying to catch his breath.

Part of Lavinia was pleased, seeing him like this. She liked knowing she had such an effect on him.

“But we have arrived,” he continued, “and I would much rather continue this upstairs, rather than in front of all of my servants.”

Lavinia had been so wrapped up in the intensity of their kiss that she hadn’t even realized the carriage had stopped moving. Looking out the window, she saw that they were indeed parked outside a rather magnanimous estate, with a fleet of servants standing on the steps, awaiting them.

“I do like it when you blush like that,” Arthur teased, finally catching his breath. He gave her a mischievous smile, then offered her his hand. “Come, I’ll send them away. I shall give you a tour of your new home later, but for now, will you join me in your new chambers?”

CHAPTERTWELVE

Arthur didn’t believe Lavinia, nor did he trust her. Not entirely anyway. Especially after Grace had betrayed him, he wasn’t sure if he could ever trust another woman outside of his family again. But in the confines of the carriage, he could no longer get away from what he had been trying to avoid all day—the alluring beauty and sensuality that was his new wife.

Her long, curly dark hair was pinned up in ringlets that framed her face and shoulders perfectly, and the natural soft pink of her cheeks matched the shade of her pouty lips as if they were alluringly identical.

She had chosen what he could only describe as a dark white silk that complemented her skin tone perfectly and was wrapped around her in a design that was practically made for her figure. Her looks alone were enough to drive him to distraction, but it didn’t stop there. Arthur had caught whispers of jasmine in the air whenever he’d been in her presence before, but now, mixed in with the familiar aroma, he detected something else. Something delicious and mouth-watering, something both primal and natural.

The moment her scent had hit his nostrils, his lower belly had tightened, his cock had begun to harden, and he had had to breathe through his mouth to control himself. It had been long,solong, since he’d touched a woman, and the cravings he’d once thought dead had come back to him with vengeance. He’d had the patience to kiss her gently at first, but the moment he had felt her relax at his side, his more dominant nature had taken over him, and he’d pounced immediately, dragging him to her as if she were his prey.

Her words were pretty, and, he admitted, possibly touching. But her response to his kiss was what he truly wanted. He wanted to know that she liked his touch. In fact, needed it. Even through his anger for her, it was something he worried about. After all, if it was a ruse, then she’d recoil from him, would she not? He had to know.

So, when he’d felt her melt into him, cling to him as they had kissed, he had let his feelings of hurt and anger go and embraced her instead.

As promised, he made quick work of dispersing the servants and even noticed a few of the maids giggling as they scurried back to their work.

Good,he thought. Perhaps some positive rumors could leak out after such a rambunctious entrance. He held Lavinia’s hand through the first two flights of steps, but as his impatience grew, he hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her up the final one. A mirthful giggle came from Lavinia’s lips as he picked her up, and though he still didn’t quite believe her, it made him smile.

“You are quite athletic, husband,” Lavinia breathed when he finally put her back down on her feet.

“When the time comes for it, at least,” he teased, making quick work of his cravat.

The moment he ripped it loose from his neck, Lavinia stepped back toward him, pausing his hand by placing hers over his own. With a soft smile, she drew closer, and then leaned up on her toes to place a gentle kiss on his neck.

Arthur felt himself shiver at the delicate touch but stayed still as his new wife continued her exploration. As her lips continued to trail over his neck, her fingers worked the buttons to his shirt free until she could slip her palm beneath the fabric. The moment her hand touched his naked, scarred flesh, he took a sharp breath.

He couldn’t hide the scar on his face, but he was used to being able to disguise all of the others. And there were many. On his back, his abdomen, his pectoral muscles—there were far too many to count.

Arthur waited, breath held, for her to shrink away from the feel of his scar. To see her eyes suddenly pop open wide in horror and look at him like some monster. Instead, only a soft sigh left her lips, and she nuzzled her cheek against his bare flesh, her lips slowly making their way toward his scar.

Unable to take such tenderness, Arthur lifted her into his arms once more and captured her mouth with his. As they kissed, he walked her to the large bed and gently laid her down.

As they continued to kiss, his hands worked at the ties of her gown, yanking them this way and that until her dress fell away one piece at a time, leaving her only in her shift. It was only as he was poised to take it off did he stop long enough to look into Lavinia’s eyes, and he felt a well of emotion bulge in his throat.

Her deep brown eyes, so cloudy with lust, shone brightly up at him. There was a raw pleasure emanating from her gaze, and he nearly got lost in it.

“Let me undress you,” she whispered, her hands going for his shirt again.

Arthur caught himself before he felt himself fall fully into her spell, and gently dragged her away.

“Soon,” he murmured, capturing her mouth in another kiss before she could say anything else.

Lavinia’s words quickly turned into moans, and she let her hands slide away from his body with ease. The shackled beast of pleasure chained tightly inside of Arthur’s soul finally broke loose, and he accidentally ripped apart Lavinia’s chemise trying to get to her. Like an animal starved for weeks, Arthur’s mouth ravenously moved over her body.

He enveloped her breasts with his mouth, one at a time, as Lavinia gasped and writhed beneath him. Taking in her sweetly taut nipples before trailing his tongue around her areolas, then finally pulling each perfectly shaped mound of delicate tissue into his mouth, suckling needily.

“Arthur, Arthur, Arthur,” Lavinia panted, saying his name with every ragged breath she drew in as his mouth continued its ministrations further down her body. First back up to her neck, where he traced the delicate line with the tip of his tongue, then down to her hourglass-shaped abdomen, where he lifted her backside from beneath and lapped his tongue over each small divot of her muscles and then navel.

When his teeth first scraped over her left hip, Lavinia gasped and writhed so much at the touch that hehadto do it again. Pinning her hips down so she couldn’t buck into him, Arthur lowered his head once more to her hip, and when his teeth scraped over the delicate flesh stretched over her hip bone, another beautiful, erotic sound left Lavinia’s lips.

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