Page 69 of Claiming his Cursed Duchess
Rosaline, feeling a surge of defiance that matched his intensity, met his gaze with her own. “Such as ensuring your well-being,” she said, her voice unwavering despite the tempest of emotions stirring inside her. “Even if you refuse to accept it.”
Adam’s eyes narrowed further. “You are a stubborn woman, Duchess.”
“Says the pot to the kettle!”
Their gazes locked, the air between them crackling with a potent mix of anger and…something else. Something that made her breath catch in her throat, her heart pounding against her ribs. There was a magnetic tension between them now, a force that neither could ignore. It was almost as if their every word was charged with electricity.
Adam, his eyes blazing with a mixture of amusement and something darker, reached out and gently brushed a stray strand of hair from her cheek.
“You are more than just stubborn, Rosaline,” he murmured, his voice husky and low. “You are…intoxicating.”
The warmth of his hand against her skin sent a shiver down her spine, and her breath caught in her throat.
He leaned even closer, his breath hot against her cheek, his lips barely inches from hers.
“You have a tempest in you, Duchess,” he whispered, his voice a low growl that sent another tremor through her. “A tempest that ignites something within me.”
Rosaline, her heart pounding, met his gaze head-on. The pull between them seemed to draw her closer, as if she were caught in a force she couldn’t escape.
He leaned even closer, his lips hovering inches from hers. “I wanted to tear off that gown of yours, back at that ballroom,” he whispered, his voice now a husky caress.
“That’s why I told you to meet me privately, until we were interrupted,” he paused. “I wanted to rip that bloody dress to pieces and taste every inch of your delicious body.”
Rosaline, her breath catching again, felt the mixture of fear and exhilaration that twisted inside her.This is dangerous, she thought, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs.
It was as if every inch of her being wanted to close the gap, to surrender to the fire between them.
“Well,” she gulped, “there is no one to interrupt us now.”
He closed the distance between them, his lips capturing hers in a fierce, demanding kiss.
Rosaline, startled, gasped, but then, something within her ignited, a spark of something wild and untamed. She clung to him, her hands gripping his shoulders, her lips parting beneath his.
The kiss was a whirlwind—passionate, intense, and utterly consuming. It was a battle of wills, a clash of desires, a surrender to the primal urge that had been simmering beneath the surface for far too long.
Rosaline’s hands found Adam’s chest, and she remembered suddenly, delightedly, that he was not wearing a shirt.
Rosaline gasped into the kiss as Adam’s grip tightened possessively, a commanding arm locked around her lower back, the other hand pleasantly tight on the back of her neck.
Her soft curves melted against the chiseled planes of his chest, making her sigh. It felt electric where her breasts, belly, and thighs pressed against the duke’s.
She let her hands begin to explore, tracing lightly over the bare skin of Adam’s arms, his chest, his back, until he suddenly shivered under her touch, growling into the kiss.
Rosaline whined with need when Adam broke the kiss, trying to follow him, but he nudged her jaw firmly with his nose, then began planting hot, open-mouthed kisses along her throat.
Rosaline let her head tip back, allowing him more access as his stubble scraped down to her collarbone.
“I have wanted all of you for so long, wife,” he rasped, and Rosaline gasped in surprise when his hand roughly cupped her breast, squeezing and massaging in a way that made her moan out loud.
At the sound she made, Adam dragged his face away from Rosaline’s throat and looked at her, his breathing ragged.
Rosaline felt her insides become molten with desperate need at the way the duke looked at her. His mouth slightly open as he drew ragged breaths, eyes dark and intense, locked onto her like a predator locks onto its prey.
“This is your last chance.” Adam growled, and Rosaline trembled at the animalistic sound, her core hot and twisting with desire.“If you do not leave now, I will make you my own. You will be irrevocably mine, every part of you.”
He was visibly restraining himself, but Rosaline could feel his grip on the back of her neck tighten slightly, the other hand still radiating heat through her thin nightgown as it cupped her breast.
“Iwantto be yours,” Rosaline replied simply, and then the duke’s lips crashed into hers again, demanding, and starving for his duchess.
