Page 39 of A Duke to Undo her
“Cassius,” she cried out. “I want…Oh, I want…”
Josephine sensed rather than saw the dam breaking within the Duke of Ashbourne as he seized her firmly to him, his mouth on hers and her breasts pressing against the hot, damp skin of his torso. When he said her name again it was almost a growl.
“I will try to be…gentle,” Cassius told her as he began to unfasten his trousers.
She lay back on the rug and nodded with eager but nervous excitement, her eyes growing wide as she finally saw the throbbing shaft that she longed for without understanding why.Whatever happened next, would it feel as good as what Cassius had done to her with his tongue?
Did she even dare to touch him there..? Before Josephine had any chance to act on this bold thought, both the face of her lover and the atmosphere in the room abruptly changed. Within moments, the Duke of Ashbourne had refastened his trousers, donned his shirt and was drawing her to her feet.
“You must forgive me, Lady Josephine,” he said, picking up the discarded nightgown and drawing it over her head. “I have taken far greater liberties with your person than a gentleman should.”
“Cassius?” she questioned him, feeling physically bereft and more than a little frightened by the sudden shift. “What is wrong? Why are you saying this? I want you…”
“You do not understand the extent of my transgression, Lady Josephine. The fault is entirely mine. I have trespassed grievously in your life and it must cease. You wished to marry Benedict, I believe. I give you my full blessing to do so.”
Josephine’s stomach dropped as she stood there holding up her nightgown, unable even to make her trembling fingers tie its cord. Why was Cassius saying these terrible things? A few moments ago, he seemed to have no doubts about what they were doing. Now, he was telling her to marry his brother. She could not even form a response.
After presenting her with dressing gown and slippers, the Duke of Ashbourne gave Josephine a formal bow without meetingher eyes and then left her there, standing mute and lost on the Persian rug.
“Don’t go!” she tried to call after him, too late, but he did not turn and closed the library door behind him. “Cassius…”
What could she have done wrong?
Chapter Eighteen
Dear God! What had he almost done?
Turning the key in both doors to his bedroom, the Duke of Ashbourne then considered even dragging some heavy piece of furniture in front of the main door. Was that really necessary to stop Lady Josephine getting in? No, it was more to stop himself from getting out if she did anything as foolish and reckless as coming to find the ducal suite tonight.
Cassius Emerton had never seduced an innocent young lady before now. Having foresworn marriage, he generally sought only women with the bedroom experience to hold his interest and sufficient independence not to see him as a marital prospect. He could therefore not understand why Lady Josephine should be so irresistible to him. Yet he wanted her like he wanted food and water, even air…
“Get a grip, Ashbourne!” he ordered himself angrily.
The knock on his door almost made his heart jump out of his chest.
“Who is it?” he barked, every muscle in his body tensed for the answer.
If it was Lady Josephine, she would likely find herself carried to his bed and mounted before she knew what was happening. Stopping himself from fully claiming her in the library a few minutes earlier had been an act of will that Cassius could not trust himself to perform twice in one night.
How had he put himself in such a dangerous position in the first place? He must have lost his mind, and all his morals with it…
“It is Jones, Your Grace,” answered the voice of one of the senior footmen and the duke let out a long, hard huff of air from his lungs before going to the door.
“Yes, Jones?” Cassius asked tersely, his eyes quickly scanning the corridor beyond the man’s shoulders for any signs of sound or movement.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Your Grace,” the man said quickly, perhaps assuming that Cassius’ tense face was due to the late intrusion. “I was walking around the house on night-watch duty and heard strange noises downstairs. All your guests have long retired but I thought you might still be downstairs. As you are here, should I take another man and investigate?”
“No,” the Duke of Ashbourne said decisively, wondering whether Lady Josephine was still wandering the library in a state ofdéshabillé. “I was in my study not long ago, and I also heard noises. When I investigated, it was only a guest come downstairs to take a book from the library. You may leave her to browse in peace.”
“Very good, Your Grace,” said Jones with a bow, appearing to accept this partly truthful explanation.
Closing and locking the door once more, Cassius shut his eyes and leaned back against the hard wood. How reckless he had been! That footman could easily have come to the library and found him there, pleasuring the naked and panting Lady Josephine on the vivid woven silk of the Persian rug…
The image of how she had looked afterwards was burned into his memory, her thighs slightly parted and her expression simultaneously wanton and artless. Her sparkling green eyes had widened but not quailed at the sight of the duke’s organ, wanting him, trusting him not to do her any harm.
Well, it was misplaced trust. It was unrealistic for Cassius to imagine for a moment that he might practice with Lady Josephine the kind of careful intercourse and withdrawal that experienced widows and courtesans knew so well? Was he to stop and question her on the days of her monthly bleeding?
No, young Josephine had not the knowledge and neither of them could have had the self-control tonight. Cassius had known as much, and come close to taking her anyway.
