Page 61 of The Duke of Lies
He rolled to her side, and with the loss of his weight and pressure between her legs, she groaned with disappointment.
“Shh,” he whispered against her breast. He pulled at the neckline of her night rail, dragging it down over her breast. It pulled taut against her neck, but it didn’t hurt. Not that she would have noticed pain as soon as his mouth closed over her bare breast. His lips and tongue teased and tormented her all while his other hand moved up her leg, pushing her night rail to her waist.
Cool air rushed over her thighs, her sex. But then his hand was there, his fingers trailing through her curls. He traced around her opening, driving her mad with need.
“Kit.” Again, she wasn’t sure what she wanted but knew it involved him touching her there.
Then he did.
Lightly at first, his fingertips tracing softly over the folds of her flesh. He stroked and pressed with his fingers, coaxing her desire to an even greater height. Then his thumb found that spot that had given her such pleasure when he’d settled between her legs, where his shaft had rested and moved, creating a friction she longed to feel again.
Just as she began to rotate her hips, seeking that abrasion of him against her, he slid his finger inside her sex. She cried out, surprised but also jubilant at the delicious sensation of him filling her.
This was nothing like she’d experienced before. This was expert, not clumsy, refined, not rough.
He sucked hard on her nipple, then grazed the flesh with his teeth. She couldn’t be still. Her body writhed beneath his, her hands moving over him, urging him for more. She rose off the chaise, and her hips circled between the cushion and his touch. His hand worked faster, stroking her flesh, then filling her again. He pumped into her a few times, then withdrew and teased her from the outside, sending her spiraling into desperate desire.
When he entered her again, it was with two fingers—or so she thought. She began to lose herself. She just knew it was more—spectacularly more—and she rose up to meet his thrusts.
His mouth met hers in a deeply arousing kiss, wet and hot, and somehow mimicking what he was doing to her sex. He pulled back and whispered, “Come for me, Verity. Let go. Do you understand?”
She shook her head, her senses in a frenzy as her body tried to comprehend what he meant.
“You’re going to fall apart—pleasure you never imagined. You’re so close, I can feel it. Just give yourself over to me. Focus on me touching you here.” He pressed that place at the top of her sex that felt so good. “And on my fingers inside you. I know you want to move more. Give yourself up to the movement. Rise up, take me deep inside you.” His words enflamed her as he thrust into her, filling her. She began to understand. That thing rising inside her was reaching a peak. She could feel it too. Shewasclose, whatever that meant.
And then she knew.
He squeezed her nipple as he thrust his fingers deep into her sex. Whatever was holding her together simply broke. She was no longer a whole person. She wasn’t even sure she was still Verity. Nor did she want to be. She was a mess of sensation and pleasure, and there was nothing but ecstasy and joy.
It took long moments for her body to begin to quiet. She opened her eyes and stared up into his face, taut with his own unquenched desire. Rufus had always taken his pleasure, as evidenced by his shouts of satisfaction and the spilling of his seed.
“I should go,” he said.
She caressed his face, gently running her thumb over his bruise. “Please don’t. Come to my bed.”
He inhaled sharply. “Verity, I don’t wish to take advantage.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m asking you to. Please. Take advantage.”
His face cracked into a smile that made her heart flip over. She began to fully comprehend the love that her cousin Diana had for her husband. Not that she loved this man—not yet, anyway. But she was desperate to finish what they’d started, for so many reasons.
“You’ve done so much to erase a painful past, I suspect without even realizing it. Tonight you’ve given me a taste of what marriage could truly be, and I would ask you to complete the lesson.”
“I know nothing of marriage.”
“Then of sex. It seems you know plenty of that.” She suffered a surprising flash of jealousy as she contemplated how that had come to pass.
He rolled from the chaise and stood. Disappointment curled in her gut. But only for a moment.
He offered her his hand. “My lady.”
She gave him a half smile as well as her hand. “I’m a duchess. It’s ‘Your Grace.’”
He hauled her up and pulled her against his chest, his arm snaking around her waist. “I meantmylady. You’remine. Tonight.” He kissed her, his hand twining in her braid and pulling her head back while he devoured her mouth.
She felt exposed and vulnerable and incredibly aroused. The satisfaction she’d felt moments ago faded behind a swell of desire so strong, her legs quivered.
He swept her into his arms and carried her into her chamber. Rather than deposit her on the bed, he set her down next to it and immediately pushed her dressing gown over her shoulders.
