Page 44 of Never Dare a Duke
It was Lady Elizabeth’s voice, and Abigail was vastly disappointed that it was not Gwen. Gwen could be trusted, but Elizabeth…
To her shock, she felt the duke’s mouth against her ear, and his warm, moist breath bathed her.
“Say nothing.” The words were barely a whisper, but they were also a command.
What did he think she would do? she thought indignantly. Did he still believe every woman so desperate to marry him?
Then she felt a rush of sympathy. She understood the need to decide one’s own fate. Wasn’t that what she herself was fighting for?
“Chris?” Lady Elizabeth called one more time. “Someone left a lamp up here,” she added crossly.
They could hear her heavy sigh as she turned and went back down the stairs. The light receded, the door at the bottom closed, and they were alone in the dark. The slits of light through the curtains only slightly relieved the gloom.
For a moment they were frozen, their arms brushing, their breathing almost timed together. Relief should be rushing through her, but instead she felt a rising tide of…of wildness, of recklessness. She was alone with him, this man she felt such a strange connection to. She didn’t want it, she had to be objective—she had to leave.
She started to rise to her feet, but her skirts were trapped beneath him, and she fell heavily sideways into his shoulder. And then her world turned upside down as his arms caught her and spun her until she lay across his lap.
Stunned, she looked up at him, seeing only the gleam of his eyes in the near darkness. Her hands settled helplessly on his arms. He was so warm all around her.
And then he pulled her against his chest and kissed her, and she forgot everything else.
His lips were warm and moist as they moved on hers. She tentatively kissed him back, for she could do nothing else, wanted to be nowhere else. She had never been kissed before, and she was not disappointed by the surging feelings that swept over her, feelings that erased all sense of propriety and fear of discovery.
They’d already almost been discovered, and it had only made her heart pound more wildly. The near discovery had unleashed something long suppressed between them.
And then she felt his bold tongue lick along her bottom lip, and the rough wetness of it startled her. Then his tongue slipped inside her, her mouth forced wide against his, and she could only moan in wonder and amazement.
Sothiswas what kissing was all about, she thought to herself, even as she basked in his expertise. And then she stopped thinking and examining, and could only feel. His tongue dueled with hers, played along it, tasted it. And she was desperate to taste him back. She let her hands slide up over his shoulders, then she touched the soft thickness of his hair. She didn’t want him to stop, found herself holding his head in her hands to keep him where he was.
He pulled her even tighter against him, her breasts flattened against his hard chest. And that made her moan. Though it was her mouth he took in a searing kiss, it was as if she felt it in the rest of her body. There was a heavy ache in her breasts that was only slightly eased by the pressure of his body. She wanted—no, sheneededmore.
One of his hands slid along her back, caressing the curve of her hip, molding against her backside. She arched into him, flooded by warmth between her thighs.
The new, strange feelings in her body were what finally made her remember who she was, what she was doing—and with whom she was doing it.
She pushed against his chest and broke the kiss, tipping her head back until it was stopped by his shoulder.
Now that her eyes were accustomed to the gloom, she could see the faint shadow of his face, the wetness of his mouth, the way his black eyes devoured her as if he would kiss her again.
And she wanted him to. She wanted to experience the pleasure she’d never imagined before.
And they still had all their clothing on! The rest of what went on between a man and a woman must be—
With a groan, she closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at him.
“You do not want my kiss?” His voice was deep and husky.
She shuddered. “I have already shown you that I do. But we must…stop.”
“Why?”
For an insane moment, she couldn’t think of one reason. His thighs were beneath her hips, his arms held her close in an embrace so hot she was surprised she couldn’t see flames burning between them.
“It is…time for luncheon,” she finally managed.
She felt the vibration of his chuckle all through her.
“Is that the only reason to stop?”
