Page 20 of A Bride for the Wicked Duke (Claimed by Regency Devils #2)

Chapter Twenty

“W hat are you doing here, Lady Hawkins?” His tone was more sharp than Aurelia had been expecting. More severe.

He led her into his drawing room, refusing to let her speak until they were somewhere safe, where they would not be at risk of being overheard. She walked in first, hearing the door close shut behind her as the duke followed. Ordinarily, such a sound would elicit excitement, but she could tell immediately from the duke’s cold reception of her that this visit would not be to her liking.

Was it a mistake to come here?

“I came to see you.” She took a deep breath and turned to face the duke. Her expression was one of hope, but it withered when it came face to face with the dispassion written across the duke’s visage.

“Perhaps I ask the wrong thing.” He stayed by the doorway in a way that seemed purposeful. As if he would rather have been anywhere but in that room with her. But she could not tell if it was annoyance that held him back, or caution. “Clearly, you are here to see me. What I meant was why are you. Remind me, for perhaps I have forgotten, but did I send for you? Was there a lesson I had scheduled? Since slipped my mind?”

“N – no,” she stammered, unsure now. “You did not send for me. He is being colder than I have ever seen him. The gaze he’s fixed on me almost cruel.

“Then I ask again.” A beat as he looked at her, eyes narrowed as if the two were enemies. “ Why?”

“I came here to tell you something,” she began, her nerves already affecting her speech. She knew this was going to be difficult. Only she had no idea how much until she was looking the duke in the eyes.

“And it could not wait?”

“No.”

He considered her, his cool gaze roaming over her body in a way that should have made her glow, for when he did that in the past there was always a sense that he was doing more than just studying her. That he was admiring her, drinking her in as if she was life itself. This time, he did so with detachment. “Tell me then,” he said. “But make it quick.”

“I…” A lump grew in her throat. She swallowed it. “Earlier today, Lord Mildenhall came to visit me. And he…” Hesitation, for she knew what she had to say and then ask, but it was harder to do than she had hoped. “And he asked for my hand in marriage.”

“That is…” The duke stammered but then forced correction. “That is good to hear. Wonderful news, in fact.”

“It is?”

He nodded. “What else could it be? Lord Mildenhall is a man of great wealth, as you know. And I can only guess that once married, he will agree to pay off your debts. It seems…” He swallowed, gritting his teeth as if struggling. “It seems that our business together has come to an end.”

She did not speak immediately. Rather, she searched the duke for a hint that this news brought him pain. Was I a fool to come here? To expect anything more from him than dismissal and apathy? The way he looks at me right now, I am beginning to think that I was.

“If that is all…” The duke stepped across and then reached for the door. “I think it is best if you –”

“I did not accept his proposal,” she said.

The duke froze, not daring to turn around. “What was that?”

Aurelia dared to cross the room toward him, stopping short because she did not trust herself to be too close. Yet. “I did not accept,” she repeated.

“And why is that?” Still, he did not turn back to look at her.

“I told him that before I did, he would need to ask my brother, as he is the one who should make such decisions. Only…” Her heart was thumping, and her body was shaking. “Only that was a lie – an excuse made to stall.”

“And why would you wish to stall?” Still, he refused to look at her, half-turned to face the door as if he meant to open it and flee. “The due date for your debt draws closer by the day. Lord Mildenhall is as good an option for a husband as you could have hoped for. If he changes his mind –”

“He won’t.”

“He might.”

“The truth is, I do not care if he does. A part of me hopes for it.”

“That is…” She could see the duke struggling. Even with his back still toward her, his body shook, and his breathing was ragged. “You are playing a dangerous game, Lady Hawkins. I gave you one month because I believed you were serious about finding a husband –”

“I am serious.”

“Clearly, you are not. Do you want my advice?” He straightened and turned to face her. His expression was impassive. And his eyes looked past her. “Accept his proposal. It is the best you are going to get.”

“I am serious about wanting a husband,” she repeated, trying to meet his eyes but he refused to give them. “Only, I turned Lord Mildenhall away because…” She could hardly breathe; such were her nerves. “Because there is another whom I hope I might be with. It is a long shot, but as you know well enough, rarely do I consider the consequences of what I do.”

