Page 77 of An Innocent Maid for the Duke
A knee pressed between her thighs and the pleasure of opening herself to him made her heart lift and soar.
He settled himself between her legs and drove into her body with a groan that welled from deep in his chest.
She shattered, melting around him, surrendering beneath him.
He stilled. A shudder ran through him, so strong it resonated in her bones.
Him, too? Never had he shown such urgency.
But, no. She could feel him inside her, still hard.
He slowly rocked his hips. Tension inside her began to build. A ripple of pleasure spread outward from her core, intense, soul stirring. Again?
And still he had not—
He moved again, slow easy thrusts of his hips, gradually increasing the tempo. The restlessness started up again, tightening every nerve in her body. He drove deeper and again she reached the pinnacle and let go.
Overwhelmed by the beauty of the sensations he instilled, a joy so vast filled her and tears leaked from the corner of her eyes. Supported on his hands, looming over her, the rigid tension of his body, the ripple of hard muscle and the straining of tendons in his neck left her in awe.
Balancing on one hand, he lifted her buttocks, opening her more to his penetration, filling her completely.
Somehow she managed to lift her head to nibble at his earlobe, to trace the outer ear with delicate strokes of her tongue, then plunged into the depths of it, tasting salt and inhaling the scent of his soap.
His hiss of indrawn breath sent shivers across her skin.
He raised his head, gazing down at her, his eyes dark with passion, his expression strained by longing and need. The same longing and need echoing in her heart.
As if their souls had merged into one.
‘You undo me,’ he rasped, driving into her harder.
I love you,she whispered in her mind, finally recognising the truth of the depths of her feelings and revelling in them even as she grieved that he would never be fully hers.
She closed her lips on the words, held them tight to her heart, for she had a shred of wit left to know that to admit them out loud and see rejection in his eyes would tear her apart.
Instead, she showed him all she could never say with her hands and her body and her lips.
Feeling him unravelling inside her body was the greatest joy of all. And the saddest moment of her life. Because in a moment of clarity at the moment before she followed him into bliss, she sensed he was saying goodbye. ‘I will always love you.’
They lay tangled together, damp with sweat, hearts beating a wild rhythm, breathing harsh in the quiet room.
After several moments he shifted. Moving away. She reached to hold him, but he slipped from her grasp, leaving the bed in a surge of movement. She rose up on her elbows and was startled to see him hastily dressing. He glanced over his shoulder.
‘I am so damned sorry, Rose. I did not intend this.’
Her heart stopped beating. Her breath caught in her throat. ‘What is it? What did I do?’
He straightened, now fully clothed, his expression stern, closed off. ‘You did nothing wrong, Rose. You are everything that is—’ He choked the words off, made a slicing gesture with his hand. ‘I actually came to tell you I have business at Vitium et Virtus this evening and cannot stay.’ He closed his eyes against her surprised gaze. ‘I am sorry.’
He bowed and, with his shoulders straight and his steps determined, he left.
While he had said nothing of any import, Rose had a strange feeling that everything between had changed.
He’d donned the reserve he’d worn when they first met like a coat, or some sort of suit of armour, as if he sought protection.
Protection from her?
Chapter Twelve
