Page 66 of Bound By the Duke

Her breath stuttered at his words. She was unable to look away from the fury in his gaze.

“Do you hear me?” His grip tightened just slightly, and it made her shiver.

“No,” she uttered with a faint shake of her head.

She still managed to be stubborn.

When he tightened his grip further, a moan escaped her lips, breathy and shameless.

The sound broke something inside him. His fingers trembled around her throat, and he clenched his jaw. Without a second thought, he leaned in and took her mouth in a rough, hungry kiss.

The kiss stole her breath, making her press her chest against his. But it was brief. He pulled back quickly, and she sagged against the door, her lips swollen, her breathing ragged.

“That…” she trailed off, dazed. “That is not proof.”

His eyes darkened further, fury and desire warring within them.

“Careful,” he warned in a low growl.

But it was not enough to silence her.

“Show me,” she taunted, the words falling from her lips like sin. “Prove it, Percival.”

The growl that tore from his chest was primal. He dipped his head and dragged his mouth down her throat. A shaky breath escaped him before his teeth grazed her skin, then nipped it. A moan spilled out of her.

Unable to help it, Aurelia put her hands on his shoulders, unashamedly desperate.

“You tempt the devil himself,” he muttered against her skin, his lips trailing down the slope of her collarbone.

Aurelia arched into him, wanting more of everything he was offering to her.

“Then ruin me,” she breathed shakily.

Let go of that damned control of yours.

His groan was deep and raw before he closed his mouth over her breast through the thin fabric of her gown. His tongue licked her nipple, sucking until the fabric became soaked, until she was writhing and moaning his name all at once.

“Percival.”

The sound nearly undid him. His restraint was crumbling to nothing.

With one impatient tug, he tore her bodice, revealing the thin linen chemise clinging to her breasts. Then, with an insane hunger, his lips wrapped around the swollen peak, sucking, tasting, devouring.

“Say you are mine,” he growled against her breast.

“No,” she gasped, trembling against him. “I… I will not.”

His hand slid down even lower, bunching her skirts as he went. When his fingers pressed between her thighs, finding her already slick with arousal, he couldn’t help the groan that escaped him. Her knees trembled at the first touch, a whimper falling from her lips.

“You are soaked,” he said darkly, curling his fingers just enough to make her gasp. “And yet you deny it so boldly.”

Her head fell back against the door, her nails digging into his shoulders. “You flatter yourself…” Her words came out too weak, sounding like helpless whimpers.

His fingers pressed harder. “Then tell me to stop.”

Without warning, he slid one finger inside her and curled it, making her shake violently.

Cries tore from her lips, and she bit her lower lip, as though trying to suppress them. But his fingers were deliberate and unrelenting. He pressed harder into her.