Page 18 of A Duke for Hire (The Devil’s Masquerade #1)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“ O h my,” Seraphina gasped.

Hugo looked toward her, and could not help but smile as he took in the expression of awe on her face. Her eyes were roaming around the little cove, taking in everything. Was she truly finding it as wonderful as he did?

“What do you think?” He asked.

“I think it’s even more beautiful than the meadow,” she said, her eyes still taking in the space. “Hugo- this is amazing.”

Hugo once more felt that strange, slightly uncomfortable flutter in his chest. What was happening to him? This lightness in his body- this sense of strange pride at making her smile like that. A smile that spoke of wonder and awe in what he was showing her.

He rubbed his chest as if it could dissolve that strange feeling, and forced his eyes away from her to look around the small piece of heaven he’d once found at the bottom of a gulley. Because of the slope they grew on, the trees had grown almost sideways, creating a leaf-covered covered archway, hiding the space from most eyes and animals unless they found the hidden entrance.

Beneath the curved boughs of the trees was a rock face that gushed forth a waterfall. It was not very large, perhaps only twice Hugo’s height, and below it was a deep pool that eventually tapered off into a small stream that trickled downhill.

Dense, wild raspberry bushes, full of ripe berries and little white flowers spotted the small hills that framed the space, as did dog rose bushes that were now bursting with their white and pink flowers.

“This was…a place of safety for me,” he explained, extending his hands to her.

Seraphina’s eyes dipped down to his, appreciation shining there. She let go of her reins and leaned down toward him, letting him pull her from the saddle. A sigh of contentment left her lips as he brought her down, so close that their chests brushed.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” she said softly, her smile pure. “It is absolutely amazing. How did you find it?”

With one hand still holding hers, he reached for the basket on his saddle, and walked her toward the water. He was wary of telling her too much. Hugo was starting to trust her, a realization that comforted and concerned him at once. But he was worried about the sudden flashes of memory. The nightmares. Those moments when he lost the present and became entangled in the past when he spoke too many details.

“My father like to drink,” he said carefully. “To excess. Especially when hunting. He would force me to come along with him on his trips.”

“I do not know much about guns, but I assume they don’t mix well with a liquor fueled man,” Seraphina noted.

Hugo gave a dry chuckle.

“You assume correctly. One day he wounded a deer but was too drunk to chase it, so he sent me. I followed its tracks here, and found this beautiful place. It is perfectly hidden. You have to know how to look for it to find it. Ever since then, when he took me on his hunting trips, I would find reasons to separate from him and spend my time here.”

Seraphina kept a calm, even expression as she unfolded the blanket and laid it on the ground.

“Did anything else happen on these hunting trips?” She asked, her tone careful.

Immediately Hugo wanted to stop talking, but she was being so kind, so gentle, that he felt anything but giving her what she so sweetly was asking for would be an unjust punishment.

“Nothing that didn’t happen at the house,” he replied, busying himself with unloading the basket. “Or the house in London. Or in his offices. It really didn’t matter where we were. Our deal was that I withstood whatever he did to me.”

Seraphina gently laid her hands over his own, stopping him from unpacking the basket, and slid into his lap, straddling him. He couldn’t keep the sigh of comfort from slipping from his lips as he felt her warm body pressed to him, and slid his hands to her waist.

Carefully, she untied the strings of his shirt, and with gentle fingertips, parted the covering until she could slide it down each of his shoulders. Hugo’s body went rigid as the warm night air whispered over the cigar burn scars that clustered over his left shoulder.

“Seraphina,” he said, his tone full of warning.

“Shhh, my mighty wolf,” she answered soothingly, looking up at him with calm longing.

A huff of a laugh escaped his chest. “Mighty wolf?”

“Mhmm.” She murmured, leaning forward.

“If I am the little lamb you protect, then you must be the mighty wolf that keeps me safe.”

Her lips were so close to the skin of his neck that he could all but feel the warmth of them, and he felt the urge to bring her close and let her kiss him so intensely that his hands trembled.

“I must confess, I have never been called a wolf have it mean something good,” he told her.

“Then you have been around the wrong people,” Seraphina replied softly.

Finally she closed the scant space between his neck and her lips, and she kissed his pulsing jugular. Fear blended with pleasure as Seraphina moved carefully from his unmarred flesh and toward his shoulder. He didn’t want to frighten her like he had their first night, but stopping her seemed so difficult.

“Seraphina, please,” he begged, his voice ragged as he wrapped his hand slowly around her throat. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Seraphina’s eyes once more flicked up to his, her lips a scant space away from the first cigar burn. There was resilience there, passion. And lust. A heady combination that made his blood sing and his manhood grow instantly rigid.

“Then don’t,” she whispered, and placed a soft kiss on the scarred burn.

Like before, a lightning bolt of pain jolted through him as she touched one of his scars. Panic made his heart thunder as the past traveled through time and space to become part of the present. His control cracked, and he drew in a ragged breath.

“Fight it, Hugo,” Seraphina urged, feeling his hand tremble and tighten around her neck. “Come back to me. See me. I am yours. You are in control. And you are not going to get hurt.”

A ragged, tortured sound erupted from Hugo’s chest that threatened to shred her heart in two.

“Look at me, Hugo,” she coaxed gently, pressing her forehead against his. “See me.”

It seemed to take effort, but Hugo finally snapped his eyes open. He truly did look like a wild animal then; those blazing green orbs swirling with a predatory strength and need to fight. And they were locked entirely on her.

