Page 24 of A Duchess Disciplined (Dukes of Dominance #1)

CHAPTER 23

C atherine had performed admirably at the garden party. By the time the party had drawn to a close, she had managed to accumulate a small crowd of lords and ladies about her. They had gazed at her as if her every word was of incomparable value, and they laughed at her little jests. William knew that he should have been pleased. Beyond pleased.

But William had not anticipated the dull, aching feeling inside his chest. It was accompanied by a litany of possessive thoughts. I want her to speak to me.

When Catherine had walked alongside Lady Beckingworth, William had clenched his jaw and thought about how much he would prefer that she walk beside him instead. And when Mrs. Abernathy’s betrothed—a young and frustratingly handsome young man—had smiled and winked at Catherine, William had found himself filled with the sudden urge to punch that man.

William fought to bury those feelings deep as he and Catherine entered the foyer. He flexed his fingers at his sides, watching as Catherine untied her bonnet. His eyes swept over her form, which did look lovely in that gown. Everyone else had probably noticed that, too.

They had probably spoken about how beautiful and shapely his new duchess was.

“Well?” Catherine asked, grinning at him. “How did I do?”

He inclined his head. “You did well throughout the entire event. I will confess that I am impressed.”

She beamed at him, and his heart seemed to skip a beat. It was late, and aside from Geoffrey, they were the only ones awake. He cupped Catherine’s face between his hands and kissed her deeply. Her body was warm and pliant, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him close. As William kissed her, he inhaled Catherine’s sweet scent. She smelled of rose oil and lavender mixed with the many flowers in Lady Beckingworth’s garden.

He broke the kiss, and she stared at him with wide eyes. Catherine’s lips were swollen and slightly parted, and a little thrill rushed through him at how ready she looked to be ravished.

“Shall we go to the bedchamber?” he asked.

“Oh, yes!”

William put a hand between her shoulder blades and bent over, so he could sweep an arm beneath her knees. He lifted her up, and she gasped in delight. She was as light as feather, and he easily carried her up the stairs. Catherine was so warm and pleasant, so eager for him.

“Once we reach the room,” he said in a low voice, “I am going to tear that gown from you, and I am going to kiss every inch of you. I noticed how many men were gazing at you today.”

Catherine’s breath audibly hitched. “I do not know what you mean.”

“I do not believe that somehow, but regardless of whether you know or not, no other man will see you like I do.”

“No,” she agreed.

He quickened his pace, as best as he could with Catherine held in his arms. William knew her body well. He had already gazed at her so much and touched her so often. Once they reached his room, he nudged open the door with his foot. He crossed the sitting room and entered the bedchamber. William promptly deposited Catherine on the bed and seized the skirts of her gown.

He hitched them up past her thighs. Catherine lifted herself onto her knees, so he could pull her gown over her head. William untied her stays, working the laces so quickly with his fingers that they nearly tore. Catherine’s breasts heaved and strained, and his blood warmed with the sight. “So beautiful,” he murmured, placing a kiss on each breast.

He tore the stays from her and cupped her breasts. Catherine moaned and put her hands on his shoulders. William worked her breasts between his hands, enjoying their weight in his palms. His thumbs rubbed rough, quick circles over her nipples. They grew to hard peaks before his very eyes, and color rose to Catherine’s face.

“Oh, please!” she exclaimed.

“Whatever you want,” he growled.

He tore away her petticoats and chemise, and she was naked on her knees before him. With feverish need, William kissed her everywhere—her jaw, her throat, her breasts, her stomach. He worked a path down to her core, trailing hot kisses. Catherine groaned and dug her nails into his shoulders.

She writhed and bucked and twisted, like a woman out of control. He sensed the pleasure growing within her and marveled at how readily she reacted to his touch. William’s trousers grew tighter, his member growing hard at the sight of his wife, entirely nude.

He flicked his thumb over her pearl, and she bucked, urging him to touch her there. “Please,” she said, tossing her head back. “Oh, please .”

William traced hard circles around her core before dipping his finger between her delicate folds. He found her already damp with desire. “Look at you,” he said. “You are always so very ready for me. What a good, attentive wife you are.”

Catherine groaned. “I will be the best wife in the world if you keep doing this.”

“I intend to,” he said.

He slipped a finger inside her, and Catherine’s inner walls clamped around the digit. She rocked her hips, bringing herself down hard on him. William grinned. He ceased his movements, but she quickened her pace. Catherine brought herself up and down on him, her thighs clenching as she sought to find her release.

William grinned, watching as her face grew as red as a rose. Her curls bounced around her face, as sweat began to dot her brow. “Oh, please! Please, I am so close!”

Perfect .

He withdrew his finger, and Catherine emitted a small, need-filled wail. She gazed at him with a dazed and desperate look. “ Please ,” she begged. “Please, I was so close.”

William slowly removed his jacket, while she gazed at him with wide eyes. He tossed the garment on the floor, followed by his waistcoat. Catherine gulped. William removed his shirt next, giving her a long moment to take in his appearance.

His manhood ached insistently, and William feared that he would spend in his trousers if he did not sheath himself inside her. He unfastened his trousers, and his manhood sprang forth, already hard and nearly weeping.

“Is this what you need?” he asked. “My manhood in your tight passage.”

