Page 23 of The Wallflower and the Duke
His eyes flared open at her last words, and he pushed her hand away to kiss her once again. This time, not out of desperation but hunger. Not frenzied but slow, calculating, as if he had dreamed of nothing more since she’d left for London years earlier.
He kissed her as if he only wanted to kiss her and her alone, and it meant everything.
His hands ran through her hair, pulling out the pins, and it tumbled down her shoulders as the birds sang. The golden sun filtered through the dark-green leaves in the last whisper of summer warmth, carried off in the wind. She knew autumn was coming. Soon the leaves would fall, and it would grow colder and darker, but for now, kissing him was like finding an eternal summer.
She felt the hard length of him pressed against her core. She grew achy and frustrated and issued a soft moan as his lips trailed down the column of her neck. His teeth dragged against her skin, bringing about the softest kind of pain. And to her surprise, it faded to a new kind of pleasure as well.
She stared down at him, slowly unbuttoned his waistcoat, and untied his shirt as he tugged at her dress.
There was too much between them. His eyes darkened, and she felt it too—the sudden madness driving them forward. This was a man kissing a woman he loved. A woman realizing she had loved this man for years, and this had always been what was going to happen, even if she’d lost her way for a while.
His hands pulled down her dress, revealing the tops of her shoulders. Then a little more, to the tops of her rounded breasts. The brush of his fingertips against the soft, delicate skin sent a shock down her spine.
“Alfie…” It was a soft, desperate plea.
His thumb tentatively brushed over her nipple, and she bucked her hips against him.
“Let me taste you,” he groaned against her mouth.
Marjorie felt as if she were being spun apart with each touch. She kissed his cheek, tasting the salt of his tears, smelling the leather notes of his cologne, feeling the heat of his skin under her fingertips. She was consumed with him, throwing herself over to the moment.
“Lay back, sweet.”
Alfie bent forward, guiding her gently down to the ground before running his hands up her calves, then higher over her ribbon garters, before pushing her dress above her knees.
She propped herself up onto her elbows, attempting to catch her breath as he crawled forward, ducking down to push her dress higher still.
Her pulse thrummed as he skirted his fingers up her inner thigh, his eyes pinned to her reaction. Marjorie bit down gently on her bottom lip, waiting, the last of her patience about to snap before his fingers found her core and slipped between her folds.
She gasped, tossing her head back up at the sky.
“No, keep your eyes on me.”
She snapped her attention back to Alfie as stroked his thumb against the sensitive pearl at her apex. Everything within tightened.
He bent his head down, pulling apart her legs with his hands, then kissed the inside of her thigh.
Marjorie couldn’t look away, couldn’t…
She had never experienced such pleasure before. Certainly not with Percy who hadn’t dared…
Alfie’s mouth licked up her seam, parting her folds, before his tongue slowly circled that magical spot again, and she swore she saw stars as soon as he sucked.
Her hands clutched at his shoulders, too afraid to say anything, too afraid to look away. And all the while, her body tightened, chasing some end she wasn’t sure of, only that she felt herself climbing toward a secret destination.
“You taste like heaven,” he whispered against her. “Do you like it?”
Marjorie nodded, her pulse quickening.
“Good.” He slipped two fingers inside of her, and instead of shock, a rush of pleasure flooded her body, and she clamped her eyes shut and fell back against the cold stone floor. His mouth tasted her, and his fingers worked in and out, and just when she thought she couldn’t handle it any longer, something snapped inside of her.
Marjorie’s back bowed as a pulsing rush washed over her and her body, and for a moment, as she glanced up at the sky, she thought she might be flying. But everything soon settled, and she came back to her own, realizing what she had just done with Alfie, and she closed her eyes, embarrassment bright on her cheeks.
“Don’t close your eyes, Jo.” He pulled down her skirts, before crawling over her. He braced his body over hers. “Don’t leave me now.”
She shook her head, finally gathering the courage to open her eyes. He pressed his mouth to hers, and she could taste herself there on his lips. Another spike of excitement rushed through her, a genuine surprise at how much she enjoyed such a private act.
“Heavens,” she said, suddenly falling into giggles. “The door was open the entire time. Anyone could have seen, Alfie. What were we thinking?”
