Page 52 of Her Ruse with the Rakish Duke
“But I am sick and tired of being treated as such,” she spat angrily. “My virtue is being bartered and traded like I am a prized cow. When will I ever get to live for myself? To experience pleasure for myself?”
“You do not know what you are asking for, Daphne,” he said past the lump that had settled firmly into his throat as she crowded him against the wall, her lavender fragrance clouding his senses.
“I do know what I am asking for, Victor,” she said, trailing a finger down his arm. “You are a man who would reject love, but passion… that, you will not reject. I know better than to give my love to a man who does not want it.”
He shook his head, moving her so their positions were reversed, as her suggestion became more appealing to him. His hands itched to wrap around her and pull her into his arms. To strip her bare and spread her out in front of him so he could drink in the sight of her and taste her till he thirsted no more.
“You are a woman to be loved on the marital bed by her husband. Not ravished by a rake like me,” he warned. “I have no intentions of going softly and slowly with you, Daphne. I will ravish you until your screams wake the entire house. Until your legs quiver each time you think of me. That is the pleasure I offer.”
He saw her shudder at her words, but the stubborn woman buried her fingers in his hair.
“That is the pleasure I want, Victor,” she breathed.
“Daphne…”
“We only have a few days and then we will go our separate ways.” She stepped closer to him, placing a hand on his chest.
“Daphne I would not want to…”
“I know I am not one of the experienced women you prefer. But I would like to learn all there is to know,” she interrupted, undeterred. “Wouldn’t you derive pleasure knowing you have educated me properly?”
He groaned as the vision of taking her hard and fast against his desk, so she would learn never to tempt him again, popped into his mind. He quickly shot it down as his body responded, blood pulsing hard and fast at the core of him.
“You do not know what you ask for.”
“Then teach me, Your Grace,” she said, undoing the ribbon that held her night robe which fell away to reveal the most seductive nightgown he had ever seen.
In that moment he knew he would not be able to resist even if the walls came tumbling down around them.
“As you wish.”
ChapterThirteen
Daphne realized her words snapped something inside him as he pushed her into the wall, almost painfully, and captured her lips in a punishing kiss. They moaned simultaneously into each other’s mouths—they had both been starving, and this was the only way they could satisfy the hunger inside them.
“Daphne,” he groaned.
She whimpered as his hands moved to her derriere, pulling her closer to him. The evidence of his lust poked at her belly and her body quivered as she felt the hardness of him.
Curiosity got the better of her, and her hands moved to wrap around his member. She marveled at how hard he felt. When she squeezed harder, he hissed, pulling her hand away from him.
“Did I hurt you?” she asked worriedly.
He laughed low and dark and then kissed her deeply.
“No, my curious one,” he smiled. “On the contrary, if you had continued thus, I might not have lasted.”
She wondered at his words. What did he mean by lasted?
His laugh caused her to redden with embarrassment. There really was a lot she did not know.
“Your innocence is oddly refreshing, but fret not,” he warned, slipping one sleeve of her nightgown over her shoulder, and following with the other until the garment slipped off her body and pooled at her feet. “I intend to rid you of it tonight.”
She shivered as his hands came up to unbind her hair, caressing her head as it came loose; his other hand making a trail down her face to cup one breast, taking one of her nipples between his fingers.
The rough callouses on his fingers sent liquid heat down her body to the core of her.
What was this man doing to her?
