Page 44 of The Duke of Deceit

“No,” he murmured.

Her eyes not leaving his, she nodded faintly and stood. She slowly approached him, then tenderly cupped his face betweenher hands as she rose up on tiptoes. She hesitated only a moment before touching her lips to his.

Lucien’s heart slammed against his breastbone so hard he feared she could feel it even from six inches away. The tenderness of her innocent kiss ached inside him. Not one of passion, not curiosity, not selfish desire—but redemption. He could taste the absolution on her lips, and it rocked him to his core.

She was nervous; he felt it in the way she hesitated before moving her lips gently against his. But that hesitation only deepened the impossibly sweet taste of her. For a fleeting moment, he nearly pushed her away, afraid his black soul might taint her, until…

“Kiss me back,” she whispered against his lips.

With that, he was lost. All he knew at that moment was the comfort she was willing to give in a misguided attempt to heal him, along with his own desperation to claim it. So he slipped his arms around her and pulled her against him as he deepened the kiss.

She was soft and pliant as she melted against his hard front, trusting in him to keep her supported as her arms snaked up around his neck. Yet he wanted more from her,neededmore. So he traced the tip of his tongue across the seam of her lips in silent cajoling to open to him, to let him explore her kiss and claim every bit of solace he could.

Trembling, she parted her lips, and when he slipped his tongue between them, her soft sigh of nervous delight sparked through him with a tingling pleasure he never would have thought possible in a jaded man like himself. But then, Jess brought out all kinds of feelings in him he’d thought long dead and buried, and he reveled in them. As if he could show her how much, he swept his tongue across her smooth inner lip before plunging deep. The sigh on her lips turned into a temptingly softmoan, and her fingers curled into the short hair at his nape as she arched herself into him.

She wanted more as much as he did. He could feel it in the thumping of her racing heartbeat as her breasts pressed into his chest, in the quickening of her soft breath and the trembling that now gripped her as she dared to mirror his kiss and slipped her own tongue tentatively between his lips. He remained still as she curiously touched the tip of her tongue to his, then felt her smile against his mouth.

A low groan rose from the back of his throat. Not breaking the kiss, he sank onto the crate and brought her down onto his lap. Her arms remained wrapped around his neck, and her lips on his now returned his kisses with the same desperate hunger with which he gave them.

He would have said she craved the same comfort and absolution from him that he sought in her, but that was impossible. What could she have possibly done to warrant such a need? Unless it was the very act of desiring him, and not only because he was a reported rake but because she surely felt she was betraying her sister.

He slipped his mouth away from hers, over her cheek to her ear, and murmured, “You deserve to be kissed, Jessamyn.” He placed a tender kiss to her earlobe and was rewarded with a tremble. “You deserve to feel pleasure and be made happy, in every way.” His hand on her back moved to her side. “You deserve to be touched.”

He caressed her breast, and thank God, she didn’t pull away. Instead, she arched into him in silent invitation for more, one he gladly accepted by cupping her breast against his palm. Too many layers of clothing prevented him from giving her more intimate pleasures, but he knew the heat of his hand would still seep through the thin muslin and undergarments and into her skin beneath, knew she would still feel the soft massaging ofhis fingers. Just as he instinctively knew that no man had ever touched her like this before.

But even that wasn’t enough for her, and she pressed herself harder into his hand.

God help him, he couldn’t refuse her. So he carefully unfastened the top two buttons on her back to loosen her dress. Her breath quickened nervously against his mouth as he continued to kiss her even as his hand slipped beneath her neckline and under her chemise and stays to touch the silky warmth of her bare breast.

Suddenly shy, she tore her mouth away from his and buried her face in his neck.

He placed a kiss to her temple and couldn’t help but smile. “You’re beautiful,” he assured her as he caressed his fingers over her skin, drawing slow circles closer and closer to her nipple, already hard and taut in anticipation of being touched. “So soft…so warm…”

He swept his fingers beneath her breast and gently freed it from the confining stays and chemise, revealing it to his hungry eyes in the dappled shadows. His gut clenched with longing so acute, he lost his breath.

“Beautiful,” he murmured and traced his forefinger around the rosy nipple. The temptation was irresistible, so he lowered his head and took it between his lips to lightly suckle.

He felt her gasp, her body stiffening against his for only a moment. Then she softened with a long sigh, rolled back her head, and ran her fingers through his hair in silent encouragement.

He gladly obliged and sucked harder, pulling her deeply into his mouth. He rolled his tongue around her hard nipple and nearly groaned at the taste of her.

“Lucien?” His name was a pained whisper.

He smiled against her breast because she’d used his given name for the first time. He placed a parting kiss to her nipple, then lifted his head to stare into her eyes, which were dark with desire and confusion. “Yes?”

“What…were you searching for…during the wars?” Her question emerged between soft pants for breath, but her hands never left his shoulders where her fingers dug deeply into the hard muscle, as if she were afraid he’d somehow fall away into the earth and leave her behind.

He reached up slowly to brush his thumb over her bottom lip and quietly admitted, “You.”

She frowned. Clearly, she thought his words nothing but scheming charms. After all, her bare breast still lay nestled in his palm, his fingers unable to fight the temptation not to fondle her nipple even now.

She parted her lips to ask another question—

He leaned up and captured her mouth with his.

This new kiss wasn’t at all one of comfort and solace. No, it was raw and heated, greedy, hungry. He assaulted her mouth with his to claim every bit of her kiss, and this time, when he slid his tongue into her mouth, it wasn’t exploration he sought but capitulation. He thrust between her lips, hard and fast and deep, leaving no doubt that he was plundering her mouth the exact same way he wanted to plunder the rest of her body.

When a begging whimper rose from her lips, he smiled triumphantly. He gave her nipple a quick pinch in reward, and the sensation of pleasure-pain shuddered through her.