Page 57 of Duke of Wickedness
The kissing man nodded, then kissed his way down the woman’s collarbone and across her decolletage.
Well, Ariadne thought, sounding faintly hysterical even inside her own mind,with an invitation like that, who am I to refuse?
She let herself get absorbed in the scene before her, let David guide her over to the settee, trusting herself to him entirely.
“Keep going,” the bound man encouraged, as the kissing man drew up the lady’s skirts. His position blocked much of their movement from Ariadne’s prying eyes—even if they were pleased to have her and David as an audience, the pair were clearly performing first and foremost for the bound man.
“There’s pleasure in watching, isn’t there?” David crooned, sending a shiver down Ariadne’s spine. “Watching without doing anything. It lets the heat build slowly, slowly…slowly.”
With eachslowly,he tapped a finger down the knobs of Ariadne’s spine. When he reached her ribs, he snuck an arm around her waist. Ariadne couldn’t resist the urge to turn herface, hoping for a kiss, but David gently grasped her chin and turned her back toward the scene.
“Watch,” he said. “Don’t you see how it pleases them all? He—” A gesture toward the seated man. “—thrills at being able to direct, but not touch. He—” The active man. “—touches, but are they reallyhistouches, when they’re being directed by another? And she?—”
He paused long enough to press an open-mouthed kiss to the back of Ariadne’s neck, his hand spread across her stomach, each of his fingers pressing distinctly into her. Something about those distinct little points of pressure sent little jolts of pleasure through her. She pressed back more firmly against him, bent her head forward to give him better access.
She was starting to dislike this settee enormously; it wasn’t suitableat allfor doing what she wanted to do, which was getting David’s hands on far, far more of her. Or his mouth. Or both. She wasn’t picky.
She was entranced by what she was seeing before her, of course, but she was—perhaps the best word for it wasjealous. The lady had all of her partners' attention. . And while it was fascinating and arousing to watch this strange power arrangement between the two men as they combined their efforts to unravel their lady…
Well, Ariadne wanted to be the subject of one gentleman’s attentions. She didn’t want to share them, not even slightly. And she wanted more of them.
Right now.
“She,” the woman interrupted archly, “likes to be admired. Admire me, please.”
Ariadne jerked her head back up, a blush spreading across her cheeks. David laughed, though his grip on her waist didn’t budge.
“I will admire you,” the kissing man said hastily. “I shall admire you.”
“Under her skirts, then,” the sitting man commanded almost lazily.
The other man dropped immediately to his knees. Ariadne goggled as he disappeared beneath the voluminous skirts of her gown.
“I’m sorry, my lady,” David called out in apology when the standing woman still glared at them imperiously through her mask. “You are lovely, of course, but can you blame me for being distracted?”
The woman’s expression softened, and she offered Ariadne a quick wink before letting her head drop back as her partner did…well, whatever he was doing beneath her skirts.
“I suppose not,” she murmured to the ceiling. “But go distract your lady elsewhere, dear sir. I am busy being the center of attention.”
Elsewhere. Yes, Ariadne thought. Elsewhere was good.
She turned to face David fully, then tugged at his neckcloth until he was looking at her, only at her.
When she was confident that she had his undivided attention—and only then—she kissed him.
There was the tiniest flicker of surprise made evident when he hesitated for a split second before kissing her back, offering every bit of passion she poured back into him tenfold. They kissed until they had to stop to breathe, and when Ariadne’s eyes fluttered open, she saw a look in his eye that she had never seen before.
It was hunger, yes, but she’d seen him desirous before. This was… Well, he was like a man starving, like he would die if he didn’t get his mouth on her again. And Ariadne could have understood that easily enough—she was feeling rather catastrophically desirous herself, as if she was made of a hurricane of wanting and needing that could spiral into destruction if those needs weren’t met.
But beneath David’s wanting…
Well, it almost looked likeanger.
But she blinked, and then it was gone, and then he was kissing her again.
“Shall we go somewhere private?” he asked against her lips.
Ariadne nearly injured herself with the vehemence of her nod.