Still, the duke refused to look at her. “It sounds unlikely,” he said. “My advice is to take Lord Mildenhall’s request and be glad for it. Playing it safe is not such a bad thing.”

“I never play it safe. You know this.”

“I also know that your family owes me a lot of money. Did you stop to consider what I might say when I learned that you turned down –”

“What you might say is all I have been able to think about. But not for that reason.” She waited for his response, but he gave none, again refusing to meet her searching gaze. “Your Grace…” She took another step forward. And then another. “Do you understand what I am saying?”

“I think I do.”

“And?”

“I understand well enough, but what you expect of me…” He shook his head. “Lady Hawkins, I apologize if I have given you the wrong impression. Truly, I do. But what you are suggesting…”

“I am not suggesting it,” she said bravely, through with being subtle for now was not the time. “I am saying it outright. Or rather, I will say it outright.” She met his eyes, forcing him to look at her. “I… I said no to Lord Mildenhall because it is you who I –”

“Stop right there,” he cut over her, his blue eyes piercing her where she stood. Confusion, mixed with anger… and something else that she could not quite read. “What you are about to say, I do not wish to hear it.”

“But –”

“But nothing,” he hissed. “You and I had an arraignment, and that is all it was. You owe me money, I endeavored to help you cover this debt. Everything I did…” He swallowed. “We did… was purely on that basis alone.”

She did not believe him. She could not believe him. “No, that is… you are lying.”

“I assure you, I am not.”

“But our lessons. Our… the last time I was here. You and I…”

“Again, I apologize if I have been sending you mixed signals. Truly, I am sorry. But this proposal is a fine one, and you need to take it. You must say yes. If you do not…” He sighed with regret. “I cannot say what will happen to your family, just that the outcome is not something you will enjoy.”

The words hurt her as much as any words could. She winced and leaned back as if struck, her stomach turning, the walls moving around her. How could she have been so wrong? How could she have been such a fool? She felt betrayed. She felt used. She felt…. She felt angry.

“You used me,” she said with a snarl. “That is what you have been doing. This whole time!”

“Excuse me?”

“It had nothing to do with propriety or… or trying to help me! All you wanted – all you ever wanted was to take advantage of me. Admit it.”

“Lady Hawkins, I assure you that is not –”

“Enough!” she snapped. “I am sick of it. Sick of the lies. Sick of the falsity.” She widened her eyes at him. “This… the fakeness of it all. You walk around the ton as if you are somehow special and better than everyone else, but it is all a lie. I know the true you. I know what you are.”

“And what am I exactly?” There was a bite to his voice, a warning that made her pulse quicken for she knew how these things often went.

“A beast,” she hissed at him. “A rake. A charlatan conman, is what you are. This entire time…” She shook her head and curled her lip at him. “Did you ever truly care about me? About my family? Or were you only ever trying to… to… to get what you needed from me.”

She was surprised to see the hurt flash behind his eyes. A sense for a fraction of a second that she had hit a nerve. But it was gone quickly, replaced by cold anger that he fixed on her because the duke was not one who was used to be spoken to like this. By anybody.

“What I needed from you?” he laughed coldly. “Do not presume to think that I needed anything from you. Except for you money, Lady Hawkins. Which, when you say yes to Lord Mildenhall, I will have. So, it that case, yes, I have been using you.”

“That is not what I meant.”

“And what did you mean?” He stepped toward her as if in warning. As if hoping she would shy away. “Speak clearly or leave, being glad that you caught me in a good mood.”

“You know what I mean.”

“You presume too much.”

There was fire in his eyes; anger, she knew it to be. But behind that fire she saw something else, a look she knew as well as any other, for it was one he had fixed on her so many times. The fury that was building in the duke was giving way to the storm of desire and want that he so often let take him when they were alone together. Too often they had been in this same position, and too often it had led to the same result.

Aurelia knew she should have turned and left. The duke had denied her. He had refused her. He had broken her heart and she needed to be away from him as quickly as possible. And yet…

Dammit, I still want him. If I am to go to Lord Mildenhall, if that is what my life is destined to become, this might be my last chance to… to… the last night I have to truly be free and enjoy myself like only the duke can make me.

