Page 41 of An Unforeseen Kiss (Captivating Kisses #4)

“Wait until a groom appears to rub her down. Then you may return to the house.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

The footman led Andromeda away, and Val entwined their fingers together, guiding her inside the house and to the kitchens.

There, he asked Cook and two scullery maids to heat water for a bath and have it brought up as soon as the other servants returned to the house.

Then he escorted Eden up the stairs to his ducal rooms.

As they entered the first one, he told her, “This is a small study. I use it more as a reading room.”

He showed her his dressing room and bathing chamber, saying, “These connect to the rooms designated for the duchess. I will be asking Mama to leave them so that you might occupy them.” He squeezed her fingers and led her back to his bedchamber.

“I hope, though, that you will only use your rooms for dressing and when you need a bit of quiet time, away from everyone else. Because I want you to spend your nights with me.”

Her gaze shifted to the large, four-poster bed. “Well, you certainly have plenty of room for me in it.”

Laughing, he embraced her and then kissed her for a long moment.

“You will always say what is on your mind, won’t you?” he asked.

“Only to you,” she promised. “As a duchess, I suppose I shall have to curb my tongue and tone with others.”

He framed her face with his hands. “Honesty always between us, right?”

“Yes, Val. Always.”

They indulged in a long session of delicious kissing until a knock sounded on his door.

Breaking apart as if they had been caught, they both laughed.

He went to the door and opened it, and a long line of servants carrying buckets of water came in and went to the bathing chamber.

She knew it would take a good deal of water to fill the bathing tub, the largest she had ever seen.

When the last servant left, Val locked the door. “I want no interruptions.”

He led her through his dressing room, saying, “Your rooms mirror mine, with the shared bathing chamber in the middle.” Looking at her hopefully, he added, “The tub is rather large. I thought we might bathe the sweat of the day from us together.”

An erotic picture formed in her mind, and Eden felt her face grow hot. He grinned.

“I see you are thinking of naughty things, Your Grace.”

For a moment, she didn’t realize he had spoken to her. Then it struck her that yes, she was a duchess, and that was how others would always address her.

“I know nothing, Val,” she admitted. “The marital bed was not something Mama ever spoke to me about. And heaven forbid Papa say anything about the intimacies between a man and a woman.”

He took her in his arms. “I know enough for the both of us. Whatever we choose to do, we must both be comfortable with it. If at any time you do not like something, simply tell me.”

Eden stroked his cheek. “I have a feeling I will like everything we do together.”

“Then let us start.”

He undressed her slowly, kissing her as each garment left her body. When she stood bare before him, she felt no shame. No hesitation. The admiration she saw in his eyes made her feel worshipped.

“You are a vision from heaven,” he said, awe in his voice.

He wrapped his arms about her, holding her to him., nuzzling her neck. Then he stepped back and quickly shed his own clothes, only asking for her assistance in removing his Hessians. The boots were molded to his muscular thighs, and Eden had to straddle his leg and pull with all her might.

“I must say, I do enjoy the view from here,” he told her, causing them both to laugh.

Val climbed into the tub and held out his arms. She joined him, placing her back against his chest, reveling in the deep, warm water. He wrapped his arms about her, and Eden felt utterly cherished.

He began kissing her neck as his hands cupped her bare breasts, kneading them, squeezing, even tweaking her nipples. The more he played with them, the more desire flared within her. Then his hand gradually slid down her belly. She knew its final destination and felt her breath quicken.

Slowly, Val ran the tip of his finger along the seam of her sex, causing a deep ache to fill her. She realized she needed him inside her—and told him so.

“Oh, I like that you are so open with me,” he said, sliding a finger into her, stroking her deeply.

She mewled, her body shuddering, and he continued caressing her, adding another finger. Then he pressed against something, his finger slowly circling it.

“This is your pearl,” he explained. “It is the point on your body which will give you the ultimate pleasure. Let me demonstrate.”

He continued circling it, pressing it, even as his other fingers stroked her. She grew hot all over, the flames of desire filling her. Her hips began to move, meeting his fingers. A pressure built within her.

“I feel something coming,” she said, breathless. “I don’t know what it is.”

“Let the anticipation build. Keep moving. Whatever feels good to you.”

He continued his caresses, and his lips trailed along her neck. Kissing. Nipping. Soothing.

Then it was as if a volcano erupted. Tremors poured through her body as the purest of pleasure rippled through her.

Eden cried out, bucking against his hand now, the feelings raw and real and wonderful.

Finally, the feeling subsided, and she came back down to earth.

Val turned her, her breasts now pressed against his hard chest as he kissed her.

“Let me bathe you, love. Then we will go to our marriage bed.”

Lovingly, he took the soap and lathered his hands, rubbing them all over her body.

It was a most unusual bath, and she told him it was the only kind of bath she would want in the future, causing him to burst out laughing.

Then he allowed her to do the same, and Eden enjoyed exploring the planes of his body, watching his muscles bunch as she touched him.

She grasped his cock, hard and stiff, and he closed his eyes, leaning his head against the tub’s edge, groaning low as she rubbed her thumb along the shaft.

Then he took her wrist. “Enough, else I will explode and then not be able to make sweet love to you.”

“I thought that was what we had been doing,” she said.

“I want more of you. Dry, this time,” he said, chuckling.

They stood and enjoyed toweling off one another. She was already getting used to seeing him without his clothes, admiring the sleek muscles, knowing his body now belonged to her as much as it did him.

“You are a handsome thing,” she told him as he took her hand and led her to the bed.

Their bed . . .

For the next hour, they touched one another everywhere, kissing the entire time. Sometimes, on the lips. Sometimes, their lips grazed bare flesh. She began to learn what Val liked—and what she liked, too.

Then their fevered touching led him to lying on his back. He told her to straddle him, and she did so.

“Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Like no one else,” she said solemnly.

“You are going to set the pace, love. You will have all the control.”

“But I am only learning what to do,” she protested.

He grinned. “But you like being in charge. Admit it.”

“I do,” she said grudgingly.

He had her rise to her knees and take his cock in her hand, saying, “You will lower yourself onto me.”

Glancing down, Eden said, “You are too large, Val. You will never fit inside me.”

He caressed her cheek. “A woman is made for this very thing. You will be surprised. Yes, I will fill you, but it will feel right.”

She began to ease downward, her hand firm around his shaft, guiding it inside her. Eden took more and more of him into her until she was seated.

“Now move. Just a bit. A little wiggle will do it.”

She did—and pleasure danced through her. “Ooh, I like that.”

“Keep moving,” he urged, having her do so in different ways.

They found a rhythm, and then they were dancing together in the most divine dance ever created. She gasped, that wonderful feeling from before coming again. Anticipation built within her, knowing now what lay ahead.

Suddenly, he flipped her somehow. Now, she was on bottom and he on top.

Val began thrusting deeply into her, telling her how much he loved her even as he kissed her repeatedly.

Then a shower of stars exploded inside her, and pure pleasure rocked through her.

Their dance finally came to an end, and he collapsed atop her.

“I love you,” he told her. “I will always love you.”

Eden cradled his handsome face in her hands. “And I will love you, forever and ever.”