Page 60 of The Duke Says I Do
She placed the lamp on a demilune table beneath a gold-framed mirror. For a moment, he caught her beauty twofold. The real Portia and her shadowy image in the glass. “I’d like a wash if that’s possible.”
What a dunderhead he was. She’d traveled from London. She’d rubbed down a horse. She’d scrambled his brains with that tumble in the hay. “I’ll take you upstairs and show you your room. Then I’ll fetch some hot water.”
She glanced at him. “My room? Aren’t we sharing?”
That sounded promising. “If you’d like to.”
He picked up a candle from the table and lit it from the lantern. Perhaps if he could see better, he’d have a clearer idea of her mood.
“Yes.”
He waited for more. Nothing came.
Granville headed for the staircase that rose to the upper floors, but stopped when she spoke. “Why don’t I come down to the kitchens with you?”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
Bristlingly conscious of Portia following in his wake, he lit a couple of lamps near the base of the stairs. He continued toward the back of the house where a narrow stairwell led down to the kitchens.
“Watch out. It’s steep.” Catching her hand again, he went ahead with the candle held high.
The fire in the range was banked, but it provided heat and shadowy light. Portia leaned back against the scrubbed pine table and glanced around with interest.
It was his first chance since they’d been in the hay to have a good look at her. He took full advantage of the moment.
She looked thoroughly debauched – and more beautiful than ever. When he already thought her the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
Her hair tumbled around her in golden waves. Her face was flushed. The dim light lent her blue eyes sensual mystery.
“What is it?” she asked.
He made no attempt to hide the fondness in his smile. “You brought a few souvenirs back from the stables.”
He plucked a couple of strands of hay from her hair and dropped them to the floor. He’d never had sex in a stable before. It turned out that he’d been missing out.
Her dress was in complete disarray. The pelisse hung loose and open, and one lone button closed her bodice over the crumpled shift. Her magnificent bosom threatened to spill free.
A powerful memory jolted him. Dear God, those breasts were glorious. Full and white and firm. Lavish and round and perfect in his hands. Crowned with the sweetest pink nipples.
His arousal was unexpected. Unexpected, not because he didn’t always want her. He did. But he’d only just lost himself in an orgasm that drained him to the lees.
Granville didn’t live at the mercy of his baser impulses, however thoroughly he’d enjoyed his previous liaisons. But Portia Frain awoke his animal urges. All he could think about right now was having her again.
Which was out of the question, bugger it.
He’d just taken her virginity. He couldn’t start heaving about on top of her again so soon. Clumsily, he set his candle on the plain wrought iron mantelpiece and told himself to settle down.
But when he turned back toward Portia, she regarded him with such blatant longing that he couldn’t stop himself from crossing the flagstones and seizing her in his arms. She tumbled into his embrace as if she, too, couldn’t bear any space between them. From the instant their lips met, the kiss was urgent.
He caught her rump with eager hands and hoisted her onto the table. Lifting her skirts as he advanced, he pushed forward. With a naturalness that set his heart racing, she parted her legs and hooked them around his thighs.
At this angle, kissing her was uncomfortable and superb at the same time. She hung off his shoulders as her lips tormented his. He lashed his arms around her back to continue the contact.
Catching the lower lip in his teeth, he bit down gently. She let out a muffled cry and licked his top lip. Still using his teeth to tease her, he eased her back onto the tabletop. He propped himself above her and broke the kiss. Her lips were red, and pink marks on her cheeks and chest showed where his whiskers had chafed her.
Dismay added an awkward note to his desire. He was about to apologize and step back to help her to sit up, when she reached to undo the single button fastening her dress.