And so, with that in mind, Aurelia buried logic and pushed him that little bit harder. Just as she knew he liked to be pushed.

“I presume nothing,” she said, stepping into him. “You want me, I know you do.”

He laughed. “You wish.”

“You haven’t been able to stop thinking about me,” she continued, dropping her voice. “Kissing me. Spanking me. Teaching me a lesson .”

She saw the effect of that word on the duke. The way he grimaced and then moaned. “I… that was for… for your benefit.”

“It was for your own,” she continued. They stood so close now, and she breathed in and pushed up her chest, noting his eyes which lowered toward her bosom. Literally, Aurelia could see him fighting himself. It made her blood run red hot. “You enjoyed it. Admit it.”

“I…” He groaned again, licking his lips, his body now shaking. “You need to leave.”

“Make me,” she shot back. “Force me to leave.”

“Lady Hawkins…” It was obvious now that she had him. The resignation in his eyes. The way he lingered on her lips and then her bosom. That his body had stopped shaking, because he had stopped fighting his urges. This would solve nothing. Tomorrow, Aurelia would have no choice but to agree to Lord Mildenhall’s proposal. But as things stood… I simply do not care. “You are impudent and rude beyond anyone I have ever met.”

“I know I am.”

“Do I need to teach you another lesson?”

“A final lesson, you mean?”

“Yes…” His eyes flashed hunger. “A final lesson. For the sake of your marriage…” He moaned. “And your debt to me. Until it is paid, you still belong to me, remember.”

“Prove it,” she said in a whisper.

His hands moved to the side of her face and he took it, pulling her into him and kissing her with such passion that she thought she might explode. He did not hold back this time. He did not lace it with regret or warning or a sense that there was a purpose behind it. Rather, he kissed her as if his life might end at any second and the last thing he wished to do before that moment came was taste her on his lips.

She kissed him back. Their mouths parted. Their tongues danced and played. Her hands went to his waist, holding him tight as he held her face pressed against his. It felt somehow like both their first and their final kiss. As if he knew that this would be it so he was doing everything he could to remember and make the most of it. And Aurelia did the same.

He bit into her lip, pulling her face back. She gasped and tried to follow, but he held her back. For a brief second, she worried that was it, that he might have found his control and would ask her to leave. But then she looked into his eyes and realized how wrong she was.

“Are you ready for your final lesson?” he growled.

“That depends on what you have in mind…” Her heart was racing with excitement and anticipation.

“You will be married soon,” he said. “And I expect you to be a good wife.” A smirk worked over his lips and his eyes flashed as he looked down her body suggestively. She followed his eyes, spying his manhood pressed against his pants. She saw how excited it made him. How quickly he lost control.

“Oh… you want…”

“It is not about what I want,” he said to her, still holding her by the face. “It is what you are willing to do for your husband. “Are you willing to do whatever you must?”

Nerves wrecked her. Her body was shaking. She thought she understood what he was saying… she was certain she knew what to do. Only, she had never done such a thing before, and the idea was as exciting as it was terrifying. “I am willing to do whatever you tell me.”

“Good girl…” He removed one hand from her face and reached to take her hand. Then, he led it down to the hard outline of his manhood, holding it against his girth so that she began to rub it. “That’s right,” he moaned. “Just like that.”

His eyes were shut and he groaned as she continued to rub him. Aurelia had little experience with the male appendage. No experience, in fact. But that did not matter. When she was with the duke, she acted on instinct, rather than on knowledge. She knew what he wanted just as she knew how to give it to him.

It was a silly idea, she knew. A most foolish one, as she doubted it would work to the effect that she needed. But here with him right now, alone, a final chance to be with him as she knew they both wanted, and Aurelia only had so much control. If he is to deny me, I will at least make it as difficult for him to do as possible. I owe myself that much, at least.

His eyes were still closed. His jaw was clenched. One hand on the side of her face, the other wrapped around the back of her neck. He squeezed it as if he meant to stop her, but his ragged breathing and the way he throbbed beneath his breeches told her that he would not dare.

