Page 34 of Claimed By the Duke of Ice

“You’re like a kitten, you know that?” he murmured, enraptured by the way his hands were able to make her undulate on his lap.

“Arching into my palm with each touch of my fingers. Wiggling into my lap more. How sensitive you must be.” Nathaniel spoke his words with fascination, for that is how he felt about her. The way he craved aversion to touch, he realized, was the same way she craved to be touched.

“I cannot help it,” Grace replied, her voice twisting in deeper levels of pleasure with each new touch of his fingertips. “I—I have always liked to be held, yes. But this…ah! This is…I have never felt pleasure like this from anyone else’s touch but yours, Nathaniel.”

Nathaniel suddenly felt incredibly pleased to know this. He liked knowing that Grace could only react this way to him. And he only then realized that he didn’t want anyone else touching her, not like this. This was for him.

A new, strange sort of understanding dawned on Nathaniel as he began to kiss Grace again. Her lovely, pouting lips parted for him readily, and he began to feel lost in the sensation of it all as his hands continued their exploration. Soon, though, he was not able to stay satisfied with roaming his hands over the fabric of her dress.

Wanting more, he began to gather the skirts of her gown and pulled them up so that they puddled at her waist. This time, his gloved fingertips caressed down the naked flesh of Grace’s calf, and he was quickly rewarded with an even more intense jolt from her. So much so she broke their kiss again and looked at him in shock as his hand continued to travel up to her thigh.

“You like this?” he asked, meeting her eyes.

Grace nodded quickly, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps.

“Very much,” she whimpered.

Nathaniel drew his hand higher, trailing from her lower inner thigh to her mons. With a gentle press of his gloves, Grace gasped and squirmed against him once again.

“And here?” he asked patiently, his arousal gathering like a tremendous storm inside him. He drew a line with his nose up the gentle curve of Grace’s neck and inhaled deeply as he pressed his fingers against her mons once more. Then, just as she let out another gasp, Nathaniel scraped his teeth against her throat before placing his lips there hotly.

Satisfaction rippled through him as Grace’s body levitated out of his lap, and a possessive growl rumbled in his chest as he scooped her up and carried her to the chaise. Grace clung to him as he carried her, and when he gently laid her down on the cushion, she whimpered once more.

“What will happen now?” she asked, her eyes searching his desperately for an answer.

This was the farthest Nathaniel had ever come with her—ever come with anyone. And he knew from their brief conversation the night of their wedding that this was the farthest Grace had ever come with anyone as well. They were alike in this. They both had a right to say stop at this moment. But instead, she was letting him guide her, letting him decide how far they could go. And he realized then that he wanted to go further.

“Lie back,” he commanded, going to his knees. Grace gave him an alarmed look but obeyed as his hands once more pulled up her skirts then slowly dragged away her undergarments.

During a visit to a neighboring duke in recent years, Nathaniel had been given no choice but to attend an event he’d never seen before and hadn’t seen since. He had been told it was a “gathering of the arts,” but it was, in reality, an orgy. The room had been swathed in shimmering silks, and almost every square inch of the floor had been littered with plump pillows. Amongst them were dozens of couples and even some groupings of aroused humans, their bodies undulating to the beat of a low drum being played somewhere nearby.

It had shocked him at first to see so many sexual acts at once, but his aversion had never been toward sex. Just touch. And he was fascinated by the things he saw. One act, in particular, had drawn the most interest: a woman, naked and supple and sprawled across a giant pillow, being eaten between the legs by a man with an obviously ferocious appetite. Only it was not cannibalistic. His face was buried between her legs, and as he slurped and lapped at his meal, the woman had let out the most sensual of sounds.

Unfortunately, his entire reason for being there was so that someone among the Ton could win a bet, and he left the moment he realized he was a punchline of someone’s harsh joke. But the things he saw had remained untainted in his head by the cruelty of his counterparts. And now, finally, he could experience something he’d long fantasized about.

* * *

“Your Grace, what are you—oh!” Grace gasped. Her back arched by its own volition as she felt Nathaniel’s tongue flick over the sensitive bead of flesh between her legs. Before she could catch her breath, he flicked his tongue again and sent another shudder of pleasure through her.

She had been flooded with happiness when Nathaniel had kissed her while she sat in his lap. It was what she’d hoped for, but then, when he began grazing his fingertips over her, exploring her curves and flesh, she was practically euphoric. Once he lifted her off of his lap, though, she had expected him to stop. To tell her that it was pleasant, but that was enough. She would have been happy with that, but then he got down on his knees…

The pleasure she felt when his tongue first touched her clitoris was unlike anything she’d ever experienced or expected. It warmed her blood and made her tremble; it made her eyes roll to the back of her head and her hips tilt forward in helplessness. She felt completely and utterly his as his hands gripped her hips to keep them in place, and then he devoured her as if she’d been what he was deeply craving.

Now, several minutes into his ministrations, Grace felt a deep pulling sensation begin to form within her. The imaginary strings pulling her lower belly continued to pull tighter and tighter. With each flick of his tongue, he was making her gasp over and over in pleasure as the tension of those strings became ever slightly more stressed. When she thought they couldn’t seize any tighter, Grace’s thighs began to tremble against Nathaniel’s ears. Fighting the urge to grip at the tufts of her lover’s hair, Grace gripped the pillows behind her tightly and held them fast.

As if he knew something she didn’t, Nathaniel suddenly buried his head even further between her legs and increased his rhythm as he deftly slid his finger between her tight, wet folds. The sensation of his digit inside of her, combined with the pleasure of Nathaniel’s tongue, soon became too much to bear, and as a high-pitched plea poured from her lips, so did her orgasm from between her legs.

Pleasure like a high wave swept through Grace’s trembling body. She felt something warm and wet gush between her legs and into Nathaniel’s mouth as the pressure flooded away, leaving her spent and heaving on the chaise. It was only after several moments had passed that she was able to flutter her eyelashes open and peer wearily around the room. It was as if someone had taken every rigid thing she’d held in her body and suddenly pulled them loose, leaving her a mere puddle.

Her gaze landed on Nathaniel. She felt an entirely new wave of arousal as she saw the look in his eyes as he gazed up at her from between her legs. There was satisfaction shining brightly there, along with a mixture of arousal and a longing to do more. He really is so handsome, Grace thought. Slowly, Nathaniel rose from his knees, standing. Once on his feet, he pulled his kerchief from his pocket and wiped his mouth delicately as he would any other meal.

She wanted to say something, do something, but nothing would come to her mind. It was as if she had entered some sort of dazed stupor that rendered her useless. But also completely satisfied. Satisfied in a way she’d never felt before. And it felt very good.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Nathaniel could feel his body trembling with need as he rose to his feet. His exploration of his wife’s body was way more satisfying than he had ever expected, and he wanted more. So much more. If the act itself hadn’t created such a need, the look on Grace’s face definitely had. There was a look of sated satisfaction about her, making her gorgeous blue eyes look dazed and sleepy as she peered back at him.

“I—I hope that wasn’t too forward,” he said, finally breaking the silence.

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