Page 76 of The Last Duke She'd Marry
His gaze was questioning. She loved how closely he watched her, gauged her reactions. The focused attention had made her uneasy when they’d first met. Now it felt like…caring.
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
She bumped her hips higher, surprised at her boldness. “I was a little uncomfortable at first, but now it’s…” Words failed her.
Lucas must have understood what she tried to say, because he kissed her. Then he started to move.
As he slowly withdrew, Juliet sighed with pleasure. Every nerve came alive. “Lucas, that’s wonderful.”
She gasped again as he slid back inside. Smoother this time, although her inner muscles clung just as snugly. Passionate heat enveloped her, turning the sting at the start into a mere memory. What had felt so foreign started to become familiar.
“Oh, yes,” she hissed and tilted her hips.
He set up a compelling rhythm. Soon her enjoyment changed to something more insistent, disturbing, overwhelming. It was like when he’d put his hand between her legs and made her see stars. But because this time, he shared his body with her, the result was immeasurably more powerful.
“Don’t fight it, Juliet. Let it happen,” he crooned, dipping his head to nibble his way down a sensitive nerve along the side of her neck. She shivered and cried out as the spiral of response tightened to ravishing agony.
For a tremulous instant, she poised on the edge. Before, on a great burst of flaring release, she flew across the barrier and into a cascade of blinding light.
“Lucas!” she cried. Her nails scored his back, as overpowering sensation stretched her on a rack of ecstasy.
Through her quaking, she was aware of him pulling back and leaving the bed. “Lucas?” she asked tentatively.
“It’s fine,” he said.
Which would have been more convincing, if he didn’t sound like he was in pain. Juliet fought her way through the mists of pleasure and pushed herself up against the pillows to watch him disappear behind the screen in the corner.
Seriously worried, she wrenched the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around her. She scrambled out of bed and went after him. Her legs were shaky, and her knees felt like water. Ripples of response still combed through her like waves up a beach.
At the sound of a muffled groan, all impulse to grant Lucas privacy vanished.
“Are you sick?” She rushed around the screen, then slammed to a halt as she caught him spilling his seed into a towel. His fist closed hard around his swollen rod, and his features were taut as if he was in torment.
“No.” As he lifted his hand away from himself, his dark gaze turned rueful. “I couldn’t hold back any longer.”
As he wiped himself off, she observed with fascinated eyes. “You didn’t have to hide.”
His lips turned down. “I thought you’d be disgusted if I spilled on your stomach.”
She hitched up the sheet, which showed a tendency to sag. “You protected me from a baby.”
He shrugged, as if it was nothing. “Of course.”
She studied him with puzzled eyes. “For a heartless rake, you’re a very considerate lover.”
A blush heated his cheeks, which pleased her no end. When she’d met him, she’d judged him as too jaded and sophisticated to be embarrassed at anything, no matter how outrageous. “I’m not a bloody heartless rake.”
“No, you’re not,” she said softly. Now her nerves had settled, she let her gaze wander over his body. This was her first chance to take in his full physical splendor. And splendid he certainly was. “You’re a very handsome rake, though.”
“Go on with you.”
She laughed at his obvious discomfort with compliments. “I can’t be the first woman to tell you that.”
He tossed the crumpled towel to the floor. “It means more, coming from you.”
It was her turn to blush, and what she said next made her blush hotter. “May I look at you? I’ve never seen a naked man before today.”
“If you must.”
