Page 63 of Dukes of Peril

“Yeah,” he says, dipping his head to lazily lick my lips, “but you’re our badass Duchess, andso muchdirtier.”

Across the room, I don’t miss the look exchanged between Sy and Nick. They’re not happy to have another night without me, but this thing with Remy is fresh and more fragile than ever. I don’t know where it’s leading, but I know I have to find out.

So I relent, body giving up its tension as he strokes the star on my hip. “Meet you in a minute? I need to change.”

His eyes brighten, and it’s odd. I’ve never seen Remy cautiously happy like this. He’s always either on or off, all or nothing. Now, however, he whispers, “Okay, Vinny,” and slowly drags his touch from me, sauntering away.

After clamping down on the part of myself that wants to chase him, I make a beeline for the spiral staircase to my loft, jolting in surprise when Nick stops me.

He grabs my wrist, pulling me into the wall of his body. “All night?” he asks, eyes hard and unhappy.

Nervous at his expression, I don’t bother bringing up that he’s the one who stayed away last night. “Nick.” I press my palm to his warm chest. “I won,” I say, hoping that’s enough to soothe this quiet intensity. It’s not often that I fight for something and win it, and the truth is, I don’t even know what that means yet.

But I want to find out–so badly that my blood is buzzing with it.

Nick holds my gaze, nodding. “I get it. To the victor go the spoils.” But then he pitches forward, lips brushing across mine. “You could set an alarm, though.”

“Oh, my god.” One hand pushes him away while the other drags him back, my fingers twisting in his shirt. “You’re being ridiculous. I’m not waking up in the middle of the night to come back out here and fuck you.”

It’s only when I catch his gaze, seeing the sharp downturn of his mouth, that I realize what this stony, dark expression of his is.

He’spouting.

I’m so caught up in the dawning appreciation that when he reaches between my legs, hooking his fingers into the crotch of my shorts, I can’t do much more than lock up in surprise.

His fingers instantly find my hole, shoulder dropping as he pushes one inside. My jaw goes slack, hands catching his biceps to steady myself, and he freezes.

Nick stares into my eyes, a slow smirk pulling at his cheek. “He already fucked you.” At my jerky nod, he groans. “Fuck, I bet it was hot.”

Seeing that horny ember in his eyes growing, I bat his hand away. “It was also exhausting, and I’m too sore to do anything more tonight.”

His big hands palm my ass, the expression on his face intent. “Tomorrow.”

“I know.”

He tilts my chin up. “I’m serious, Little Bird.”

I see it in his eyes, a promise that might feel like a threat if I didn’t know better. A little niggle in the back of my mind wonders how long I could make him wait, but I still agree, “Tomorrow, I promise.” This man is hungry for me and now that we’ve started this up, there’s no going back.

His hands slide up my sides until he reaches my breasts and cups them in his hands. “At least send me a picture of your tits. I need something to jerk off to tonight.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m pretty sure you can use your imagination.”

His eyebrows knit together. “Fuck, you’re killing me.” He kisses me again, squeezing my tits and running his thumbs over my nipples until they harden into peaks. I know it’s an attempt to get me horny for him and it’s not going to work.

Well, it’s absolutely going to work, but unlike the three of them, I actually have some self-control.

I pat his chest. “Goodnight, Nick.”

“Fine.” His shoulders drop in defeat, but when I turn to climb the stairs, he brings a palm down hard on my ass, thesmackreverberating through the room. His smirk shines back at me when I yelp, whirling an outraged stare at him. He shrugs, sauntering backward toward his bedroom. “I’ll work off memory.”

I flip him off before returning to my task, going upstairs to change. When I come back down in a loose sweatshirt and pajama shorts, Sy is standing at the bottom of the stairs with a glass of water and two familiar capsules.

I stop short, surprised at the thoughtfulness. “Thank you.” I pop them in my mouth and swallow them down, wincing when the glass presses against my busted lip.

After taking the glass back, he reaches out, knuckles gently brushing the wound. “You kicked ass out there tonight.”

“I learned from the best.”

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