Page 49 of The Duke of a Thousand Desires

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His hopesfor a perfect seduction went up in smoke. Which was not an altogether unpredictable outcome, considering the desire that had come to a boil between them. Taking a lady’s virginity, that of the woman he was to spend his life with, presented a delicate predicament.

He was thankful that he’d managed to remove her gown with a semblance of civility and had not torn off his shirt and smalls. He could only hope he would not damage his wife in the course of this long-awaited night. His body felt awkward and thick compared to the soft grace of hers. He would contrive for tenderness and understanding. Nevertheless, he pulsed with pure lust.

His adorable wife wanted him. She had granted him permission to please her. He wouldn’t be forced to ask for clemency or compromise. He would fall to his knees to thank her if he didn’t have other more desperate acts in mind.

“Do you need my help undoing your hair?” he asked rather disingenuously as she lifted her hand to the sleek knot at her nape. She shook her head, her blue eyes stormy and sensual. Pins dropped silently around her to the carpet like thorns springing up to guard a princess in her castle. Let each one pierce him. He couldn’t feel anything but need. Her dark curls tumbled to her hips. She crossed her arms belatedly over her breasts. He made out the rosy color and elongated shape of her nipples. His throat closed on a silent utterance.

His.Lovely and natural. He had captured her. Now what must he do to keep her? He’d wanted her for so long he was bereft of wiles. But not of instinct. His blood roiled in elation.

“Simon, you are staring.”

“Well, you are something to stare at.”

“Rhys told me I’m built like a bowling pin. Bigger below than above.”

“I beg to disagree,” he said, chuckling at the image. “You’re more beguiling than I ever dreamed. I’ve promised myself I would be gentle,” he added as he drew her slowly toward the bed.

“Explain that to my heart.”

In truth, his flesh and blood wife surpassed his secret yearnings. Her rounded belly and voluptuous hips more than aroused him. The imperfections she claimed unleashed potent fantasies in his mind. There wasn’t a smidge of her he didn’t intend to make his. Ravenna, unattainable and indifferent to his feelings, had been torture to ignore. Wanting her for years and letting her go had broken his heart. Now she stood before him in beckoning eagerness, and he was free to show her his love.

He cleared his throat, releasing her to apply his attention to removing his clothes. “Timpkins’s breeches are plastered to my crucial parts.”

“Shall I help?” she asked, her eyes downcast.

“Yes. Please. Why not? I welcome your touch.”

He bent. In awkward urgency they peeled off his shirt and recalcitrant breeches, pausing to kiss, to breathe. Ravenna chanced a glimpse at his hard torso, at his lean stomach. Why couldn’t she stare at him as he had her?

The sensation of his warm hand on her bare shoulder intruded on her speculations. He stroked her ribs and the curve of her belly. His touch might be refined. The fervor in her blood was anything but. That he could render her this willing to please him revealed his true power.

Perhaps that was why she had avoided him in the past. Simon had always seemed like he was guarding a locked door to his real self. What was it like within his world? Lonely? Full of shadows and yearning? If she remained outside, she would be safe. But she would never solve the enigma of the man who had become the most compelling figure in her life.

She needed to know everything about him.

“You used to terrify me slightly when we were younger,” she said between shallow breaths as he led her across the room.

“Now?” he asked in a low voice.

“A little,” she whispered as she fell beneath him on the bed.

“You terrify me, too, but I like the feeling.” As he spoke his fingers wandered down her stomach to her sex. She quivered in surprise. He waited a beat and eased one finger inside her. The pressure he exerted radiated to her core. Her body clenched in desperation as he stared down at her in moody absorption.

He leaned lower, rubbing the crest of his engorged cock across her belly. The sensation undid her. He kissed her again. His tongue slid in and out of her mouth in deep penetrating strokes, arousing an internal anarchy she could not quell. His finger distended her with tenderness, and yet she reveled in the hurt. Her hips rolled at the intrusion. Her sex throbbed and grew tight.

He whispered, “If I am to breach you with minimal distress, it helps that you are not tense and allow yourself to enjoy as much of this as possible.”

“Dear heaven.”

“Ask for what you want.” His voice was patient. “We have all night. And tomorrow. Forever, in fact. I await your lead, Ravenna.”

“What if I don’t want to wait another moment?”

His dark eyes traveled the length of her. “I would advise we not hurry this. I’m yours to command, of course.”

“I believe it’s the other way around.”