Page 47 of Bound By the Duke

“Go,” she whispered, taking another step closer to him.

“Don’t you dare,” he growled, and took a step back.

But she stepped closer again almost immediately.

“Why not?” Her voice was too low. “Prove to me that you aren’t running away like I said.”

She gasped when his hand shot up and seized her chin. The act was commanding, firm, and almost cruel.

He tilted her face up, forcing her to stare into his blazing blue eyes. “Be careful, Aurelia.” His voice rumbled in his chest, every syllable vibrating against her skin.

Aurelia stared right back at him. Not with submission, but with hunger and defiance. With the same madness that consumed him.

Percival was stubborn. He didn’t want to listen to what she was saying, and neither did he want to succumb to the pull of her body. But she was ready to make him lose one way or the other.

Though her pulse thundered, she whispered with trembling lips, “Perhaps it is you who should be careful, Duke.” She tilted her head defiantly. “You deny too much, even now. You?—”

“You are utterly maddening,” he cut her off, desperation evident in his tone. “Every word from you.” His thumb stroked along the line of her jaw with traitorous tenderness. “Every tilt of your chin, every breath… God, Aurelia, you drive me to distraction.”

His confession made her face flush. She trembled visibly, caught between triumph and something far more dangerous.

Her lips parted to reply, but her voice failed her.

What exactly could she say under those blue eyes that titillated her senses? Her body betrayed her, hot with need.

Still, her eyes dared him, and with every ounce of courage she had left, she breathed, “Then allow yourself to get distracted.”

That did it. He snapped.

Without warning, he slanted his mouth over hers, kissing her with ardent passion. It was rough, hungry, filled with all the frustration and the longing of nights he had denied himself.

His lips crushed hers in a firm kiss that made her swallow her gasp. She had dared him, and he intended to show her he was not a man to be trifled with. He kept his caressing of her lips firm, alternating with his teeth with the intention to sting but not bruise. She clung to him, her fingers twisting into his coat, desperate to keep her balance as the world began to spin.

And Percival? He was lost. He pulled her against him, and her gasp turned into a moan. He wanted to take her on the stairs. Against the wall. On the damn marble floor. He wanted her anywhere he could unravel her.

His hands slid down and gripped her hips, pressing her against his thick length. She arched into him, helpless and hungry, her breasts squished against his chest, her thighs trembling.

It made her dizzy. Her lips parted beneath his, welcoming his tongue, which thrust deep enough to drive her wild. He deepened the kiss, tasting her as if he might die at any moment.

“Percival…” she moaned, her trembling hands sliding down his arms.

He groaned at the sound of his name on her lips; it felt like torture. A sweet, delicious torture.

When his hand slid down to her thigh and pulled up her silk skirt, she didn’t stop him. Didn’t even try to. Instead, she pressed into him, her body trembling.

He was about to lift her into his arms. Damn the house. Damn the walls. Damn the world. But then he stopped, and the moment shattered like glass.

He ripped his mouth from hers so abruptly, his chest heaving with ragged breaths, his jaw clenched so hard that it might crack.

His blue eyes locked on her. “You are…” he murmured hoarsely. “Impossible. Maddening. Dangerous.”

Aurelia stared back at him, her breath shaky. Her body still burned, her thighs pressed together in a failed attempt to ease the ache.

She had so much to say to him. She wanted to ask him why he had devoured her just to shatter the moment like it hurt him.

But before she could say anything, he stepped back, as though distance could save him. His footsteps echoed down the hallway, his hand gripping the banister like a man crawling back from hell.

Until he disappeared and a door closed behind him.