Page 50 of His Temporary Duchess

She lay back, protesting no more, and Sebastian set his mouth against the sweet center of her. She tasted delectable, better than anything he could ever have imagined. A man could gorge himself on a woman like her and never be satisfied. Above him, Eleanor fisted the blankets and arched her back, her breathingshattering as he found the point of her pleasure and worked it with his tongue. As he did so, he slid a finger inside her. Hot, wet, tight. Everything he needed. He throbbed, desperate to push inside her with more than a finger, his hips thrusting involuntarily against the bed. Even that sent a spike of pleasure through him.

He did not know how she did this to him, but he suspected it would never end.

She tightened around him, and he knew she was close.

“Don’t hold back,” he whispered against her slickness. “Don’t you dare hold back, Eleanor.”

She started to say something, or perhaps it was just his name, but he slid a second finger inside just as he flicked one last time with his tongue, and she broke, cresting a wave that he felt thrum through her. He kept up the pressure until she wilted, and then he could wait no longer. Slowly—painfully slowly—he moved back up her body, delivering kisses as he went, until he reached her lips, which he claimed with his own.

“I want you,” he murmured, and allowed the words to register on her face before continuing. “Will you allow me that right?”

“You are my husband...”

“I am asking you as a man.”

“Then let me grant you permission as a woman.” She shifted under him. “I am yours. Take me as you will.”

A dangerous command, given what he wished, but he restrained himself, and instead brought his hands to the head of his manhood, ensuring that her juices were slick enough on him to grant easy access. He had never taken a lady’s virginity before, but he had a general understanding of the basics.

“This may hurt,” he whispered. “I will—this time—be gentle.”

This time. Her eyes widened at that, then filled with familiar heat. She had climaxed once already, the taste of it still on his tongue, but that face told him she would be eager to do so again, and for him to take her roughly.

Not this time, though. He wanted her too much—valued her too much—to be anything but gentle this first time. Once she had accustomed herself to him, he had other things planned. Other positions, other intentions, other ways that he could have her.

So many ways.

He burned for her.

Carefully, he positioned himself at her entrance, and she canted her hips to allow him better access. He slipped inside, and it was an exercise in restraint that he did not sink inside her mindlessly, determined to take and take and take. Instead, he pushed in slowly, gently, inch by inch, as her bodygave underneath him. He encountered resistance and paused, looking down into her face and meeting her eyes as he broke through the last piece of her virginity.

Then he was seated fully inside her, and heaven help him, he could have embarrassed himself fully if he wasn’t careful.

“How do you feel?” he grated.

She experimented with rolling her hips beneath him, and he sucked in a breath, tensing every muscle and willing himself to remain still.

“Good…” she breathed after a moment. “I feel good. Can you—”

“Yes.” Gently, he withdrew, and then thrust back inside. “Yes.” With his other hand, he brought it to her folds and began to rub her there, and a blank sort of pleasure rolled across her face as her eyes grew distant. He felt the pressure begin at the base of his spine, and forced himself to hold back, to make this as pleasurable for her as possible.

“Sebastian,” she gasped.

“You are mine,” he told her as he worked them both into a frenzy. “You are mine, and I hope you never have cause to forget it.Mine.”

“Yours. I am yours.” Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. “Always,” she mumbled, her breathing catching. She was closeagain, and it was a relief to him that she took relatively little to get her to the edge, because he knew he would not last long, either.

“Together,” he said.

She looked confused. “Together?”

“We will crest the wave together.”

For a moment, she looked as though she didn’t understand, but finally, awareness bloomed in her eyes. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. There could be no competition. Beautiful andhis. Not just in the eyes of the law, but in the eyes of man. He had claimed her, and now he would not let her go.

“Yes,” she breathed, her nails digging into his arms. “Together.”

He gritted his teeth. “Tell me when.”