Page 27 of The Scarred Duchess Deal
The silence he was met with emboldened him. He could feel her eyes on him, and he slowly opened his own. The candlelight flattered her skin beautifully. She clutched her dressing down to her even in the bath water. Flower petals and lavender pearls floated on the surface of the perfumed water as she clutched the soaked fabric to her skin; it hid nothing.
The scars wrapped around her entire arm and down her torso; he could see the imprint of them through the fabric where it clung to her. Swirls and whorls as if somebody had painted her. Her soft body was partially obscured by the water. Her long brown hair fell in wet waves around her shoulders and breasts. Bright blue eyes were trained on him with a mixture of fear, anticipation, and desire. Her breathing was deep and steady as her breasts rose and fell. He wanted her so badly that it was a struggle not to plunge into the tub with her.
Would it be so bad if he did? What was the point in refraining from what he so longed for?
His hands dropped to his breeches, undoing the leather lacing, and Tessa shook her head. “Wait.”
“All right.” Leo nodded and walked toward the tub. “We shall go slow until you are ready.”
Tessa bit down on her bottom lip and nodded slowly. Leo braced one hand on the side of the tub and stepped in with her. The water was tepid and sloshed over the side as he placed his other foot inside.
Tessa wanted to tease him for making such a mess but she could hardly breathe. She could not tear her eyes from his as he leaned down over her. Her head rested on the folded cloth meant to serve as a pillow as he sank to his knees in the tub between her legs. Two layers of cloth and some water were the only things that separated them now.
“Is this all right?” Leo asked.
Tessa nodded. “I am nervous,” she breathed.
“You have nothing to be afraid of.” Leo lifted a hand to trail down the side of her face and to her collarbone. A crooked knuckle traced over the skin there until he could grasp the wet dressing gown she clung to. “Certainly nothing to be ashamed of.”
“But… I have never–”
Leo grinned. He glanced at the pruned surface of her fingers and lifted her uninjured hand. “See? It is not so different. It is skin, my beautiful Tessa, and nothing more. When you permit me, I am very much looking forward to memorizing each and every bit of your skin with my hands… my lips… my tongue–”
She surrendered. She released the dressing gown at the same moment that Leo’s lips found hers. Leo sank the rest of the way into the tub and snaked a hand around her lower back so that he might pull her onto his lap. His fingertips traced the demarcation line between her smooth skin and that which troubled her so. He could feel the muscles under the soft curves of her hips.
Tessa wrapped her arms around him once more, the hesitation and nervousness fading with each brush of her lips against his. She allowed herself to touch him – to explore the shape of his arms and the strong muscles of his shoulders before dragging her nails up the back of his neck and burying themselves in his short hair. The friction of her peaked nipples against his chest was unlike anything she could have imagined.
She was lost in the feel of him and the heat that surged higher in her body as he explored her. His hands were everywhere and not nearly enough. She could feel the heat of him against her core despite being separated from it. The anticipation of what could happen – what might happen – in the future made her dizzy.
Leo’s hand cupped her breast and pinched her nipple until she gasped. He rolled the peaked skin between his fingers, learning what reactions he could elicit from her. Experimentally, he rolled his hips upward into her as he deepened their kiss.
His other hand snaked up the line of her spine until he could hold the back of her head and allow her to float back in the water – exposed to his lips and tongue. A veritable feast for him to savor and enjoy laid out before him. He worshiped her body and became so lost at the moment that all other matters were instantly forced from his mind.
Her soft sighs were music to his ears as he captured her nipple between his lips and flicked it with his tongue. His other hand dropped between them to her core, massaging the soft skin of her inner thigh before turning to her center.
Tessa snapped upright the moment his fingers came in contact with the center of her pleasure. Her eyes widened and her breathing became heavy as she stared at him, seeking guidance. Oh, he could do this for hours – watching each and every reaction that she made. He wanted to mark even the slightest shifts in her breathing. He longed for her to be so addicted to his touch and his alone that no other man would ever be enough for her; he wanted her more than he had ever considered possible.
He smiled and circled the skin again; she attempted to clamp her thighs shut around his and he shook his head no. She grabbed at his arm as if the sensations were too intense and she needed to stop them. He paused only long enough to hold both of her arms firmly behind her back, keeping her breasts exposed to him before he started again.
“Do not fight it. You deserve pleasure, Tessa. Do not be afraid of it.”
Oh, he loved the way that she squirmed over him, the way she bit her lip as he slipped a finger inside of her. She tried to contain herself for reasons that escaped his understanding, but when he added a second finger, combined with the circular movements of his thumb against her center, she surrendered.
So badly he wished to possess her. She writhed and gyrated over him in her confines – helpless to do anything but allow her body to feel every bit of his ministrations between her thighs and he loved it.
“Yes, surrender to it, my beautiful girl.”
Tessa tensed around him as her climax shuddered through her body. He held her closer and did not stop until the tremors subsided. And when he released her from his grip, he fitted his lips over hers once more in a sweet kiss.
It took everything in him to stop from telling her how desperately, hopelessly, in love with her he was.
ChapterFifteen
“Ifeel as if over the last few days there has not been a single moment in which I could have you all to myself,” Leo said softly as he cornered Tessa in the abandoned corner of the library. He placed his hands on either side of her waist and walked her backward, hunger in his eyes.
Heat shot like a lightning burst through her body as Tessa fought against laughing. Sophie was likely still looking for her and the library was just about the only place that she refused to go – for now. There was always the chance that if she suspected there was laughter or anything other than ‘useless, dusty books’ in this room, then she would not avoid it so determinedly.
Neither of them wanted that.
