Page 58 of Married to the Forbidden Duke
She obeyed him instantly, releasing him. They both watched as he twitched, and he fought back the frustrated rush that came from being denied. After everything he had done to her, he could endure this for at least a little longer.
And as she worked, her concentration utterly focused on him, he felt as though he understood her more now. So much of her life had left her feeling vulnerable, and she enjoyed being in positions that allowed her to exert control.
He could understand that. After that, his own life had gone so wildly out of control, with the rumors abounding and the death of his father, he had felt as though he was desperately trying to keep his head above the water.
Oddly, with this marriage and the things he was offering her, he finally felt as though he could breathe again.
He stopped her again, and again and again. Until finally, when he felt as though he was going mad, she shifted up his body and pressed him to her slick folds. She was so wet for him, and he could see it glistening on her slim thighs. The sight almost made him lose control, but he had to stay in control of himself for her.
For Alice. He could do it for her.
Slowly, painstakingly, she found her entrance and pressed down, letting her weight push him inside her. There was a moment of pressure, of resistance, before he slid inside. She gasped, her face going slack with pleasure, and Frederick watched her greedily, not wanting to miss a single second.
He’d never bedded virgins before. His preference had always been for experienced women who knew what they were doing. Besides, he had never wanted to ruin any young girls, and that would inevitably be the end result. Thus, Alice was the first girl whose innocence he had ever taken, and he had not known before his marriage how much this moment would mean to him.
Despite their checkered past, she was still allowing him this honor. Gifting him her body, giving him something no one else would have.
He would be her first. Heronly. Somehow, he would contrive to keep her happy enough she would never seek satisfaction outside their marriage. Some wives did, he knew, and many husbands didn’t care—or know—so long as they were discreet. But this was not that sort of marriage, although he had not known it at the time.
He would not look for entertainment elsewhere, and he would ensure she did not either. One way or the other.
Her face tightened with concentration as she reached an especially tight point. He gripped her hips, helping her take her weight.
“Take your time,” he told her, although his entire body was screaming at him to sink the rest of the way inside her. “It’s all right. If it hurts, you can stop.”
“I think—” She broke off and held eye contact with him for a moment, then pushed all the way down on him. He cursed, gripping her hips more tightly, but forced himself to remain still as she stiffened. But then she smiled, and it was the most radiant thing he had ever seen.
“I should warn you,” he breathed as he reached up to cup her breast, his eyes still on hers, “that I won’t last long. You were too…thoroughwith your hands.”
She laughed, and the sound was beautiful. “That’s all right,” she whispered, and leaned over, bracing her hands against the mattress beside his head as she experimented. Frederick kept still, letting her explore this between them just as she had explored him with her hands.
Soon, she found her rhythm, and it was all he could do to keep from exploding in her.Just a little longer, he told himself as she gyrated her hips, her head thrown back in delight. He slid his hand to the place where their bodies met, rubbing small circles across the bundle of nerves he’d found before. But she was too beautiful above him, too filled with pleasure and delight, and he couldn’t hold back even if he wanted to.
“Alice…” he groaned, and she peeked down. “I need to—”
Pleasure had her dazed, eyes wide and dark and almost drugged, and he took hold of her by the waist, tugging her free just as he felt his climax barreling up from the base of his spine. She watched in fascination as he spilled across his stomach.
“Your… seed?” She glanced from it to him, then slid a finger through and brought it to her mouth.
He put his forearm over his eyes, half laughing at the thought of his wife—his proper Duchess—being so delightfully wanton. “You will be the death of me, Alice.”
“That was my plan all along,” she told him, but for once, it didn’t feel as though she was condemning him.
And after he’d cleaned himself with a rag and brought some water and washcloth to Alice so he could bathe her too, she made no demur when he collapsed in the bed beside her. Instead, half asleep, she allowed him to curl her into his arms.
This is what contentment must feel like, he thought as he finally drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Alice woke to the unfamiliar sensation of something warm at her back, and steel banded across her chest. When she shuffled, trying to free herself from the suffocating presence, the steel band tightened, drawing her more firmly against it, and she stiffened.
Oh.
Frederick?
For a long moment, she lay still, trying to process the sensations. She felt sore between her legs, but there was a pleasant heaviness to her limbs. Her leg ached a little, but no more than normal.
She had finally consummated her marriage with her husband. And said husband, instead of retiring to his own chambers when they’d finished, had chosen to stay with her.
