Page 58 of Duke of Wickedness
“Yes,” she breathed. “Please. Right now.”
CHAPTER 15
From where the footman stood, he was able to see three bare arses, seven naked breasts (one lady was only half-disrobed), and too many caressing hands and licking tongues to count.
He didn’t bat an eye.
Or, that was, he didn’t bat an eye until David led Ariadne to the very staircase that the footman had been positioned to protect.
“Is everything all right, Your Grace?” the footman asked quietly as they approached.
“Of course,” David said blithely. “We are merely headed upstairs.”
There was only one blink’s worth of pause, but this particular man, Griggs, had been with David for years. A blink from himwas tantamount to fainting dead away in shock from someone else.
And then the man fixed his bland, professional mask back in place and stepped aside.
“Of course, Your Grace,” he said.
There was not a hint of censure in his voice, obviously. But that didn’t mean that David couldn’t see the big picture at play here.
He was breaking his rules for Ariadne. He had never, ever taken a guest upstairs during one of his parties. His staff were under extremely strict orders to never let any of the guests wander upstairs under their own power, either.
He might open his home to revelers regularly, but he needed to keep some things for himself.
But the idea of taking Ariadne upstairs, to his personal space? It didn’t feel like a violation or a transgression. It felt right.
He probably should have been rather more worried about this than he was.
Except all he wanted was to get her alone, someplace where he could devour her properly, someplace where nobody else could see any part of her pleasure, not even a glimpse—not even by accident.
“Where are we going?” Ariadne asked, sounding giddy and breathless and joyous—and, God help him, he was so fucking greedy for those sounds.
It was ridiculous, really. He wasn’t touching her anywhere more than where his fingers were laced with hers, and he still felt half drunk with desire.
But only half drunk, thank Christ, as this gave him the presence of mind to drag her toward his study, instead of doing something really bloody stupid, like taking her to his bed.
“Over here,” he said, tugging her along.
She tugged him back, pulling him in to steal a kiss. And that would have been very nice if he weren’t feeling quite so impatient.
But hewasfeeling as though he might actually perish if he didn’t get her beneath him as quickly as possible—he decided to blame the heady atmosphere of the party; it couldn’t be anything else—so he grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder.
Her little shriek of surprise was a delight. So was the way she pounded a small fist against him as he strode down the hall. He didn’tthinkshe had intended to strike him on the arse, but given her breathless giggles, it was really anyone’s guess.
He brought her into his study, then hauled her back upright before guiding her down to the settee. It should have beenharder. Ariadne was petite, but for all his sins, David didn’t make a habit of hauling women around like sacks of flour.
But perhaps whatever burning energy currently possessed him extended to physical prowess.
He felt so drunk with desire that anything seemed possible. This woman was addling him. He should mind it more.
“Tell me what you want, Ariadne,” he commanded. It felt good to say her name. It felt glorious to know that there was nobody here but him to hear anything he said, to know that he didn’t need to hide—not for her sake nor for his. He reached behind her and undid the straps of her mask.
He liked seeing her face. She’d been beautiful in the mask, but?—
He just liked it. He liked seeing her, all of her, smiling up at him.
He thought, in a flash of madness, that she could have asked him for anything just then, and he would have granted it. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he understood how a woman could lead a man into perdition. He’d have gone straight to hell and back for her, just then, and he wouldn’t have uttered a single word of complaint.
