Page 72 of Her Beast of a Duke

“Do they hurt when I touch them?” she whispered, sliding her hands over the scars on his arm, up to one of the bigger wounds on his shoulder.

Oscar shook his head. “No.”

Isabella continued to slide her hands up and down his arms, feeling the soft skin beneath the rippling scars, and she dared to lean into his chest, pressing a kiss right in the center.

She swore she felt his heart speed up.

“Isabella.” His voice was strained, and she let herself press closer, smiling against his skin, realizing why he sounded strained now.

It was not the anticipation of her seeing his body, but more to do with how his body was reacting to her touch.

“Yes?” she teased.

“The water will go cold,” he muttered.

She pressed another kiss to his chest, this one open-mouthed, slightly more toward the hard muscle on the right.

Oscar let out a hard breath. “Isabella.”

“I do not care,” she replied.

“I do.”

And then she was tugged from his chest, he grasped the edge of her chemise in his hands, and he had pulled it over her head before she realized he had moved.

“Isabella,” he breathed her name again. “I will not… Icannotkeep myself on a leash any longer.”

“I have never asked you to hold yourself back,” she whispered.

And then, he kissed her.

His mouth pressed to hers, hot and needy, perhaps as much as hers, and the kiss immediately turned desperate. Isabella wished to clamber up him, to wrap her legs around his waist, to give in to the wanton desire that coursed through her.

But before she could move closer again, he stepped back, not tearing his gaze from hers as he unfastened his breeches.

Now that they were both naked, Isabella gazed at him, swearing that the bathroom spun around her. Her thoughts turned muffled; the only thing ringing true was her exposed husband before her.

More scars littered his thick thighs, and her mouth turned dry at the length that was hardened between those legs. Something deep inside Isabella stirred, and she swallowed back her fear.

Oscar only looked back at her, amused and yet almost as though he was nervous, as he stepped into the tub.

He nodded his head toward the water. “Join me.”

Chapter Seventeen

“All right,” was all she could muster.

Slowly, Isabella lowered herself into the water after he got comfortable, facing him. They were submerged beneath the surface, and Isabella couldn’t keep her eyes off the expanse of his shoulders and chest.

Boldly, she leaned in to kiss him, smiling as she pulled back after the kiss, enjoying the fact that he chased her lips.

He let out a playful growl, wrapping his fingers in her hair loosely to guide her mouth back to his.

“Have you missed kissing me?” she asked, aiming to tease more. Oscar pressed his mouth hungrily to her neck.

“You know I have,” he grunted.

His teeth nipped her skin, finding his way back to her mouth once more to push his tongue against hers. She let out a soft moan, moving closer as the water sloshed around them. Droplets dripped from his hair, onto his chest, and she chased them with her tongue after their mouths parted.