Page 21 of Duke of Chaos

“Are yousureyou do not want to share a bed with me?” he asked, his free hand sliding around her throat.

He nearly growled at the way the lace collar impeded him from touching her bare flesh. He wanted to rip it away, shred it until he could place his palm on her bare pulse as he had the night she’d made her offer, but he didn’t. Keeping the lace intact, he settled for stroking his fingers over the fabric. He noted it was blessedly thin although not thin enough, as he located her pulse once more. He felt Lydia tremble beneath his touch, but she kept her hands at her sides.

“I am…certain,” Lydia panted, her lashes fluttering as he caressed his fingers along her throat again.

Hetiskedat her softly as he pulled her closer, letting his hair fall and tickle her forehead.

“Your tone and breath say otherwise,” he rasped into her ear as he stroked her throat lazily with his thumb. “I think you are most curious to discover what it is I do to ladies who share my bed; how I make them gasp and tremble.”

Ezra abruptly tightened his grip, procuring the sweetest gasp from Lydia’s lips He smirked in satisfaction as he received the reaction he’d wanted.

“Perhaps you would like me to make you gasp and tremble too?”

He grazed the tip of his nose over Lydia’s top lip, their temples gliding against one another as her erratic, shallow breaths enticed him to kiss her.

“You truly think you could please a woman like me?” Lydia asked boldly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ezra let out a dark chuckle as her bluntness once again pleased him.

“It would certainly be interesting to try.”

“It truly would,” Lydia purred teasingly, her confidence gaining in their wordplay, “It is a shame you are denied the opportunity.”

A dark chuckle erupted from his chest once more as he brought his fingers up to trace along her jawline. He felt her quiver under his touch; her reaction declaring her words a lie.

“We shall see about that,” he rasped.

He slipped his hand to the back of her neck, the other sliding around her waist to pin her to his chest. Lydia willfully bucked her head away from him at first, but when he merely grinned at her response, he felt her body relax and she tilted her lips toward him.

“Mmmm,” Ezra murmured with pleasure as he accepted her offering.

He did not bite, not like before. His kiss was seductive and sensual. It lured her to his darkness like a wicked lullaby she secretly loved. Ezra’s chiseled lips slid possessively over her plump ones as he held her tightly to him, teaching her through experience how and when to apply different pressure and go deeper.

How long had it been since he kissed virgin lips? Had he ever? Unlike Morgan, he was no flower hound and preferred a woman with a profound understanding of giving and receiving sexual pleasure. And yet, as he so carefully gave Lydia her first lesson in kissing, his desire to show her more exploded from an ember into a white-hot flame.

Another soft gasp and a gentle push at his chest was all he felt from Lydia before her body melted in his grip and she parted her lips for him.

A deep and primal hunger consumed him as his tongue dipped between her lips and he tasted her for the first time. He had been certain that there was no conceivable way she would taste as she smelled, but the moment he swept his tongue against hers he tasted those sweet, black cherries.

Somehow, Lydia worked her hands free from between them and slid them up to his neck, pulling him down to her height. Ezra’s penchant for their little games suddenly vanished as he became aware of her willingness, once again completely throwing him off guard with her ability to instantly transform from sweet to wicked as he pressed her back tightly to the nearest wall.

Lydia’s lips, full and plump as the black heart cherries she tasted like, parted for him willingly as he kissed her despite her brave words a moment ago. He suddenly realized he could make her acquiesce, and continued the kiss as his hands began to slide down her waist to her skirts. Just like all the others he’d had before her.

I will pull her into my darkness, stoke her fear into pleasure, and take everything. I will…

The sting of pain erupted in his lower lip so suddenly it surprised him, and he drew back with a gasp. Lydia’s green eyes, now sparkling with those bronze and gold flecks, looked back at him with a hazy smugness. A fleck of his blood stood out on her lower lip as she smiled at him slowly.

“A repayment, Your Grace,” Lydia purred, drawing her hands up slowly to primp her hair.

Ezra watched Lydia’s tongue slowly lap up his drop of blood as though it was an afterthought. His focus narrowed as he watched her throat bob, as she swallowed the drop. As he watched her, something powerful exploded inside of him and he nearly rushed her again.

Instead, he drew out a dark chuckle, straightened his wide shoulders, and took another step back.

“I suppose that is fair,” he replied, taking a slow measure of her. When he reached her eyes he allowed his own to deaden into their customary glaze. “But do not do it again.”

“Do not be so casual with my honor,” Lydia replied, shrugging as if completely unfazed by his change of demeanor. “And I will not have to.”

Ezra studied her for a long moment, unsure of how to continue. Lydia was not the first woman to feign disinterest in him, but usually by the time he had them trapped in a kiss he had them whimpering and begging for more. Yet here she was, marking him as he had marked her, and refusing to apologize for it.

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