Page 57 of Dukes for Dessert

He loosened the corset with skilled fingers, pulling out the laces with ease. Under that was her combinations, her breasts unfettered beneath.

Sophie unbuttoned David’s waistcoat as he unfastened her skirt. The gown was beautiful—he recognized a masterful touch in its making—but Sophie underneath was even more beautiful.

The warmth of her sparked fire as he shoved the exquisite skirts and petticoats away, lifting Sophie from them when they pooled at her feet. She yanked at the buttons of his shirt, David laughing at her fervor as he closed his arms around her.

She was as soft and pliant as he’d imagined, nothing between them now but her combinations and stockings. David’s shirt opened under her urgent fingers, and he couldn’t stop a groan as her touch landed on his bare skin.

“My love.” He kissed her neck, then traced its curve with his tongue. “Sophie, I have wanted you for so long.”

“Highly improper,” she murmured.

“I think you know me well enough to realize I don’t give a damn.”

Her look was impish. “I meant it is highly improper how much I’ve been wanting you. In my uncle’s vicarage, no less. I wanted to kiss you and touch you …”

“Stop.” David’s need flared high. “You’re going to kill me.”

“I’d never hurt you.” Sophie’s voice went soft. “But I think we both needed some relief.”

“I love that you are wicked.” David tugged her closer. “Never as wicked as me, but I can teach you if you’d like.”

Sophie touched his face. “I would like that.”

“Hell.”

All teasing fell away. David swept Sophie into his arms and carried her to the bed. He made short work of her undergarments, Sophie laughing as she helped him.

One thing he liked about a kilt—he could unbelt it and unwind it quickly, no stumbling over clumsy trousers. The swaths of plaid came open, loosening and falling away.

He spread the plaid on the bed, surrounding Sophie with his Scottish ancestry, and slid off the drawers he wore beneath—no traditional bareness for David.

He took a moment to study her—full breasts, waist nipped in a little from corsets, lush hips, lovely legs that had always been hidden by skirts. He’d glimpsed those legs from time to time as they’d scrambled around Dr. Pierson’s excavation, brief flashes of calf, and once a very enticing hint of thigh when he’d helped her out of the hole where the mosaic lay. Enough to make him hot and breathless and deprive him of sleep for days.

Now she was here, in his bed. David hadn’t used this room in years—it was fitting he re-enter this house and chamber as a new man with Sophie.

He was on the bed beside her in the next moment, her body silken under his touch. His shirt still hung from his arms, but he couldn’t be bothered to shrug it off.

“Your uncle ruined my hands,” David said, spreading one across her belly. In spite of his gloves, his skin had become rough, palms hardened from the work. “Making me dig like a garden laborer.”

Sophie caught his hand and kissed it. “I think it’s perfect.”

“The kindness of you.” David brushed her lips with his fingertips.

“You make me want to be kind.”

“Hmm, I am not certain that’s a compliment. You make me want to be very, very bad.”

Her smile undid him. “I think I shouldn’t mind.”

Sophie’s answer, coupled with the heat in her eyes, sent David’s thoughts to wicked places. He cupped her breast, loving its weight against his palm, then ran his hand down to the join of her legs.

She was ready for him, liquid heat. David slid over her, kissing her as he positioned himself.

She welcomed him in. David closed his eyes, becoming complete for the first time in his life as he slid inside her. Sophie surrounded him, held him, and David knew the fire of pleasure and love.

Sophie wanted to cry out as David thrust deep inside her. This was new, an awareness, a longing, a need she’d never experienced.

This was not her first time with a man, yet she felt raw, eager, passionate. David slid into her, hard, but there was no hurting—her body wanted him. This was her David, the man as gentle as he was sinful. He touched her, kissed her, and smiled at her, before he closed his eyes and groaned.