She squeezed her thighs together and nodded. William smiled and stroked himself, shivering as the pleasure began to curl in his abdomen.

“Yes, I want you inside me,” she said.

He quickened his strokes, groaning as the pleasure grew. Catherine inhaled sharply and watched him. William could tell that the pleasure was beginning to take hold of her, too. She could not remain still on the bed. Instead, she kept shifting on the bedlinens. Her hips and thighs bucked and quivered.

“Lay back,” William said, his voice throaty.

She hastened to obey, falling on her back against the bedlinens. Catherine spread her legs wide and lifted her hips, affording him a view of her wetness. He climbed onto the bed and held his member in one hand. William guided himself to her entrance. Catherine tensed and curled her fingers into the bedlinens as he pressed inside her.

“Take it all, my good duchess,” he purred. “You deserve this.”

William’s thighs trembled with the exertion of holding back, but he did not wish to hurt her. Instead, he grasped her thighs and worked himself in inch by inch. Catherine groaned and shifted her hips. Without warning she brought herself down on him, and he was entirely sheathed inside her. She gasped. Her thighs shook, and her inner walls pulsed madly.

Catherine tossed her head back and screamed. William grunted, as her waves of pleasure crashed over him, too. As she achieved the little death , he thrust into her. He quickened his pace, and with a startled cry, Catherine worked hard to match him. She met him thrust for thrust. William clenched his jaw, as sweat gathered along his body. The bed creaked in time with his thrusts, and with a roar, he spilled his seed into her.

He withdrew with a lewd, wet sound and gazed at Catherine. Her face was flushed, and her hair was wild. Catherine’s breasts shook with her ragged breaths, and sweat glistened along her soft, feminine body. He smiled in satisfaction. No one else would ever have this view of Catherine, utterly spent and under his mastery.

“Do you see what you have done to me?” William asked, straddling her waist. “You temptress.”

He put his weight down on his forearms and took her right nipple between his lips. William flicked it with the tip of his tongue, and Catherine gasped. “Oh, you cannot lick me there !”

He drew his head back. “I have licked you in far more intimate places,” he said, drawing a hand over her core.

Catherine’s thighs clenched together. “You are…quite experienced at this,” she said between pants of air.

“Soon, you will be quite experienced in this, too,” William said. “And I will be the only one who sees this part of you.”

She tossed an arm over her eyes. “Of course.”

“It is my favorite part,” he said, “seeing you so spent and disheveled in my bed. If I were not a duke, I would spend every hour of every day engaged in this amorous behavior with you.”

Catherine laughed shakily. “I am unsure that I could bear that, my husband. You are as spirited as a stallion.”

He cupped her breasts, content to play with her for a while longer. It seemed unbelievable that he had deprived himself of a wife for so long. Now, it was as if he could not have enough of a woman’s body.

“Besides, I might grow bored if we did this every hour of every day,” Catherine said.

“I doubt that. There are so many pleasures of the bedroom that I have not even shown you yet,” William replied. “I could keep it interesting. We would only have to be a little…creative.”

His mind was suddenly full of images of what else he might do with Catherine. He imagined taking her from behind and bent over the desk in his study. He thoughts of spiriting her away to darkened corners of ballrooms and secluded park benches and pleasuring her beneath her skirts.

Catherine lowered her arm and laughed a little. “I would like to ask for you to tell me about all your ideas, but I am unsure if I can manage any more stimulation this evening.”

“Understandable,” he said.

He rolled onto his back and gazed tenderly at her. She grinned at him. “I find it interesting,” she said, “that this is one matter upon which we can both agree.”

William laughed. “I suppose that is more than some married couples in the ton have.”

Catherine propped herself up on one elbow. “I suppose so,” she mused. “Although I have wondered of late if our exchanges are necessarily adversarial. You keep likening me to your solicitor, and I have difficulty in believing that you do not derive some level of enjoyment from our exchanges.”

“I suspect that you feel similarly about my corrections,” William said. “You have not once complained.”

“I would not give you the satisfaction.”

He lowered his hand and dug his fingers into her left buttock. She shifted in the bed, as he caressed her skin. Catherine’s rear pinkened nicely with his slaps, but while he delighted in seeing that, he was a man who was well-aware of his own considerable strength. He took care never to strike her hard enough to leave marks that lasted for more than a couple hours.

“No,” William said. “Nevertheless, I am impressed with your strength of will.”

Catherine stifled a yawn behind her hand, and a wave of fondness swept over him. “Apologies, my husband.”

“The hour is late,” he said. “It is well past the time to retire. If you like, you are welcome to stay in my chamber.”

She nodded. There was a little shuffling, as they arranged the bedlinens and pulled the covers up over themselves. Catherine shifted towards him, and William pulled her into his arms. Their bodies fit together like two links in a chain, as if they were always meant to be together. He pressed his lips against her hair, indulging in the scent of rose oil.

William laid awake for a long time, well after Catherine had fallen into a deep sleep in his arms. She had not been the wife he had ever expected having. She was certainly not the duchess that he had imagined marrying. He had never imagined feeling any tender feelings for her, and yet…

He could not deny that he held no small measure of affection for Catherine, his unconventional Duchess of Sarsen. She was nothing that he had ever wanted, but she seemed to be everything that he needed.