Page 31 of The Duke Says I Do
His tongue flickered against her lips. The action surprised her into a gasp. She caught his taste. Without thinking, her tongue ventured out to test the flavor. Another of his growls of pleasure reverberated through her like soft thunder.
To her astonishment, his tongue slipped between her lips. The feeling was unlike anything that she’d ever experienced. Fear ofthe unknown pierced the mists of pleasure, and a faint protest escaped.
Then she wished to glory that she’d kept silent.
He ended the kiss. Which wasn’t her intention at all.
“Portia?” The murmur sounded like an endearment. “Should I stop?”
The obvious – the proper – answer to that was yes. The answer that twenty-five years of training insisted upon. The answer that ensured her safety, because Granville said she was safe and she trusted him.
Today, she stepped into a dangerous new world that could leave her wretched and ruined if she wasn’t careful. But Portia wasn’t by nature careful. She wasn’t careful, rescuing her fellow creatures from untold suffering. She wasn’t careful now, when if anyone needed rescuing, it was Portia herself.
She examined Granville’s features, wondering how within mere hours, they’d become the dearest sight that she knew. “What you did, it—”
“Frightened you?”
“No.” Which wasn’t entirely true. “It surprised me.” That was definitely true. “Is that how you kiss someone you…want?”
The tenderness in his smile made her susceptible heart cramp. “Yes.”
He didn’t deny his desire, she was pleased to hear. Then chided herself for relishing the risks she took. “It was strange.”
“Too strange to try again?”
“You like this?”
“I do. If you allow me to try again, I’ll wager you’ll like it as well. A whole world of new experiences awaits. I hope you’ll enjoy them all.”
Her hand was buried in his soft linen shirt. It clenched into a fist as secret muscles inside her clenched, too. Thanks to Juliet, she knew the basics of what men and women did in bed. Butsomething in Granville’s tone told her that he referred to more than basics.
The feeling when he’d licked her lips was odd. But far from repellent. Too far from repellent for a woman determined to retain her chastity. She was close to losing her virtue. That should send her running for her life.
She didn’t budge an inch.
Granville slid his hands under her coat. Only a thin shirt separated her skin from his touch. Female garments were more substantial, with layers of fabric to protect the wearer from recalling that warm, human bodies lurked beneath the formal garments. Her present outfit offered no such reassurances.
It was impossible to ignore the physical reality of the man who touched her. She’d never felt like this when they danced together. Although after today, he could touch her through a suit of armor and she’d go up in flames.
“Would you like to try again?” she asked in a thin voice.
His smile intensified. “I’ll take it slowly.”
“Maybe you should.”
“I’ve never kissed anyone wearing trousers, so it’s a novel experience for me, too.”
Portia should be too nervous and stirred up to laugh, but his teasing elicited a huff of amusement. “I’ve never kissed anyone in trousers before today either.”
His expression flared into urgency. Then he was kissing her again, tugging her close until her pelvis met the proof of his excitement. Another gasp escaped her, although she didn’t move away. Nor did she pull back when his mouth opened over hers. Although what he did was even more shocking than that first intimate kiss.
His tongue slid into her mouth and lingered for a thorough exploration that set her already racing heart skittering out of control. When she dared to move her tongue against his, athrill ripped through her and settled between her legs in a most disturbing fashion.
A shift of her hips made him groan again, more in pain than appreciation. “Perhaps don’t do that. I’m tempting fate as it is.”
Tightening his grip, he returned to kissing her. This time, he sucked her tongue into his mouth. Tentatively she imitated what he’d done with the intimate kiss. His murmur expressed encouragement. Amazing just how much he conveyed without words.
The kiss deepened, swept her away to a place where sensuality ruled. Where lips meeting lips sparked lightning. She leaned closer, blind to peril. All she wanted was more. More kissing. More touch. More Granville.
