Page 42 of A Duchess Bound
Her breath caught in her chest. “I—I am still…”
“Say what you mean,” he insisted.
A flash of annoyance shot through her. “Do something!” she snapped. “I did not come here to be mocked.”
His easy, smug expression never faltered. “Then, what did you come here for? Do you even know?”
Dorothy’s eyes darted to his lips. “I want you to kiss me.”
“Is thatallyou want?”
He stepped so near to her that Dorothy felt the warmth of his body bleeding into hers. A low groan tore from her mouth. Her core ached, and she pressed her thighs together. That accursed man knew what he was doing to her! She was certain of it.
“No,” she breathed. “No, that is not all I want.”
“Oh? And what more do you want?”
“I want you to touch me.”
The words were so soft that she was not even certain that he heard, but His Grace stepped impossibly nearer and ducked his head. His breath was hot against her neck, and Dorothy trembled.
“Touch you where?” he whispered, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear. “Just say the words, my lady.”
“Anywhere.”
He did not answer. Instead, they remained close to one another, the sound of their breaths too loud in the air. Dorothy’s toes curled in her slippers. Did she dare touch him? Her thoughts were all scattered, and the room was too hot. Dorothy found that her focus was shattered. There was nothing else in the world except for her wanting his body and him.
“I want to hear you say the words,” he said slowly. “Say that you submit to me, and I will give you what you want.”
She nodded, not trusting her voice. He kissed her with such force that it left her breathless. Dorothy’s hands found his upper back, and she dug her fingers into the fabric of his jacket, clinging to him as he ravaged her mouth. He grasped her waist hard and dragged her against him. Dorothy moaned.
That familiar curling, hardening sensation rose within her, and her hips bucked reflexively against him. He drew his mouth away with a low, dark laugh. “So eager and ready for me,” he purred. “You have misled me. I thought you were a proper lady.”
“This is all your doing, you accursed rake!”
His eyes gleamed in the moonlight. He pulled her with him, taking her across the floor. “Get on the desk,” His Grace said.
She pulled herself onto the hard surface, facing him. He drew her in for another kiss, putting his hands on her knees and forcing her thighs apart. Dorothy did not resist. She kissed him as if he were air and water and sunlight and everything in the world that she might need. He pressed himself between herlegs, and her body shivered in wondrous delight. She curled her hands in his hair. He seized her wrists and tore his head back.
Dorothy took in greedy gulps of air, her lips parted and tingling from the kiss. “I agreed to touch you,” he said. “I did not agree to let you touch me. Lay down.”
She did, the desk hard against her spine. Sweat pooled at the small of her back, sticking her chemise to her skin. He took her wrists and placed them over her head. “I want you to keep your hands right here,” he said. “If you move them, I will punish you.”
A shiver traced down her spine. She ought to flee. But the low timbre of his voice sent the most pleasant sensations jolting through her. Dorothy did not want to leave. She wanted to see what this man would do to her.
“Please, touch me,” she whispered.
He bent over her, suddenly large and looming, and pressed his weight against her. All the air left her lungs as he kneaded her breasts through the material of her gown. Dorothy’s hips jolted upward, and he smiled mockingly. “Look at how wanton you are,” he growled. “Your body is so ready for my attention. Poor thing, have you been writhing in agony this entire week, burning for my touch?”
She tossed her head back. “Yes,” she whispered.
Her breasts heaved and strained against her stays. When His Grace slipped a hand beneath her bodice and brushed his thumb over the nipple of her right breast, a breathless whine tore from her throat.
“Good girl,” he murmured.
She nearly came undone.
“I love how you react to me,” the duke said, coaxing her nipple into pertness.
