Page 95

Her eyes widened, and color bloomed across her face. Catherine shifted forward and then went onto her knees before him. She traced the plains of his chest with her small hands, her movements smooth despite the bumping and jostling of the carriage along the rough road. “I feel the same way,” she murmured, placing a kiss on his collarbone.

He kissed her on the lips. It was not the hard, passionate kiss that they had shared in the park, but instead a gentle and fleeting one that foretold of pleasant things yet to come. “Get on the seat,” he murmured.

Catherine eyed him curiously, but she did as he had asked. He grinned. “Spread your legs and let your heels rest on the edge of the seat.”

“Oh!” Catherine exclaimed.

She pressed herself back and spread her legs. Without being asked, Catherine heaved up her skirts, exposing herself from the waist down. She shivered, and William’s hungry eyes took in the sight of her pale, slender thighs and the tightly wound brown curls that hid her center.

“Beautiful,” he murmured.

She tilted her head to look at him. “You will have to be creative,” she said. “I do not think you can lay astride me here.”

“No,” he agreed.

William went on his knees before her and traced his fingertips along her thighs, his touch so light that he was certain Catherine only felt the merest pressure from his fingertips. Gooseflesh rose along her skin, and she shifted impatiently. He chuckled against her thigh.

William leaned forward and pressed kisses along her inner thighs, following the same path that he had made with his caresses. He spent an eternity just kissing and petting her thighs, and Catherine shifted beneath his ministrations. She tipped her head back and groaned.

“You are taking forever!” she exclaimed.

“I am building the anticipation,” he said.

Catherine bucked her hips, and William leaned forward. With his tongue, he pressed against that familiar place that made Catherine come undone. She made a rather unseemly shrieking sound and bucked once more against him.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Oh! William!”

Her legs shook, and her hips moved wildly. She was wet against his tongue, and with a cry, Catherine found her release. The proof of her arousal moistened the inside of her thighs, and she gasped for air. As always, Catherine’s face was flushed and her eyes bright.

“You always look so wonderfully disheveled when I am finished with you,” he said, unfastening his trousers with one hand.

She laughed and shook her head, her lips twitching into a bright smile. Catherine looked at him with mock dismay, as though she could not believe his antics. He took his manhood in hand and slowly ran his hand over it, a low moan tearing from his throat. William traced his thumb over his tip, spurred onward by Catherine’s quickening breath.

He was hard, his body begging for release. When he could bear it no longer, he carefully lined himself up to Catherine’s entrance and gently pushed past her walls. She groaned lowly. Her nails dug into the cushions, as he pushed himself into her with agonizing slowness.

“Oh, yes…” she breathed shakily. “Oh, please! I want all of you!”

“I know,” he murmured.

“Oh, please…”

He sheathed himself firmly inside her and gazed into her face, which was blissfully happy. “I love you,” he said, leaning down for a kiss.

She returned his kiss and curled her fingers in his hair, drawing him nearer to her. They kissed again and again, until his member ached. He drew back and pulled himself out. Then, in. William’s thighs quivered, and his knees ached. He kept his pace slow and gently, as Catherine’s inner walls pressed tightly against him.

“That is so good!” she gasped, tossing an arm over her face. “So very good.”

In and out. William fell into a gentle rhythm, and Catherine’s body warmed. She pressed against them, and together they moved, climbing nearer and nearer to the pinnacle of pleasure. Catherine’s muscles pressed wildly against him, and she found thatpetit mortonce again, crying out in pleasure. A heartbeat later, William found his as well. He spent himself inside her and withdrew, gasping for his own breath.

Catherine gazed at him with a dazed expression. “You were marvelous,” she said. “That was…that is not what you usually do.”

“I thought I should try something different,” he said.

William drew her into his arms, and her head lulled back against his shoulder. He held her and stroked her hair, as the coach rocked beneath them both. Catherine’s eyelashes fluttered. “I believe that you have made me overly tired,” she said. “Now, I shall wish to sleep for the rest of the journey.”

“No one is stopping you,” he murmured, kissing her temple. “I promise that I shall be here when you wake.”

The flush that spread across her face had also spread to her breasts. He fondled them in his hands, and Catherine hummed in pleasure. “Beautiful,” he said again. “My perfect duchess.”