Page 63 of Her Cursed Duke
Chapter Twenty-Three
Prudence took a shuddering breath, her hands scrambling to somehow provide some semblance of ease at that moment. One hand clutched his coat tightly, trying to keep her steady as his touch pulled her apart, and the other was covering her lips, a futile attempt to muffle the noises escaping her throat.
“A-Aiden—” The rest of her words were cut off as his lips claimed hers in a fiery kiss.
He seemed different somehow, more insistent, almost rougher in the way he handled her. It was almost as though he wanted to brand each caress, every touch onto her skin, a permanent reminder of their shared moments. The most terrifying aspect of that thought was that Prudence found that she did not mind at all.
She was prepared to do whatever he asked of her or wanted… whatever it took for him to feel better.
“I’m glad you came after me,” Aiden whispered against the column of her throat. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you among all those people, those vain fools who think they could be better for you than I am, staring at you intently.”
He curled his fingers in the wet heat between her legs, pressing down on the slick nub, and she moaned against his jaw, the hand that had been clinging to his coat resting over his own as he groped her breasts.
“Try as they might, it is onlyIwho can see you like this,” he grumbled against her lips, pulling back slightly to make sure their eyes were locked in a heated gaze before he continued. “OnlyIcan pleasure you like this. And you like that, don’t you? That you can only ever be this precious for me. Don’t you, lovely?”
The implications of his words made her feel even hotter, and she found herself nodding, letting his skilled tongue lick her agreement right out of her mouth, babbling pleas when his lips left hers to leave a trail of hot kisses and light bites from her jaw to her shoulder.
“You are gorgeous every time.” He pressed impossibly closer, letting her feel his hard length, letting her know just how much she affected him. “It almost makes me want to show you off.”
She was nearly there, almost at the precipice of pleasure so good that it was surely going to tear a scream out of her if she did not somehow find a way to control herself.
“Aiden… Aiden, please,” she begged, curling a hand around the nape of his neck, pulling his face back to hers.
His fingers were moving faster inside her, pushing her closer to her breaking point. All she needed was for him to—
“Go on, darling,” he mumbled against her lips. “Give in to your desire and let go.”
Aiden swallowed her cry, pressing lingering kisses to her cheeks, forehead, chin, and jaw—wherever he could reach without causing the arm wrapped around her body to slip, holding her against him while she caught her breath.
“Aiden—” Prudence tried to speak, but she was cut off when he pecked her lips.
“Shh.” He smiled a little, hoping the odd feeling of loss echoing in his heart wasn’t reflected on his face. “Let’s just stay like this for a bit. I want to hold you.”
Prudence’s breath stuttered in her throat, and she nodded, blushing deeply as he adjusted her dress and gingerly fixed her hair, sighing as he held her in his arms again, swaying them from side to side lightly.
It took a few seconds for her to realize that he was leading her through some sort of dance—at least a simplified version of one—to music neither of them could hear.
It was so unbearably romantic that she pressed her face into his neck to keep herself from crying, unable to stop herself from wishing that this was a sign of what she wanted—what could be.
However, she was also unable to deny that this felt like a goodbye of some sort. And the weight of that possibility lingered through the carriage ride home and stayed with her for hours after that.
“Are you all right, dear?”
Aiden blinked and stared up at his godmother. “Yes… yes, I am. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I just watched you add a teaspoon of butter to your tea, so I suppose it is safe to say that I just had a hunch that something might be amiss.”
Aiden kept his gaze on his godmother for a moment longer, then risked a glance down at his teacup, sighing upon seeing an oily gleam and a small blob of butter floating about, rapidly melting in the hot liquid.
“Ah… I seem to be a little distracted today.”
“You don’t say,” Beatrice murmured, lifting her teacup to sip her citrus tea. “Care to share the source of your distraction?”
Aiden paused, suppressing a shiver as his mind decided that it was the best moment to remind him of Prudence’s gasps and whines.
A prime example of an experience he would never share, not even on his dying bed—much less with his godmother, of all people.
“Summer is nearly over,” he said instead, feeling as though it encompassed all that he was really thinking of.
