Page 39 of Seven Nights with the Wicked Duke
She wasn't supposed to but it was hard to act as though there was nothing between them when he had seen and now tasted every part of her. it was impossible for her to move past what he had done to her when she thought of him every single moment she had.
"Tell me,little mouse," he said, nipping her ear. "What were you thinking about so intently when you were watching me across the ballroom? Remember, I know you. Mostintimately.You cannot lie to me."
She worried her lip between her teeth.
How could she admit the words out loud when she felt shamed by them?
"I will not judge you, if that is what you fear." He smiled. "I am more depraved than you. There is nothing you could say that would stun me."
His voice was smooth and deceptive, lulling her to jump over the dark edge into an abyss where she couldn't know what lay at the bottom.
She knew agreeing to have this man help her was like making a deal with the devil but she had risked it anyway because she was tired of being shielded and even now she had toed the darkness, he intended to drag her down whole and how she had.
She had been unable to stifle her passion, begging him and now he knew her deepest parts.
Could she lie to him when the truth of it was already known to him?
"I…" she started. "I was thinking of you and…" she swallowed. "And this, and how I wanted to see you again."
"You are not being truthful, little mouse," he scolded playfully.
"I thought of you and what you do to me and what you would have done to me if we were alone."
His grin was wide as though she had given him a gift he had long desired. He stepped away from her, heading to the sideboard to pour himself a drink.
"It seems I have indeed corrupted the perfect Lady Cecilia," he said, mostly to himself.
"Now you know everything."
"Oh, my little mouse, I already knew it. I just wanted you to tell me."
She gasped at his words, her cheeks flaming at his words.
"You are incorrigible," she accused but her words lacked any heat.
"You know what happens when you call me that word, Cecilia."
She noticed when she unsettled him, he used her name but when he was in control, he referred to her as his mouse and smiled, earning a questioning look from him.
"What now?" she asked, swinging her legs in no hurry to leave. "I do not think I want to return to the ballroom. I was bored anyway."
He moved closer to her and took a long swallow of his drink keeping his eyes on her.
"You must return to the party, Cecilia because I command it."
"Why? I am sure I look a fright and…"
"You will return to the party and you will do so now," he ordered.
"Your Grace, I…"
"You do not understand, Cecilia. I told you before that you will obey everything I tell you to do," he reminded her with a dark look. "You will go back to the ballroom and flirt and smile like the proper lady you are with others vying for your hand,knowing… remembering that I'm the only one who can make you feel this way."
His words filled her with heat again but when he pulled her up to her feet and swatted her bottom, she didn't wait to hear more but scampered away from the library before anyone finally walked in on their illicit meeting.
Her legs still quivered from the assault he had wreaked on her with his tongue and hands but there was a renewed burst of determination to prove him wrong so she pushed all thoughts of the damned man out of her mind and headed into the ballroom with a better attitude.
She would not be thinking of him at all.
