Page 11 of My Blind Duke (The Twisted Dukes #5)

P rudence quickly slipped off the bench and rose to her feet, hurrying out of the room.

She had thought the duke would let her go, expecting that he would not wish to waste his time on her. But then she heard heavy footfalls behind her, stomach clenching nervously at the realization that he was following her.

Why does this excite me though? What will he do if he catches me?

Her mind was swimming with images of the duke’s lips and hands all over her. Still, she increased her pace, trying not to look back or let the hot feeling of his gaze pinned her in place. She then slipped into an alcove, exhaling deeply because she believed she had gotten away from him…

Only for his hands to rest on her waist and pull her flush against his body.

“How – how did you find me?” she gasped, squirming in his grasp.

“I am of the impression that you bathe in perfume on purpose. I can smell you everywhere I go, overly sweet and sharp. Like lavender. It drives me mad…” He growled, then closed the distance between them and slammed his lips on hers.

Her hands found solace bracing themselves on his shoulder, holding onto him for dear life as he kissed her deeply, moaning as his tongue slipped past her lips and began to tangle with hers.

One of Prudence’s hands made its way through his hair and she sighed as her fingers clutched onto the soft tufts, relishing in the way he tightened his hold on her. There was a burning need beneath her skin, a weight in her belly that was demanding attention.

She knew she had a problem. And William was the solution.

His lips left hers, trailing fleeting kisses down her jaw and neck and her grip on his hair turned tight when he sank his teeth into her neck, drawing a deep gasp from her.

“Your Grace–”

“William,” he growled against her skin, bringing one of his hands up to fondle her breasts as the other slipped down her back to grope her buttocks. “Call me by my name.”

“Will – William,” she gasped, hoarse and needy.

He hummed in satisfaction, making her heart tremble with desire.

Desire to please him. The desire for his touch. Desire for his mark.

“Bloody hell,” he hissed suddenly, pulling away with harsh, deep breaths. “Not here, darling. Not here.”

She blinked at him, confused at the sudden change in his demeanor, her heart threatening to fall apart in that direction.

Then he asked, “Is there a study or a drawing room close by?”

As a matter of fact, there was a study, a few doors to their left. Prudence quickly led them there, shivering when he twisted the key to lock the door as soon as they were inside.

William grabbed her and pulled her close, his lips finding hers once more. Prudence kissed him back desperately, whining as he backed her up against a table and lifted her onto it easily. He latched his lips to her neck, kissing and sucking as his hands pulled her skirts up so he could run his hands over her legs.

His touch left a storm of goosebumps spreading across her skin and stroked the blazing fire within her to burn even hotter, threatening to consume her whole at any moment.

“It is preposterous. Absolutely wrong of you to taste as good as you do,” he grumbled, sounding as though it was the most offensive thing he had ever had to encounter in his life.

“If you do not like it, then you can unhand me. Right this second,” Prudence panted, aching to touch him too.

As she reached for his chest to undo the buttons of his shirt, he grabbed her hand and put it around his neck, drawing her closer by her hip and kissing her deeply.

“Do not try to trick me out of my prize,” he muttered, undoing the buttons of the top half of her dress. “I told you to run, and you did not at my first warning. You also goaded me into chasing you. I caught you. You are my prize. Mine to ravish as I see fit.”

Prudence blushed as he tugged the strings of her corset loose and her breasts were freed, stifling a moan as he began to fondle them.

“I-I am not trying to trick you. You are the one who did not play fair,” she accused, gasping as he took a nipple into his mouth, arching up against him.

“That is precious. How you assume that wolves play fair,” he grinned, looking devilishly handsome with his hair mused by her hands and his lips red from kissing her.

Waves of want echoed through Prudence’s being and she felt on the brink of tears, desperate for more of what he had to offer.

William seemed to sense her distress and chuckled darkly, as his hands rested on her knees and began to slide up her thigh, slipping beneath the folds of her dress.

“So impatient and restless.”

“You said you would ravish me. Am I to believe that you are a man of your word?” she huffed, squirming a bit beneath his touch.

“That sounds like you are saying you do not trust me,” he smirked, kissing her chastely.

“I… I do not,” she muttered quietly.

“Good,” he nodded. “Because I do not trust you either.”

And then he slowly pressed his finger through her wet folds.