His hand still wrapped tight around her throat, ready and able to snap it like a twig if he so wished. Seraphina dipped her head down again to the array of scars, and once more, kissed one of them. He jolted again, squeezed her throat tighter- but this time he recovered more quickly. His breath began to grow steady, his rapidly moving chest slowing down. A little more fear seeped away from his eyes, coated over with desire.

“That’s it,” she coaxed, wrapping her free hand around the bunched muscles of his back. “That’s it.”

She kissed a third scar, this time letting her tongue trace over it. In an instant Hugo had her on her back, his kiss so fierce that she felt his teeth gnash against hers. But she welcomed the pain, welcomed the progress they were making, and kissed him back with equal ferocity.

“What are you doing to me?” he rasped, his voice deep and raw as he ripped at the front of her dress.

Seraphina’s answer was a deep moan as he sank his teeth into her neck and suckled hard. Pleasure shot like lightening through her veins at the assault, and she pushed her hand to the back of his neck, letting him know that it was all right. Letting him know that she wanted this.

“I want to know you,” she breathed, into his ear as their bodies began to undulate together, “I want to know all of you, Hugo. I want nothing between us.”

She then slid her hands through his thick, black hair, and yanked viciously until his teeth tore away from her neck and his lips came back to hers. With trembling hands she began to push his shirt the rest of the way off, wanting to feel his naked chest completely against her.

Hugo rose to his knees when it became stuck, and ripped it off aggressively. He flung it aside, right into the water, and it disappeared down the stream into the wilderness.

“I want you to bite them,” he commanded, coming down on her again.

Seraphina paused, taken by surprise at his request.

“Your scars? Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he growled, then kissed her deeply again. “I want them to have new memories, and I’d much rather the pain come from your mouth than anywhere else.”

Something about that statement spread a fire throughout her body, as he cradled the back of her head, readying to push her mouth against his scars. Liquid heat then gushed down her inner thighs as he pressed her tightly to him, and she sank her teeth where she was told.

A bestial growl left Hugo’s chest as she bit him, and between her legs where his hips nestled, she felt his manhood, even under the cover of his breeches, begin to throb and thrust against her.

Oh, how she wanted to feel that within her. To be free of any and all clothes, and finally be a part of her husband in the most sacred way!

“Oh, God in Heaven,” Hugo gasped, his entire body beginning to tremble.

Another growl erupted from his as Seraphina grew bold and drug her nails down his back, and he bucked into her pelvis hard.

More, Seraphina thought, her trembling hands going to waistband. She wanted more, and she knew he did too.

But Hugo’s hands snatched hers away, pinning them to the ground before pushing up her skirt and delving between her thighs. His hands latched onto her backside like vices, his nails no doubt leaving half-moon marks in her flesh, and like a beast starved, he began to feast on her.

Though he had not been exactly gentle with her before, this time he was downright brutish, groaning and growling as his tongue lashed harshly at her, then burrowed deep inside her.

Seraphina had to dig her nails into blanket, poking through its fabric and into the very earth in order to hold herself to the ground. She loved this fierceness, she realized, feeling her pleasure intensify with every thrust of his tongue. Loved when he was her beast.

“Is this what you wanted little lamb?” He groaned, rising to his knees as he replaced his tongue with two of his fingers. “Is this what you wanted?”

“Yes,” Seraphina gasped, her lashes fluttering as his fingers moved with rapid aggression.

“Why?” He commanded. “Why did you want this?”

Even though she was nearly lost to her pleasure, Seraphina forced her eyes open, and pressed upward on her hands until her back left the blanket.

“Because I needed you to see that I was not afraid of you,” she panted as his fingers still worked their magic. “That I want you as you are. And we can do this. Together.”

The last word tore from her lips in a shattered cry as the last thrust of his thick, long fingers sent her release gushing through her core.

“You truly want that?” Hugo asked, his voice ragged. He gripped the back of her neck, his fingers still inside of her, and pulled her toward his lips.

“Yes,” she panted, her entire body erupting into violent shivers. “God, yes.”

He released her then, and she fell back against the blanket as she fought to find her breath. She did not have much time though, for Hugo was immediately between her legs again. She gasped and shivered, unsure if she was ready for such another intense onslaught so soon- but her sounds of shock quickly transformed into whimpers as Hugo gently, carefully began to lick her clean.

“Please,” she began to beg after a while, her hands urging him upward, “Let me take care of you. You have to be in pure agony. I’m ready husband. Be with me.”

Hugo did oblige to rising from between her legs, but instead of unbuttoning himself and claiming his marital rights, he brought her hand down to his aching shaft.

“Remember how you touched me last time? Just like that,” he coaxed, cupping his hand over hers.

He let out a heady groan as she did as she was told, and watched with satisfaction as his eyes grew dazed and dilated.

“Yes,” he rasped, “Just like that. Oh, that is so good little lamb.”

Seraphina whimpered, realizing just how much she loved obeying his commands- even if she was disappointed that he was not making love to her.

“You do so well for me,” he praised, releasing her hand and letting her fully take over. “Is that want you want, little lamb? You want to make me release over your pretty dress?”

“Yes,” she gasped, blushing at how much she wanted exactly that.

Hugo’s orgasm came quickly, and as his growl of pleasure erupted through their thicket, Seraphina wondered for a moment if she would come again just from feeling the way he coated her fingertips.

Curious as to how he tasted, she kept her gaze on Hugo’s as she slowly brought her coated fingers to her mouth, and slid them inside. She suckled at his salty taste, and drew one slow finger at a time into her mouth.

Something carnal erupted in Hugo’s eyes as he watched her, and before she could draw the final finger into her mouth, he groaned, gripped a handful of her hair, and kissed her deeply.

“I’m not sure if you are my death or my salvation,” he panted, breaking the kiss, “But I want you either way.”