Page 77 of A Duchess Bound
“So when do you intend on doing it?” she asked. “I am in agony thinking of it, and I—I know I should end this. But I cannot, not when I am consumed with thoughts of you.”
It was a reasonable request, and he felt a little spark of guilt for denying her for so long.
“I wanted to be certain that you were lucid when you made that decision,” he said at last. “I wanted you to make it with the full understanding of what it was.”
That was part of the truth, the respectable part. Gerard wryly thought that Dorothy would be considerably less impressed if he admitted that he was denying himself to prolong the pleasure. If he did not make love to her, it would be an eventuality to anticipate, something to look forward to. But if hedidfulfill herwishes, there would be nothing else to excite him, no other goal to reach.
“I do understand what it means!” she protested. “I have understood for quite a long time! Have I not told you again and again that I am not some sheltered, blushing maiden who needs your protection?”
“I know that you are not,” Gerard said, his eyes dipping from her face to her ample breasts, wrapped in the soft lilac fabric of her bodice. His fingers twitched over the desk. “But you have seldom experienced lust, which tends to impact one’s senses. It will make you feel sensations that you have never imagined possible and crave what you have never felt before.”
“I am aware of that,” she said.
He leaned forward, so her breath mingled with his. Dorothy’s eyes darted to his lips, and satisfaction curled within him. Gerard raised a hand, tangling his fingers in the soft curls that pressed against her temple. She swallowed audibly, and a fissure of pleasure jolted through him.
What would those lovely, pink lips look like wrapped around his manhood? He tucked a curl behind her ear, letting his fingers drift down to her jaw and over her throat. Her skin was soft like silk and as white as cream.
“You may know,” he said softly. “But that does not mean you can handle it.”
“I can,” she breathed. “I promise I can.”
He cupped her cheek and placed a long, deep kiss against her lips. She moaned against his mouth, her arms wrapping around his neck. The desk jolted slightly as she pressed against it. Gerard kissed her until his lips ached and his lungs burned. Then, he withdrew.
Dorothy stared at him with wide eyes, her lips slightly parted. She looked half-mad with lust, braced on her forearms. Her chest heaved, her breasts threatening to spill from the confines of her bodice. A pink flush spread over her cheeks, and she shifted on her feet, pressing her thighs together beneath her gown.
“I think it is time that I show you my bed,” he purred.
“Oh,yes,” she whispered between pants for air.
He swept around the desk and brought her into his arms, pulling her flush against him. His hands swept greedily over her body, tracing the path of her spine and down to her hips. He grasped handfuls of her buttocks through her fine skirts. She gasped, the sound equal parts offended and aroused.
Gerard dipped his head and kissed her neck, inhaling the sweet mingling of lavender and rose. Dorothy dug her fingers into his jacket, pulling the fabric taut over his shoulder blades.
“Good girl,” he murmured, pulling the sleeves of her gown down. “So good.”
Gerard deftly undid her gown and let it fall to the ground. His hands went next to her stays, untying the laces with practiced fingers. The moment the ties were undone, he tossed them away. Dorothy gasped again and clung more tightly to him, her hips jolting against his thighs. Gerard’s trousers grew tight, his manhood straining for release.
“To the bed,” he murmured against her throat.
They held one another, kissing and touching and panting, and cut a path across the floor of his study. Gerard tore the door open. They fumbled into the corridor, stumbling over their own feet and too lost in passion to notice. Gerard seized Dorothy’s petticoats, casting them aside. She kicked free of her slippers.
Along the way, she lost her stockings. Dorothy reached for his jacket and made to pull it from his shoulders, but he seized her wrists and held her fast. “Not yet,” he purred. “I will undress if I wish. That is not your decision to make.”
Then, they were kissing again. Gerard seized Dorothy’s chemise and tore it from her body, leaving her entirely naked. Before she could cover herself, as he sensed that she wished to do, he grasped her breasts. He found that they were soft and yielding.
Gerard caressed her breasts and rubbed his thumbs over her pink nipples until they grew hard. Dorothy moaned raggedly,and he pinched one between his fingers. Dorothy jolted and pressed against him, rubbing her thighs against his trousers.
He grasped her around the waist and kissed her bare shoulder. Then, her neck. They stumbled into the bedchamber. Gerard squeezed her thighs, his fingers wandering over her body with shameless abandon. He dipped a hand between her legs and found her already wet and hot.
“Oh, please!” she gasped.
Dorothy’s thighs quivered. He backed her to the bed and kissed her hard. “Lay back,” he whispered against her cheek.
She did, hurrying backwards over the bed linens. Gerard smiled. It was nearly comical just howeagershe appeared. He crossed his arms, smiling and taking in the sight of her body.
Dorothy’s hair remained pinned neatly up, but the rest of her was disheveled and undone. Her cheeks were the color of roses, and her eyes dark with want. Dorothy’s chest rose and fell quickly, her breasts shaking with each breath.
Gerard’s gaze swept over her large breasts, down to her trim waist, and to her broad hips. Her slender thighs were spread, exposing her sex to him. Already, arousal gleamed along the delicate curls at the apex of her thighs. Even though Dorothy was a spinster, it seemed impossible that the men of the tonhad refrained from noticing her for so long.
