Page 5 of Kiss the Duke Goodbye (The Troublesome Trio #3)

CHAPTER 5

WHERE A MAN MARVELS AT HIS EXTREME GOOD FORTUNE

M ore than play .

Knox turned her statement over in his mind as he followed Clarissa up a narrow staircase, his blood dancing frenetically beneath his skin.

More. Than. Play.

To calm himself, he tried to think of other things. One corner of her runner needed repair. Her banister was shaky. There might be a leak in the roof. He cataloged the tasks he could complete on his next trip. She had no man about the place and an admittedly modest staff. He was useful, very , for a society nob. Good with his hands like her cobbler. However, Clarissa wasn’t his mistress and never would be. He had no jurisdiction here. Even if he offered, which he’d considered a time or two on those random visits to her shop, she’d sock him in the lip.

Watching her exquisite hips swing while she strolled down the corridor, he decided to reflect on the color of her nipples (unknown) and the thatch of gorgeous flaxen hair between her thighs (known) instead of the impossibilities of his life.

His female fascination was offering him exactly what he’d wanted.

Time.

He meant to take it.

Halting her, Knox pulled her into an embrace not far from one he’d employ if dancing the waltz. The kiss was light, her lips opening beneath his in surprise, then passion. He backed her into the wall, running his hands from her shoulders to her waist before tucking her tightly against him. “I love kissing you,” he murmured against the corner of her mouth, “when I’ve never appreciated the act this much. You are divine in every sense.”

She nipped his bottom lip, launching air in a spiral through his lungs. “You were in a hurry for other things, Your Grace.”

He cradled her cheek, watching her steely eyes glaze and glisten. “There isn’t anyone else. Not in my heart or my mind. It’s as if you’ve magically erased my past. I…” He halted, unsure how to tell her without telling her too much when she still meant to kiss a duke goodbye.

Falling in love with Clarissa Marlowe would be a very cruel thing, indeed.

As if she knew what he was thinking, she took his hand and led him to a door at the end of the hallway. If he’d known nothing about her, this room would have told all. It smelled of lilies and hyacinth, the fragrances he’d often caught on her skin. Moonlit and nothing but lit the chamber, revealing bonnets in various stages of completion scattered about the space. It wasn’t messy so much as spirited, like the woman. The curtains were without frills, the furniture sedate and steady, but the vases lining a shelf were splashes of color.

The bed was the most inviting he’d ever seen. Stacked with pillows, rose-colored silk draped over the tester frame like moss, the counterpane a darker shade of crimson, bold and elegant.

He paused in the doorway, where she glanced at him over her shoulder.

It was true. He was nervous. This slip of a woman had a lofty duke twisted in a knot. Because she was revealing more than he’d ever been given. “No one but you is allowed in here, am I right, love?”

In response, she grasped his shirt in her hand and dragged him inside her chamber. Sank her fingers into the hair riding the nape of his neck and pulled him into a kiss he wasn’t sure he’d survive.

It was answer enough.

They walked each other toward the bed, circling, kissing, moaning. Their own brand of the waltz. Her breast was full and plump, his thumb teasing her peaked nipple through layers. His first touch of this part of her body. He was going to suck them. Soon . Bite and lick and savor . Her waist was gently curved, perfect for his hold. Hip to hip, they bumped, grinding against each other until he was hard and she ready. Breathless, she took command, turning so it was his legs that met the edge of the mattress, where he tumbled. Grabbing her, he laughed, pulling her atop him.

The subsequent struggle was fun and sensual, novel in his experience.

She unbuttoned his shirt with remarkable speed without breaking the kiss, shoving it from his shoulders in triumph like she’d raised a flag on a ship she’d captured. His trousers and drawers were rolled off in awkward twists and rotations between puffs of amusement. When he encountered trouble disrobing her , she rose to her knees, presenting her back to him. He worked past ties and hooks, nibbling on each slice of skin he revealed through a chemise as silky and transparent as gossamer. In seconds, both garments fluttered to the floor.

“ Stop ,” Knox whispered when she made to turn, releasing a tight breath across her bare skin.

She glanced back uncertainly, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. Her ardent gaze swept the length of him, lingering in a sensual way that lit him up inside.

“I want to look. A minute pause before I lose my mind in pleasure.”

In acceptance, her chin dipped, allowing him his wish.

