Page 91 of Duke, Actually

“Are you sure?” He slid his hand down so the meaty part of his palm rested over the thatch of curls between her legs. He made little circles, as if soothing her, watching her like a hawk the whole time.

He was putting pressure on her clit, but indirectly, by dint of the weight of his palm. It felt good. She wanted more. She let her legs fall open, and he sucked in a breath as his gaze whipped down from her face.

She had done some overdue grooming in advance of her failed Tinder dates, she supposed because each time, she’d deluded herself into thinking she was going to actually do the deed. And she had fretted every time. She had been out of the dating pool for so long. Should she take off more? What was normal? What was expected? What was alluring?

She had no worries about that now. None.

Max had shifted his hand a little but hadn’t changed its angle. It was perfect—or almost perfect. Opening her legs had exposed her clit, and she wiggled her hips around until—oh. The perfect amount of pressure. He started to move his hand, and she shot hers out and clamped it down on his even as she rolled her hips, rocking against the base of his palm.

He got the message and pressed a little harder, causing a sharp, involuntary inhalation. She’d had hand jobs in her life, but they had always involved fingers. But there was something about the firm yet diffuse pressure of the edge of his palm that was working for her.

Well, come on, there was something aboutMaxthat was working for her. Her beautiful friend she trusted absolutely.

It didn’t hurt that, as he used to joke, he was very good at this. He kept up the pressure, moving his hand in tiny circles as he stared at her, the blue flames burning high.

“Are you going to be able to come like this?” he whispered.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Yes. Kiss me again.”And never stop.

There was something almost unbearably erotic about being dressed in a suit while Dani lay on the bed in front of him withher dress bunched around her middle. The juxtaposition between her dishevelment and the fact that Max was fully and formally attired was hot as hell. And when she started shaking and moaning as she came beneath his palm, he wondered if he would ever get over it.

He also wondered if she was all right. As she rode the aftershocks, he kept his hand on her, hoping now that he’d used it to get her off, he could also use it to anchor her. If this was her first time being with anyone since Vince, since the divorce that had come throughtoday, she might be unexpectedly emotional.

“Take off that suit.”

Or perhaps not.

He took off the suit—so quickly he ran into trouble as he tripped over his own feet trying to get out of the pants—and pitched forward onto the bed.

She rolled out of the way, laughing, and twisted herself into a pretzel trying to get her dress over her head and unhook a complicated bra with crisscross straps in back. He helped her with the latter, and eventually, they ended up in a tangle of limbs and laughter.

You are beautiful, he wanted to say, because she was. Her pinned-up braids were half undone, and she had small, perfect breasts shaped like teardrops.

You are beautiful.It was the only sentiment in his head. He wanted to say it so badly, but he knew she wouldn’t want to hear that from him, at least not in the intense, reverent tone it was sure to be delivered in. So he kissed her to make himself shut up.

She kissed him back with abandon, but not for very long. Probably because she was aware that she’d come and he hadn’t. She was probably more aware than he was, given how he’d been living in his head, mooning over her, but when she touched him for the first time, he was, suddenly,aware.

“Dear god,” he bit out as her hand closed around him.

“Is this okay?” she whispered.

He laughed.

“I’m going to take that as a yes.”

“Yes,” he gasped, as she tightened her grip and moved her hand up and down his shaft.

Max had fancied himself, before Dani, a skilled lover. He could last a long time, usually. It had been so long, though. In order for this not to be over two seconds after it started, he needed to— “Oh, no.”

She laughed, but notathim, he didn’t think. She sounded delighted.

As his body shuddered, he watched her laugh, and he was pretty damn delighted, too.

“Do you have any condoms?” Dani said a few minutes later, while they were lying side by side panting.

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