Page 38 of Her Cursed Duke
“Darling?” he returned, soft and quiet, pressing light kisses to her jaw. “What do you want? I cannot know if you do not tell me.”
Damn it. Damn this devilish man and his devilish ways. Damn him and his ability to reduce me to such a mess.
“Aiden, please,” she gasped in his ear, so ashamed she could barely whisper. “Please, touch me.”
The arm around her tightened, and he dipped his head to lick a trail up her neck, whispering back to her, “I do not think I can ever deny you whatever you want.”
The hand on her thigh began to move, hiking up her skirts until most of it draped over the middle of her thighs. His hand, now concealed beneath layers of fabric, plunged deeper, right between her legs. When the tips of his fingers brushed against her wet center, she nearly screamed.
Slowly, he eased a finger in her moist heat, carefully stroking her until she began to babble and beg for more. He kept his promise and gave her what she desired, allowing her to clutch him desperately, her face buried in his neck, biting his skin to keep herself from moaning too loudly.
Aiden’s hand continued its masterful ministrations, luring her closer and closer to the point of no return, coaxing all her nerves into a tight bundle of pleasure waiting to burst.
When Prudence reached her limit, it was because Aiden had pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered in the low voice that she knew would be her undoing.
“So lovely… You’ve been so lovely for me, Prudence.”
Her body shook as wave after wave of pleasure slammed into her, her lips parted around a gasp that tore out of her throat. Aiden held her tightly until she came down from her climax, pressing little kisses to her face, jaw, and neck, anywhere and everywhere he could reach, almost like a reward. She slumped in his arms, feeling boneless and sated, unlike anything she had ever experienced before.
They stayed like that, in each other’s embrace, unafraid and unbothered by the silence that hung over them. Eventually, Prudence spotted her basket of flowers and remembered that she had been sent on an errand.
“I must return home,” she muttered but made no attempt to pull away from Aiden.
“Is that so?” he purred against her jaw.
She could feel her bones telling her to stay, to bask in this moment for a little longer. But she could not afford questions to which she knew she could not provide answers. Better safe than sorry. She had already worried her family enough for one day.
“Yes, Aiden. Please, unhand me.”
He pouted but did as she asked, pretending not to see her knees shake as she stood up.
Prudence looked down at him, her eyes instinctively roaming over his naked torso as she recalled the solid muscle and warm skin she had held onto only moments ago.
Aiden was grinning by the time her gaze made it back to his face, and she ignored the blush on her cheeks and said, “You should put on a shirt. Summer colds are no joke.”
Aiden kept up his odd streak of kindness and decided to not say anything about her obvious staring at his chest, instead opting to point at a tree meters away from them.
“It is with my horse. Come along, I will drop you off at your house.”
Prudence shook her head and picked up her basket. “Thank you for offering, but I would like to walk.”
Aiden shot her a judgmental look. “You just scolded me about summer colds. Your clothes are still wet, and it is a terrible idea to walk all the way back to your house in them. Out of the both of us, you are the one most likely to fall ill if you are not careful.”
“I will be fine. It is still quite hot outside, so my clothes will dry on the way. I can handle myself,” she replied, narrowing her eyes in defiance.
He held up his hands in self-defense. “I did not mean to insinuate that you cannot. I am just worried about you. Your house is at least a fifteen-minute walk from here. I can have you there in five. Coming with me is the most reasonable choice.”
“Are you trying to call me unreasonable?” she huffed slightly.
“Only because I know that I can be the same way in some circumstances. My godmother likes to remind me of a time in my childhood when I demanded to be compensated with a whole slice of chocolate cake for every bite of broccoli I had to ingest.”
“My, my, you must have been a difficult child. I should send your godmother a fruit basket one of these days—thank her for kindly doing mankind a great favor by being the one to raise you.”
“Careful,” Aiden warned. “She might let it get to her head, and the next thing we know, she’ll pick a date on which we would be required to celebrate her for all her good work for years to come. No one deserves to endure that.”
“You’re just whining because you know you’ll have to accompany her to every celebration,” Prudence taunted.
“Hush, before I have you sued for defamation.”
