Page 29 of Enchanting the Duke

“Are you all right?”he asked.

She smiled, feeling more than all right.

“Better than all right,” she said.

She reached up and traced the faded bruise on his cheek, her touch featherlight.She kissed him, because she could, because she never wanted to stop.

Outside, the house stood as it always had—imposing, cold, full of ghosts.But inside, in this room, it was warm and bright and entirely theirs.

***

Chrissy woke to the sound of her own heart, loud and erratic as a bird trapped in a parlor.For a moment, she couldn’t remember where she was.The light was too bright, the sheets too fine, and the weight across her waist was heavier and more solid than any coverlet she’d known.Then Gabriel stirred beside her, nuzzling the bare curve of her hip with the unselfconsciousness of a man who’d made a habit of sleeping tangled up with someone else.Or, perhaps, a man who had never wanted to, until now.

She tried to keep still, but a giggle escaped her as his breath tickled the sensitive skin at her navel.He looked up, eyes clear and mischievous.

“You’re awake,” he said.

“It would seem so.”

He propped himself up, sheets pooling low across his hips.Her gaze flickered there and stuck, taking in the broad shoulders, the chest mapped with muscle and the faintest dusting of hair.She had always thought of him as dangerous, but this close—this naked—he seemed almost vulnerable.The lines of his face were softer without the armor of cravat and coat; the dimple in his cheek deepened when he grinned, which was often, and almost always at her.

“You’re staring,” he said.

She felt herself flush.“I thought I was allowed.”

He laughed, low and delighted.“You’re allowed anything you like, Chrissy.”

She reached out, tentative, and touched his chest.He shivered—not from cold, but from her.Emboldened, she let her palm wander, marveling at the texture of him.The smooth slide over bone, the unexpected resistance of hair at his sternum, the sudden valley where old bruises had faded but not quite disappeared, they all fascinated her.

Gabriel watched her, eyes half-lidded and hungry.He did not rush her, only followed her hand as it traced the line of his rib, then down, to the band of muscle at his abdomen, and lower still.

She hesitated at the sheet, unsure whether to breach that last bit of modesty.

He helped, drawing her hand under the covers.His cock was already hard, thick and impossibly hot beneath her palm.

She curled her fingers around it, shocked at how alive it felt.It pulsed against her grip, and Gabriel groaned, head tipping back.

“Is that all right?”she asked, genuinely concerned.

He caught her wrist and brought her hand up to his lips, pressing a kiss to the inside.“More than all right,” he said, and then, because he was incapable of resisting a challenge, he added, “Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

She grinned, reckless.“You’ve forgotten the letters my grandmother kept.”

He grinned right back, the edge of it sharpening as she stroked him, slow and curious.She watched his face, cataloging every change—the way his lashes fluttered, the muscle in his jaw ticked, the way his breath sped up when she squeezed just so.

She drew back the covers, wanting to see him.He let her, leaning into her touch, utterly unashamed.His cock was beautiful, if such a thing could be, and she marveled at the contrast of it—so smooth, so impossibly sensitive, compared to the rest of him.

She bent, pressed her lips to the head, and tasted salt and heat.Gabriel made a sound so startled and feral that she nearly laughed, but she was too fascinated.

“I read about this, too,” she said, before licking him again.

He caught her hair in one hand, guiding her gently.“You’re going to kill me,” he murmured, voice ragged with disbelief.

She found the rhythm that pleased him best, watching his reactions, greedy for every twitch and gasp.She wanted him to come apart, to know she could do that to him.

He held her off after a minute, hands gentle but insistent.“If you keep doing that, I’ll disgrace myself.I want to be inside you when I come.”

He pulled her up, kissing her with a need that left no doubt as to his intention.He then rolled her onto her back, settling between her thighs.The memory of pain from earlier made her stiffen for a heartbeat, but he sensed it and paused.