Prudence gasped, clinging to him desperately, overwhelmed by the sensations flooding her body. The intrusion felt so good, yet so foreign, and she was tongue-tied, unable to decipher what it was she wanted to ask him for.

William seemed to notice something because he went still and when she settled slightly, he muttered against her neck,

“Has any man ever touched you before, Prudence?”

She felt herself melt as she shook her head.

“Good. I will go slow. Do not worry.”

Prudence nodded, shivering as his fingers began to stroke her gently, applying the barest of pressures that still had her mind going dizzy. She felt so hot, so eager, and soon, she began to move her hips in time with his strokes.

“More?” he asked after a while and she nodded, leaning forward to kiss him as he increased his pace slightly, thrusting his fingers in and out of her folds. “God, you are so wet and needy, darling…”

Prudence whimpered against his lips when he hit a spot and he licked into her mouth, sucking on her tongue and swallowing every sound she made.

She felt lost in the arms of pleasure, her body growing stiffer and hungrier as she felt it pool at the bottom of her belly, twisting her nerves until she felt like a wound-up toy.

“William–” she panted as he worked at her nub, desperate for the ease that would let her breathe freely again.

“I know, my sweet. I know,” he said, nibbling at her lower lip. “You can. Go ahead.”

It was as though all she needed was his permission. Ecstasy hit, hard and fast, consuming her as she fell off the edge. She tried to close her legs with William’s fingers still inside her but could not because he was standing between them and he pressed kisses up and down her neck, slowly petting her through her release.

“That’s it,” he hummed in approval, making her preen on the inside. “Well done, darling.”

Prudence felt as though she had fallen down a hill and rolled down to the bottom with how heavy her limbs felt suddenly. Her body felt too hot, too sensitive and she just wished she could curl up on a bed somewhere and sleep.

“That was–” she started, losing the words and her train of thought as he pulled her closer and kissed her deeply and hungrily.

Prudence melted against him, letting the duke take whatever he wanted, feeling sated and satisfied. After he broke the kiss he remained close, breathing deeply as though he was trying to ensure that her scent would be imprinted on his lungs.

Then he groaned, releasing her and stepping back.

“Oh, Duchess. You should have left when I first asked you to.”

William downed the contents of his glass, swallowing it in a single gulp.

He set the glass down on his desk and pointed at it, listening to the tell-tale sound of liquid sloshing into it. He nodded at Robert in thanks and took another mouthful, irritated by the fact that no amount of whiskey seemed to erase the taste of Prudence from his tongue.

He had been a fool to give in to his wants, to let his desire lure him closer to her. That vixen was meant to be watched from afar, nothing more. But he had thought he could approach her and leave without any losses. Get her out of his system once and for all.

Truly, what a fool he had been.

When he had begun to touch her, he had his suspicions. The duchess had been too responsive, too sensitive to the touch. It made him ache for more, more of her breathless pants and melodic moans. More of that smooth, soft skin that was covered in her gentle, sweet scent.

And when he tried to take what she had offered, he felt it then.

Proof that she was not who people believed her to be.

Prudence was a virgin still.

He knew that her husband had died on their wedding night before they could consummate the marriage. But rumors claimed that the duchess had many lovers. They had said that she frequently participated in orgies and her parties generally featured immoral, unspeakable acts.

And yet, this woman was untouched. He had even been the first man to touch her like that.

The latter thought had him running wild with need. The urge to ruin her. To have her, over and over, wherever he could, until he was drunk on her scent for days.

The tell-tale tightening of his breeches made him groan with annoyance. Perhaps it was because he had not found his release earlier, but it appeared it did not take much to get his loins swirling with desire. Prudence was consuming him, supplying him with a hunger that could only be sated once he had gotten his fill of her.

All this over a woman who was greatly lacking of the skills or traits to be the seductress the people believed her to be.

How could he have not seen this as a possibility? How could he now still pursue the possibility that she had killed her husband?

And if the rumors had been wrong about this, what other things did they not know about her?

William thought about Prudence, her obvious yearning that he could feel beneath his touch, her honest body, and telling sounds, wincing slightly as his manhood began to throb. And he wondered how one person could manage to be simultaneously more and less than what people and the papers said about her.

Whatever the answer was, he knew he was doomed, either way.