“Impossibly,” he slipped two fingers inside her body, “tight...and wet.”
She held mortification at bay. Mortification belonged to the harsh light of day. She would welcome, instead, the darkness and the rhythm that turned her skin to heat.
Now she understood the pleas that had fallen from the brothel windows.
Yes. Please. More.
She may have even spoken them aloud.
No matter how wide she flowered, his touch asked for something beyond. Asked? No. Demanded. Indirect, her duke was not.
Her duke?
Yes, hers—hers for three nights. She claimed him with a needy groan. Placing her palms against his stubbled cheeks, she grasped his beautiful face and forced his mouth back to her nipple, exactly where he belonged.
“Yes.” She twisted. “Please.” She sighed. “More.” This time, shehadbegged aloud.
She did not care. Her consciousness coalesced to a single point.Ashbey.
His rhythm grew insistent; her body stretched toward his command. She could not parse the sensations that simmered. Craving spooled in her legs, her belly, and her breasts, winding and then tightening until she vibrated with lust from the inside out.
Too much. She flailed and whimpered. She might have even cried.
He didn’t listen. He refused her space to breathe. So, she broke into pieces in his arms. Cinders sparked and spun as they rushed through her veins as pure pleasure. Then, slowly, her blood thickened with exhausted satisfaction.
Everything became still, and she was at once both shattered and whole.
Now, Ash knew.
His lady’s passions were intemperate; her desire raw. She’d been uninhibited perfection as her pleasure peaked, awkward and real and trembling to her core. He’d shuddered with her—his retrained desire to her complete release.
Numb? Not at all.
Pain sung in his cock—taut, restless pain, demanding release. He did not even try to master his torment. To feel was to be alive. For once, he intended to live.
Sweetness and agony. Satisfaction and surrender.
Beauty personified.
He tuned to her, aware of every movement, no matter how small. His gaze searched her face for some clue as to whythiswoman possessed the key to unlock his life force. She remained a consummate mystery.
She inhaled and lifted her lids, her wild eyes coming to rest on his.
“Ashbey,” she whispered.
He tried not to peacock at the wonder in her voice. He tried, and he failed.
“I’d say the lady is thoroughly pleasured.”
Her lids drooped. She touched a finger to his chest, trailing it softly up his neck to his lips. He tasted his sweat on its tip, and then took her finger fully into his mouth.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Providing you with ideas,” he smiled a suggestive smile, “for later.”
Her eyes clouded with confusion, then widened as her confusion cleared. She returned his smile with a glint of wicked promise. Giddy gratitude filled his mind.
She stretched, arching her back and spreading her arms. Settling back into the pillows, she subjected him to a thorough visual exam.
