Page 24 of A Duchess Bound
She pressed her legs together so tightly that they hurt. “Your Grace,” she groaned. “Please.”
“You have only to answer my question.”
She closed her eyes. “I—I came here for you.”
“And what were you hoping I would do for you? Or is ittoyou?”
Dorothy shook her head, tears pricking her eyes. She could not say the words. It was too humiliating, too embarrassing, toowanton. She was a lady from a respected and well-bred family.
A light pressure against her mouth. She gasped, eyes snapping open. His Grace ran his tongue along her lower lip. Dorothy groaned, her hips jolting forward. Deep inside, she had the sensation of herself curling up. It was as though she was climbing toward some summit, to some conclusion that she did not understand.
“Answer me,” he murmured.
She could not possibly answer such a question! Dorothy’s throat was thick. She moved her hips, trying to soothe the sensation growing inside her, but to no avail. The feelings inside her felt too strong to contain, and yet they refused to?—
To achieve whatever the end of this might be. Was it pleasure? Her thoughts were all scattered and heady that she could not even recall the few things that she did know about carnal pleasures.
Her body’s needs grew greater than her desire to keep her pride intact. “I—I wanted this,” she whimpered. “All of this. I wanted you to pin me against the wall and kiss me.”
“Good girl,” he said. “So very good.”
She could not muster indignation at the pet name, only a fissure of anticipation because he had said that good girls would receive rewards.
His Grace’s mouth pressed against hers with such force that he stole Dorothy’s breath from her. She kissed him back with equal fervor. That sensation in her curled tighter and tighter, and she moaned raggedly into his mouth. His Grace was hard against her stomach, and the realization that he desired her sent a jolt of sensation through her.
She ached. Sheneeded. And worst of all, she could not even say what she needed. It was as though her body had come along and found itself deprived of something wonderful.
The Duke of Greenway broke the kiss, and she gasped for air. His lips found her neck. He kissed and nipped and scraped his teeth against her skin, leaving a damp trail from her neck down to the tops of her breasts. His Grace paused briefly to gather her wrists in one hand. With his other hand, he fondled her breasts, kneading them through her bodice.
Dorothy cried out in a desperate plea. Her nipples hardened, straining against her chemise and stays. “Oh, please!” she begged. “Please, Your Grace!”
“Please?” he murmured, kissing her neck once more. “Would you like more lessons? There is much that I can teach you.”
“Yes,” she rasped. “Yes, please.”
Dorothy’s thoughts fluttered wildly in her mind, like leaves caught amid a summer gale.
He chuckled. “I will teach you…provided that you submit to me.”
The Duke of Greenway’s teeth brushed against her neck. Then, he bit downhard. Dull pain blossomed along the side of her neck, and a ragged groan tore from her throat. Dorothy’s thighs quivered, and her inner walls pulsed. She felt a wetness between her thighs, accompanied by a wave of pleasure.
“Interesting,” His Grace breathed against her neck. “Will you submit to me, my lady?”
“Yes,” she breathed, her voice scarcely louder than a whisper.
He withdrew suddenly and released her wrists. Dorothy stared at him, her arms still stretched over her head, as if he had left her fixed to the wall like that. It was…
It was hard to form coherent thoughts. As she stared at him, awareness slowly drifted back to her. Dorothy became aware of her heated face, the sweat pooling at the small of her back, and at the back of her knees. She lowered her arms, wincing at the faint ache in her shoulders. Her neck ached from where he had bitten her.
The hot wetness between her thighs was like a condemnation. Dorothy cried out, the past several minutes crashing into her all at once. Mortification soon followed. She clasped her handsover her mouth and muffled the horrified sound that ached to emerge.
That terrible man only smiled. “You have until the end of the week to consider my proposal. If you are truly willing to submit to me, all you must do is return to my townhouse and surrender yourself. If you do, I will teach you everything—things you have never even imagined. If you do not, you may consider our affair ended. I will pursue you no longer.”
He turned away from her and nonchalantly poured himself a glass of brandy. Dorothy stared at him with wide eyes. She was suddenly so very cold and damp with sweat, and the proof of her arousal between her thighs.
She ought to say something. She ought to declare that she would never submit to him or any man. Dorothy opened her mouth to?—
To say something. To sayanything.
