Page 39 of The Scarred Duchess Deal
Tessa landed on the bed with a soft giggle of surprise. She had expected him to continue kissing her, but instead, he traveled lower still. Her eyes widened in surprise. She lifted herself onto her elbows in curiosity to see his intentions only to fall right back as he buried himself between her legs.
She cried out in pleasure. Leo hooked his hands around her thighs and pulled her lower, closer to himself as he feasted on her. “Let me hear you,” he urged, speaking into her skin.
Tessa pulled her bottom lip from between her teeth and grasped the sheets in her hands firmly as she struggled to remain in one place. It felt like she was consumed by an inferno. Her body wished to take control of her and arch in ways she had never known herself to do before, so she allowed it.
“Yes, louder for me – just like that,” Leo encouraged as she moaned. It might be his favorite sound in the entire world. He shifted slightly to ease a single finger inside her, curling against her in rhythm with his tongue. He wanted to make her feel everything that she had always assumed she never would. He had told her she deserved to be touched, and he had meant it. He could have watched her come apart for hours. Were it not for the particular urgency in his own trousers, he just might have.
There would be time after; she was his wife – he could have her as often as she permitted. Just that thought alone did things to him. Leo teased her center until her legs started to quiver and her breathing started to come in short gasps at which point he rid himself of his trousers. He kicked them behind him and aligned himself to her entrance.
“Look at me, My Love,” he commanded softly as he reached down and cupped her chin in his hand.
Tessa’s eyes flicked to his just as he eased inside of her. He watched every sensation play on her face and the way her breath hitched as he sheathed himself to the hilt.
“Feel good?” he asked.
Tessa’s hands moved to his chest and raked down along the lines of muscle as she nodded her consent. “I am warm all over, I feel–”
“Yes, do not fight it. I want to see you come apart for me.” He grinned and started to move once more. His hand dropped between them, knowing that she was close from the way she clenched around him. He set a steady, firm pace as he thrust into her and worked teasing circles on the sensitive bundle of nerves.
“Leo–” Tessa moaned as if about to ask a question but was forced to stop short as her climax found her. Her small frame clenched as she cried out, a soft sheen of sweat on her forehead. With the sounds and the look of her, Leo came right along with her.
When she fell asleep in his arms shortly after, he could not believe that he could have ever wanted anything other than this.
ChapterNineteen
“We need to alert the Constable, of course,” Aunt Anna demanded.
Tessa sighed. “We have not even yet finished our tea, Aunt. Perhaps we could have a bit more discussion before we attempt to throw my brother to the wolves yet again.”
Breakfast had been… uncomfortable thus far to say the very least. The only person who seemed to find everything very regular was Aurelius. He was the only one eating at a normal pace instead of picking at his food. He hummed softly every time there was a lull in the conversation or started to share the apparently abundant inside jokes that he now had with Uncle Theodore until the military man cracked a smile.
On the floor, curled into a happy ball behind the table was Colonel Floppy Ears. Resting on and around him were the three cats that Aurelius had decided were too dear and precious to him to leave behind when he had arrived this morning with servants to carry them in from the carriage along with all of their necessary belongings.
If only getting the rest of the family to get along would prove to be as simple as the dog and cats starting to like one another. As it stood, it seemed as if it would be a wholly impossible mission for all of them.
“I do not see what there is to even discuss. I will not sit here and break bread with the animal who was responsible for the death of my brother and sister-in-law!” Anna exclaimed as she dropped her knife and fork with an audible clatter.
Theodore’s eyes narrowed, but Aurelius spoke instead.
“I know that it would be a simple matter for the Constable. However, if the boy is innocent, do you not think that he deserves the opportunity to clear his name for himself? He would not have come back if it were not for a good reason. Besides, he is family. Can you be so quick to condemn your own blood?”
“After all of the suffering and inconvenience that he had forced me to endure?” Anna was so upset that she felt moved to stand up in outrage as she spoke.
“And what inconvenience was that?”
“Her!” She thrust her arm in Tessa’s direction more angrily than she meant to. It was not something that she had ever intended to say out loud despite the fact that they all knew she had felt that way for some time. “He mutilated his sister and then left us to deal with it!”
Tessa flinched. Her jaw fell slack as she did not know what to say. Knowing it and hearing it out loud were two different things.
Leo spoke next. His words were icy and laced with threatening undertones. “Be careful how you speak about my wife. You have enjoyed the benefits of her elevated station, have you not? Have you not leeched onto her every social invitation in an effort to further the prospects for your own daughter, all the while treating my stunning wife as if she were little more than an object in your home? You ought to be grateful that she has not barred you from her very presence. I certainly would support such a notion. It would be the very least that you deserve. It is only from the kindness of her heart that your own leech of a daughter is as well-known as she is. You should thank her.”
Anna knew that he was correct. She could not formulate words against his accusations but her pride would not allow her to apologize either. She lowered herself slowly into her chair and focused her attention very firmly on the table setting in front of her.
“Now,” Leo continued, “the next person to say such horrible things to my wife will be removed forcefully, by me, from this house. I care not whose lips speak the words. Am I perfectly clear?”
Tessa reached over the table and took his hand. “That is not–”
“Yes. It is.” Leo closed the topic and shifted his focus very pointedly to Mortimer. “Now. Tell us plainly and clearly what happened the night of the fire. Spare no detail so that we might figure out how best to assist you.”