She licked her lips as she pulled her hand free and moved it to join the other one, down by the waist of his pants, which she quickly started to open. He stumbled back, against the door, pushing his hips out to give her room to work. She opened his pants and shoved them down, gasping with delight when his manhood sprung free. That is… oh my.

Aurelia had never seen one up close before, so she had no means to judge to by. But it was as long as both her palms together, so thick that she knew she would not be able to wrap her hands around it fully, and it throbbed as it grew harder and harder before her eyes. It was as if it was calling to her.

“Like this?” She reached down and wrapped both hands around it. The duke stiffened and moaned, his body shaking as she began to twist it with her hands.

“Yes…” he breathed. “Like that…”

“Tell me you want me,” she said as she stroked him. “Tell me that you always have.”

“I… I… I do not want…” His eyes were still closed, as if to open them might break the illusion.

“Tell me how much.”

“Too much for words,” he said finally. “You know I do.”

“Tell me…” She bit into her lip, her mouth salivating. “Tell me what to do next.”

His eyes snapped open suddenly and she might have cried out from what she saw. They were hungry. Savage! A predator stumbled upon in the wild, and she was the prey. He still had one hand around the back of her neck, the other moved to her chin. He forced her to look into his eyes, growling as he did so.

“You know what I want,” he snarled. “Or do I need to show you?”

“This is my lesson, is it not?”

“It is,” he said. “And you have been such a good student.” She felt pressure on the back of her neck, pushing her down. On instinct, she knew what to do, and so she did it.

Aurelia dropped to her knees, the duke’s member right before her face. Both hands still holding it firmly, she looked up and met his eyes so that he could see how much she wanted this. And so that she could see how much he wanted it also. And then, with nothing left to do, she did exactly as expected. She opened her mouth and wrapped it around his thick, throbbing member.

“Aurelia…” He moaned and his entire body went rigged as she swallowed him. “Yes… like… just like that…”

When the duke had been pleasuring her with his mouth, Aurelia had assumed that she was the only one enjoying the sensation. It was, after all, aimed at her pleasure, the duke doing it for her, so what could he possibly get out of it? That, she now understood, to be wrong in so many ways. For where the duke was clearly enjoying the way Aurelia took him in her mouth, she realized that she was enjoying it just as much.

There was a type of power to it that she hadn’t been able to fathom. A sense of control, as if she owned the duke in that moment. As she ran her tongue up his shaft and licked wetly over the tip, to feel the duke groan and gasp and beg for more, made her feel as if she had him in her thrall completely. It was sloppy. It was wet. It was a mouthful, to be perfectly honest. But it was also very good.

She opened her mouth wide and swallowed as much of him as she could. She wrapped her lips over the tip and sucked for all she was worth. She let him take her head and move it back and forth. She couldn’t breathe for much of it. Saliva built in her throat and spilled from her lips. But the duke was enraptured in ways she had never seen before. And this is surely a moment he will never forget.

“Wa – wait!” the duke cried suddenly. He pulled back, releasing his girth from her mouth.

She gasped, taking in a breath of air. “What’s wrong?” She looked up at him, worried for a moment that she had done something he did not like.

He grinned down at her, that same look in his eyes. “You do not think that I am going to have all the fun, do you?”

“I…” She hesitated. “What do you mean?”

The duke slid down the door until he was crouched before her. A hand went to her face and pulled her lips to his mouth. Their kiss was wet and sloppy and hungry. Passionate, but also messy. For a moment, Aurelia worried that he wished to go all the way – something that she wasn’t certain she was ready for. Not if this was going to be their last time spent together.

In the end, she had no reason to worry.

The duke took control after that, pulling her into him by wrapping his hands around her buttocks. He lifted her onto him, forcing her to wrap her legs about his waist. Then he turned quickly, falling back so that he was sitting.

“Your Grace…” she began, panicked over what he was going to do.

“Do you trust me?” he asked her.

“I…” She met his eyes and decided in that moment that she trusted him completely. Whatever he wanted, she would do. “I do.”

