Page 67 of The Duke of Ice
He tended her, his mouth and fingers taking her through her ecstasy until she emerged on the other side, spent and satisfied.
“God, Violet, you are the most passionate of women.” He came over her and kissed her almost savagely. “You’re a gift,” he growled against her mouth.
Satisfied was perhaps a premature assessment. Need built inside her once more—fast and hot. She reached between them and tried to unbutton his fall, but her fingers were made of jelly.
He broke away from her and unfastened his pantaloons, then shucked them from his body as quickly as possible. While he was gone, she turned on the bed. He climbed up beside her.
She caressed his shoulder, his back, trailing her hand down until she came to his backside. “I dreamed of this moment for so long,” she whispered.
He moved between her legs, gazing down at her. “I would be lying if I said I’d done the same,” he said hoarsely. “I worked very hard to keep you from my mind.”
“I understand.” She did, but that didn’t keep unshed tears from stinging her throat. “I know I hurt you, and if I could take it back, I would.”
“Shhh.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers. “It wasn’t your choice. I know that.”
“No, but Ihadchoices.” A tear leaked from her eye and snaked down her temple into her hair.
He kissed her forehead, her eyelid, her tear-stained temple, then smoothed her hair back, his fingers gently brushing the locks. “You didn’t. Not really. And I should have realized that.”
“You would have if you’d gotten my letter,” she said bitterly.
“We can’t look back anymore. I don’t want to.”
She felt him tense and wondered if he was trying to convince himself as much as her. She cupped the side of his face, feeling the faint scruff of his beard at this late hour. “I want to look forward. With you.”
He kissed her again, their mouths melding in perfect harmony. His hand moved between them, stroking her eager flesh. She moaned as he slid inside.
She wrapped her legs around him, but he didn’t move. He simply stayed there, filling her, while he kissed her tenderly.
Joy burst through her as ecstasy swirled, ready to explode within her once more. She clung to him as he started to pulse within her, withdrawing slightly, then thrusting back, increasing her sensation of completion. It was as if she’d found the part of her that was missing.
She squeezed his backside and tightened her legs around him. He pulled back then, almost leaving her, before plunging back into her. Then he did it again. And again. And again until she was overcome with need. She clutched at him desperately, her harsh cries filling the room. When she didn’t think she could survive another moment, she came, her mind and spirit breaking into tiny, rapturous pieces that she knew he could put back together again. Having him here meant she could be whole.
His body tensed, and she held him tight as his orgasm ripped through him. He shouted and, she laughed, unable to keep the happiness inside her.
She stroked his back until his rhythm slowed, though his breathing was still hard and fast. He kissed her, touching her face, before he rolled to the side. She reached over and laid her hand on his chest as it rose and fell, eventually slowing to an almost normal cadence. His skin was warm, and she leaned close to press a kiss beside his nipple.
“I don’t think I have words,” he said finally.
“I don’t think I do either, but we should probably find some.” She rolled away from him and got up to tidy herself at the washbasin in the corner. She returned to the bed with a cloth for him.
He took it, and she turned and went to pick up her robe. Before she could put it on, he said, “No. Please. Come back to me.”
He pulled the coverlet back and slipped into the bedclothes, then beckoned her to join him.
She did so, feeling suddenly shy, which was silly. He knew her as intimately as anyone ever had. As anyone ever would.
She slid into bed beside him, and he drew her close. He kissed her hairline, his lips lingering against her. “What words do you think we need to find?”
Gathering her courage, she turned to look him in the eye. “The words that will lead us back to each other.”
Chapter 14
Nick was confused. “I thought we had.”
She traced her finger along his chest. “There are still things we don’t know—eight years is a long time.”
Her touch was distracting, and he was already thinking of the next things he wanted to do to her. “If you don’t stop that, there will be no words. At least none that aren’t ‘please,’ ‘don’t stop,’ or perhaps ‘harder.’”
