Page 51 of Married to the Duke By Midnight

“May I?” he asked again, his voice had grown considerably hoarser now.

Jo swallowed with a dry sound and nodded. They made quick work of the corset together, and Robert was less careful when he threw it on the floor next to her dress.

“Heavens, Jo,” he breathed and the next thing she knew she was in his arms again and his mouth landed on hers.

Yes, her entire body sang. This was it. She had known she only needed to go through the initial awkwardness and then this would happen. Bliss, once again.

She lost track of how long they kissed, only reveled in Robert’s hands that roamed her body. She was able to feel the heat from them much more clearly through her thin chemise. When she trailed her hands from his neck to his shoulders, she realized that he was still wearing all his clothes.

Could she… she wanted to ask him to take it off, but it seemed brazen and wanton to do so. Yet Robert had not minded the other times when she had said or done anything brazen or wanton.

Slowly she let her hands trail from his shoulders to his chest then pushed upwards so that her hands landed on his shoulders beneath his jacket and she could gently nudge it off. Robert immediately understood her intent and impatiently shrugged the jacket from his shoulders without breaking their kiss once.

Jo’s hands found his cravat as both of Robert’s hands found her bottom and the fingers dug into her soft flesh to drive her hips closer to his. She was certain the hardness she felt meant he was aroused. It only enticed her further and she hurriedly undid the buttons of his waistcoat and dragged it off his shoulders before she untied his cravat and carelessly threw it away. Jo gathered herself with a breath before daring to kiss Robert’s jaw and then his throat.

She wanted to kiss the groove between his clavicles that removing his cravat had exposed. She had never thought much of men’s necks, but there was something heady and powerful about being able to kiss such a strong yet vulnerable part of his body. Robert hissed in delight as Jo kissed lower, and she felt him arch his head to give her better access, as she had done for him previously.

As she kissed her way back up, she tried to tug his shirt from his breeches. Evidently, she was not fast enough, because Robert stepped away and quickly drew it over his head, throwing it on the floor next to her corset.

Jo inhaled sharply at the sight of him. She had seen men’s naked torsos before. Mostly in drawings or as statues, but also farmers in the fields in the summer. Nothing had prepared her for what it would be like to see one up close.

Robert’s chest was firm and strong with the slightest definition of muscles beneath the skin and a dusting of auburn hair. It radiated heat, and before she knew it, Jo clung to him to feel that heat through her thin chemise.

“Bed?” Robert rasped and Jo nodded frantically, her mouth not leaving his to answer.

They tumbled to the bed. Jo lay back and Robert crawled on top of her after toeing off his shoes. She liked his weight, even though she could feel he was not putting all of it on her. She might like that, she thought, but she did not want to pry her tongue out of his mouth to tell him. Instead, she tugged him firmer against her by twining her arms behind his back.

Robert groaned into her mouth. His hips were moving against hers now that they were lying down, and Jo could not help but move her own against him. Heavens, if she let her body decide, it would welcome him inside her in a matter of minutes. But she knew that she still needed to hold back a little. She was not ready for the consequences of giving all of herself to him.

“This fine?” Robert asked against her lips, and she felt his hand on the outside of her breast again.

“Yes,” Jo answered frantically. “Yes, yes, yes.”

Robert’s hand found her breast, as he seemed to press himself harder against her. Jo opened her legs for him, allowing him to settle between them and they both groaned as his most private place, still covered by his breeches, met hers.

Both their kissing and their movements intensified. Robert’s mouth traveled from her lips down her neck and found her nipple through the thin fabric. Jo gasped in delight and wound her legs around his to press herself more firmly against him.

Her body increased its writhing against Robert’s as he found her other nipple with his free hand. She was panting and moaning now. Wanting more and more and more. Now that she knew where this would lead, she wanted to get there as fast as possible – and draw the pleasure out endlessly at the same time.

“Can you come like this?” Robert asked. His breathing was just as strained as hers.

Jo nodded frantically, then felt the buttons of his breeches dig into her flesh in a way that was not entirely pleasurable.

“The… your,” she used her hands to tug at his breeches, which did not give since they were still buttoned.

“Should I take them off?” Robert growled while already pushing a hand between them to undo the buttons. His mouth found her nipple again while he did it and then shoved his breeches down his thighs.

They both groaned when his hardness met her wet sex. He was only wearing his small clothes now which were made from a much thinner material than his breeches and Jo could feel all of him. He seemed impossibly large, hard, and warm – and just right against her aching, swollen sex.

Jo arched her back and ground against him to make him hit the exact place she wanted. She felt like a wild animal, taking what it wanted without a second thought. But the groan and moans from Robert made him sound equally feral and out of control.

“It’s so good, Jo… so good,” Robert rasped above her. “I want to fuck you so much… It will be so good, when I can fuck you…”

“Yes,” was all Jo could answer. She pried his head away from her breast to kiss his mouth hungrily. “Yes.”

“I will do it every day… all the time… all over the house…”

“Yes,” Jo moaned and felt her core and lower belly tighten further at his words.