“Good girl,” he said. “Someone is learning. Now, turn around.”

She frowned with confusion, not certain what he meant. She tried to read it in his eyes, still not understanding. “I don’t… what do you mean?”

He laughed deeply, his hands moving to the back of her knees. Then, he spun her himself. She cried out, nearly falling on her side, held in place as he lifted her effortlessly so that her head was by his ankles. Her heart was racing with panic, as she still wasn’t quite sure what he meant to do with her…

“Relax,” he commanded of her. “And trust me.”

“I trust – oh!” she cried out as she duke shuffled down, pulled her backside and her thighs toward him, and then placed her squarely on his face.

Her eyes widened and she screamed with pleasure as his mouth wrapped themselves around the lips between her thighs. She stiffed and then began to spasm as his tongue licked between those lips, finding her pleasure center and working it as he had done the last time. Her heart seized in her chest, and it was all she could do to keep herself from screaming.

That was when she noticed where her face was positioned.

The duke’s manhood was right before her. Still erect. Still throbbing. Still dripping wet from when she had him in her mouth. Again, instinct took over and this time she did not hesitate.

The duke pleasured her with his mouth, and she did the same to him. Sitting on his face, he devoured her. He ate her as if it was his last meal. He licked and he sucked and he kissed her as if he could read her mind and her body. And she did the same back to him.

One hand was wrapped around the base of his member. The other rubbed his balls, which made his legs shake. And her mouth swallowed him whole, taking as much of him as she could, trying not to latch on or choke because the waves of pleasure which rolled through her body from what he was doing between her thighs made it impossible to concentrate.

And so it was, their last night together, and Aurelia and the duke used their mouths to full effect. No more talking. No more arguing. No more fighting. They pleasured one another fully before the dimming flames of the hearth, the sounds that escaped their bodies surely enough to wake the entire household.

As to how it ended? That came when Aurelia felt that same building sensation rise inside of her. She clamped her thighs tight around the duke’s face and began to suck him harder. A hand of his reached out and found the top of her head, holding her there. His leg began to shake. Her body began to vibrate. He began to growl. She began to moan. Both their bodies started to spasm as if they might explode. And that was when she felt it, the explosion, both in her body and in the duke’s.

She pulled back her head and cried out as her body gave way to untold waves of pleasure. The duke roared as his seed burst from his penis and coated her and the floor both. She hung onto his engorged member, writhing and spasming as he did the same. If one was to listen, it might have sounded painful. But to the two parties involved, nothing had ever felt so good.

When it was done, Aurelia’s energy spent, she rolled off the duke and collapsed on her back, breathing heavily, body so hot she thought she might catch fire. The duke crawled up beside her, panting as he fell down and wrapped an arm around her. For a second too, nothing mattered. He held her in silence and she lay there, head on his shoulder, pretending that they were both at peace and nothing could hurt them.

Only, that was a lie…

“This will not happen again,” the duke said finally.

She winced, even if she had expected the words. “I know it.”

“I am sorry, Aurelia. But it is for the best. You know that.”

“I do,” she said, meaning every word.

“I hope you find happiness with Lord Mildenhall.”

“I won’t,” she said, her heart cracking. “I won’t.”

What else could she say? What else could she do? She had come here to learn the truth of the duke’s feelings for her, a success she supposed, simply not the truth that she wanted. Oh sure, he clearly desired her. He clearly wanted her, as she wanted him. But that was all it was… and it would never be enough.

Was he lying to her? Was he lying to himself? She supposed that didn’t matter, because she realized now that no matter what might have happened or how he might have felt, he would never admit it. He was set in his mind and there would be no changing it. Aurelia’s only regret was that she hadn’t known this sooner.

Perhaps that is a good thing that this is where things end for us? At least now I can walk down the aisle no longer wondering if we might have been more.

When Aurelia had first stumbled into the duke’s office all those weeks ago, she had hated the man. Now, she loved him. Funny that a part of her wished she still hated him as she once had done. That, at least, would make this easy. But then again, from all she had heard of love and romance, nothing about it was ever easy.

Her final lesson, learned the hard way, as these things so often were.