Page 6 of A Duchess to Unravel
“That is because you cannot see my face, Sir,” she replied. She then slowly lowered her fingertips, letting them brush against the fabric of her skirts. “It is … scarred.”
“Oh, I doubt very seriously that truly matters, dear lady,” Cernunnos replied, his deep voice somehow reaching a deeper note that spoke volumes of sincerity.
“Then it is a relief to both of us you shall never see it,” she replied, hoping her voice did not give insight to the spark of desire that sizzled through her veins at his words and voice.
“I do not wish to speak of this anymore,” she went on, setting down her wine glass.
Cernunnos mimicked her action, the steps he took toward the table bringing him to her and closing the space between them.
“I will concede.” he replied, his dark eyes searching hers, “But know that I am stillvastlycurious about ye.”
“I am no one of importance, truly,” she rasped, feeling herself fall into the thrall of his penetrative gaze.
“Perhaps ye have just surrounded yourself with the wrong people,” Cernunnos murmured.
His hand extended slowly toward the line of her jaw, giving her time to step back as she wished--but she didn’t, and her breath caught in her throat as his large fingers grazed ever so gently across the edged plane of flesh.
Theo had been touched and caressed and moved in many ways as she’d danced. She’d even sat in a lap or two when her mindwas most in tatters, when her mother’s health dissolved into chaos, and yet Cernunno’s touch, that light stroke of just two of his fingers, had her heart pulsing and her legs growing weak.
This was the feeling she’d been chasing at the Masquerade, what she’d been hoping for with every visit. A feeling that shut down her thoughts and made her body turn to liquid. A longing for more pushed her forward, and she let herself lean into Cernunno’s much larger frame.
Warmth enveloped her as his arms came readily around her, one around her waist, the other moving the back of her neck. He was so tall he not only had to lean down but lift her up to meet his lips. He brushed his own across hers softly once, twice, then murmured something in a language she could not understand. Theo found she did not care, what he said, only knowing that she liked the way it sounded. His voice was rough, and thick, and deep, and it echoed into her like none other ever had before.
She wanted to take that voice and somehow drink it, as if it were some magic elixir that could right everything that felt so wrong.
Theo slid her hands over his chest, reveling in the warmth and hardness she found, and gripped her fingertips around his lapels. She did not have to tug at the fabric or even speak to convey what she wanted. Cernunnos once again seemed to know, and he answered her silent plea by taking full possession of her lips and kissing her deeply.
Heat poured into her loins as a rainbow of stars bloomed behind her closed eyes when his lips, so surprisingly soft, coaxed hersto part further, and his tongue slid sensually between them. She whimpered as she tasted him, a mixture of something deeply honeyed and alcoholic. Far sweeter than the wine, but nowhere near as bitter as whiskey or ale. She felt herself relax further into his embrace and sighed as she timidly touched her tongue to his wanting more.
She was rewarded with a cacophony of sensations. Cernunnos’ grip on her grew tighter; a deep groan poured from his throat and what she had thought was his muscled thigh nestled between her dangling legs suddenly pulsed and rubbed against her throbbing core. She moaned in response, her hips instantly jerking to meet that pulsing again, but her skirts stopped her.
Once more seeming to know what she wished for, Cernunnos lowered his hand from her neck to her skirts, and with one powerful yank he got them free. Something feral took over Theo as they continued to kiss. She moved her legs, wrapping them around his waist as her hands slid from his lapels to lock around his neck.
More. More. More. Give in. Give in. Give in.
She wanted to. She would have.
Until she felt her mask being lifted away.
Cernunnos’ hand had been roaming freely, petting her body into a sublime submission. She did not know where they went or what they stroked, only that pleasure roiled from every touch. So, when she felt her mask shift at first, she did not think it couldpossibly be his hand that was lifting it away and touched her fingers to it to straighten it. When her fingers met his, terror rose up inside of her and shattered the erotic spell.
Theo broke away from the kiss, cheeks flushed, heart hurt. She did not comprehend why it felt like such a betrayal that he would try to remove her mask, but it did.
“Forgive me,” Cernunnos voice was thick with arousal as he spoke, nearly pulling Theo back into the thrall yet again as his hand dropped away from her mask and his kisses lowered to her neck.
But in those few seconds that their lips parted from another, Theo felt reality rush in. She looked down at herself, realized that her dress had been hiked up and she was clinging to him like a squirrel clung to a tree. With no stockings on, her bare legs gleamed against the black of Cernunnos’ suit, creating a startling contrast that further served to pull from the shroud of lust. Shame crept into her bloodstream and Theo slid her arms away from her paramour’s neck.
“Put me down,” she said, her voice quivering slightly.
Cernunnos’ lips stilled at her neck; his hands tightened their hold on her for the briefest of moments. Then he pulled away, confusion marring his dark eyes.
“Please,” Theo added, panic starting to rise. She’d never let someone get this far before, never let herself get this lost in a moment.
“Calypso, I apologize,” Cernunnos replied, sitting her gently back on her feet. “Our masks just kept scraping together. I wanted ye to be more comfortable.”
Theo, dizzy and cold as she was placed back on the floor, stumbled as she stepped further away from him. Cernunnos reached for her immediately, as if to help her, but she put up a hand to stop him as she wrapped the other around her waist.
“I have to go,” she stated, jarred by how deeply affected she felt by it all.
