Page 27 of Desert Island Duke

He hissed to a stop, his mind suddenly blank as she slid her fingers around his cock and squeezed gently.

“Oh, my,” she breathed in wonder. “Does that hurt?”

Max ground his teeth against the blinding urge to thrust into her hand. “No, but—”

She opened her fingers and stroked him, and her touch sent bolts of lightning shooting up his spine.

“Show me how to please you. It’s only fair.”

With a groan, Max gave in. Gazing deep into her eyes, he reached down, caught her hand, and showed her how to hold him. He wrapped his own fingers around hers and watched her eyes widen as she caught the rhythm.

It didn’t take long. The feel of her, the scent of her filling his nose, the soft touch of her hand—the combination undid him. After only a few strokes his stomach muscles tensed, and with a smothered cry he pulsed in her hand, spending himself against his stomach.

She didn’t seem to be disgusted. She watched him with a kind of fascinated interest, and he realized with a flash of humor that it was the same look she’d given that damned tarantula; awe mingled with respect.

With a chuckle he rolled over and sat up, then went to wash himself in the pool. When he returned, she’d pulled her dress over her nakedness and he bit back a disappointed huff.

“You could have stayed naked. There’s no-one else to see.”

Her cheeks were a becoming pink, and he wondered if she was embarrassed or, worse, regretting what they’d just done, but then she sent him a cheeky smile of her own.

“True, but it’s not very practical if we encounter a real serpent.” She sent a meaningful glance at his crotch. “Or another spider.”

Max pulled his breeches on with a grin. “You’re right. Sunburn might be a problem too. Clothes it is.”

Caro had to force herself to look away from the golden, muscled perfection of Max’s body. A body that had just introduced her an incredible new world of pleasure.

Even though she was dressed again, she felt naked, stripped bare by the astonishingly intimate things they’d just done.

She told herself there was no need to be embarrassed. She was a scientist, after all. She would treat the past half hour as an interesting physical experiment. She could be cool, mature, sophisticated. Like his previous lovers.

As Max donned his shirt and boots, Caro tugged on the rest of her clothes and followed him down the hill, silently drinking in the breadth of his shoulders and the beautiful curves of his backside.

She’d been touching him mere moments ago. Already it seemed unreal, like a fever-dream, and yet her every step made her aware of the new sensitivity of her skin; the cotton shift brushing her breasts, the unexpected ache between her thighs.

She’d made a mistake in allowing Max to touch her. Instead of satisfying her curiosity about lovemaking, as she’d hoped, it had done the exact opposite.

She wanted more.

There was more, too. She’d been around farm animals long enough to know that the male put his member inside the female. She pressed her fist to the center of her chest and tried to ignore the ache that throbbed beneath her skin. What would that feel like?

She tore her eyes from the tempting curls at the back of Max’s head, and turned her attention to the lush green forest instead.

“Max, wait.”

He stilled immediately. “Oh, God, no. Don’t tell me it’s another spider. Because if it is, I—”

“No, it’s a nice surprise. Look.” She pointed upward. “Bananas.”

A relieved smile broke out on his face. “That is much better than a spider.”

With the help of a fallen tree, he detached a bunch of the yellow-green fruit and as he jumped down Caro realized she was grinning at him like a simpleton. A shocking possibility dawned on her.

Dear God, was she in love with him?

She’d always found him attractive, always enjoyed their sparring and craved their interactions, but this warm, glowing satisfaction whenever she was in his presence was new.

He was so much more than just his title. He was an aristocrat who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, a gorgeous, physical specimen who, astonishingly, appreciated her and her myriad eccentricities.

---