She was slender, and shapely, her skin the color of fresh cream. Her hair was a tousled tumble of gold. Smiling, he traced the light dusting of freckles along the slope of her shoulders and over her pert bottom. He trailed his hand between her cheeks and through the thatch of hair still damp from their earlier adventure. With a moan, she collapsed, bracing her arms on the mattress as he gently tunneled his finger inside her. He leaned over her, curving his body around hers as he thrust. “Someday, will you let me watch you use your toy? I want to see you come by your own method.”

He didn’t expect an answer, as this was a fantasy. Every man’s fantasy. And those rarely came true. Except, Clarissa Marlowe was unique to the extreme. “If you let me…watch you,” she whispered in a husky voice and reared back to drive his fingers deeper.

Her answer and her pursuit unleashed a demon inside him.

Tilting her head, Knox kissed her, bringing her back into the storm. He worked his arm beneath her to cushion the fall as he turned her to her back and laid his body over hers. There were no instructions, no guidance from either party. It was instinctive sport. His hips sank between her open thighs, her arms looping over his shoulders, mouths fusing, tongues meeting and drawing each other in.

They explored in full measure. The globes of her breast cupped in his hand, her nipple hardening as he suckled, his tongue swirling. Her fingers circled his cock and stroked. Hip to hip, they broke into a rhythm predicting things to come. She was a wildfire, rising to meet his touch, whispering about how he was making her feel, what she wanted to do to him. He’d never been with a woman who held nothing back.

It was extraordinary.

Anchoring her knee by his hip, she opened herself to him. Biting his neck, she murmured, “Now, Knox, now .”

He couldn’t deny her. She was ready, her folds wet and swollen. As for him, he’d been gone for her for months, maybe longer. His cock wanted no other home.

Sweeping her hair from her eyes, he stared into them as he worked his shaft into place. “I desire you more than I’ve desired anyone in my life, Clarissa Marlowe. You understand that, don’t you?”

Before she could respond, he thrust gently, working his way inside her. She was tight but not uncomfortably so. He fit her nipple between his lips, mouthing the side of her breast, dragging her attention away from any discomfort below. Arching her back with a ragged groan, she brought her other leg around him, her heel digging into his buttock, sending him deeper. And deeper still. A moment’s hesitation and her slight cry was the only moment she stilled. Then they were moving together, halting at first, before the pace settled into a steady pace.

The kiss was uncontrolled, out of rhythm with his thrusts, and her determined effort to match them. They were adrift in a sea of pleasure, reason long departed. Tortured gasps and the slap of bodies, the shift and creak of an aged bedframe, echoed about the chamber. He knew he was close, minutes from release. His bullocks were tensing into a tight knot.

Dashing sweat from his brow, Knox swept his hand low, placing his thumb at the knot of nerves topping her sex. “Are you ready to go over, love?”

Clarissa cried out when he circled the aroused nub, bumping her hip against his, her hand catching at his back, nails biting into his skin. He held her as she shivered and shook, whispering endearments into her petal-soft cheek. Stay with it, dammit, stay with it, he pleaded with himself.

She had to arrive first.

He groaned in relief when she released, her muscles tensing around his cock. Her body drained his dry, tossing him into a sea of bliss. The tremors rocked him, heat seizing him, his breath stalling in his throat. Bracing his forearm on the mattress, he let the world, except for her , leave him. They were blessedly alone, clutching each other for salvation. Destroyed.

When Knox came back to find himself slumped across her, his weight certainly too heavy to support. Clarissa grabbed at him weakly when he shifted to his side, so he hugged her against him, kissing the crown of her head. Words were impossible at the moment. The joyful burn in his brain at the thought of a child created with her had him closing his eyes in torment. He’d not disengaged at the last, unlike him in every way. Careless, when she was a product of such reckless behavior herself.

She curled on her side to face him, reaching to sweep his hair from his brow. “Stop it, Knox.”

He blinked at her tone, far from the gentle murmurings during their interlude. Her eyes were dark glimmers of gray surrounded by a circle of violet he’d not yet noticed. She looked like she’d run a race, tousled and damp-skinned, but her gaze was steady. “I want all of you, no half measures. The duke’s usual service. I’m aware of the risk we took. Don’t think you’ve forced me to make any decisions I didn’t want to make. This night, what we have, I desire all or nothing. That scoundrel the papers write about isn’t the man I know or want.”

He swallowed past the emotions streaking through him. The newness of this, of her , terrified him. He’d never spent time with a woman who wanted to know anything but the duke. Pressing his brow to hers, he held her close to his heart. Tucked her in his heart. “Just a man, then.”

She smiled, softly, wisely. He had no idea where she’d gotten such knowledge of life. “Exactly.”

Agreed, they drifted to sleep with moonlight and fascination watching over them.