Page 7 of Starlight and the Duke (Cherish and the Duke #5)

“I was not planning to charge at you like a raging bull,” he said, regarding her quite lovingly.

“Are you sure, Fiona? I don’t want to rush this first time between us.

But the sight of you with your hair down and your gown slipping off your shoulders…

Everything is flying out of my head, and all I want to do is devour you. ”

“Then do so. I won’t stop you.”

He kissed her again, his mouth hot and persistent, while also running his hands over her body as though he needed to memorize each and every curve and hollow. She did the same with his, the recognition surprisingly profound even though she had never touched him like this before.

He rained kisses upon her lips, her chin, and then suckled the tender spot below her ear before moving lower and doing the same to her breast.

She gasped and arched beneath him as lightning bolts tore through her.

He looked up and studied her in surprise. “Dear Lord, Fiona. Is this your first time?”

That any man had touched her breast with his mouth? She was too humiliated to answer.

He eased back slightly, and then gently kissed the swell of her breast.

But she gasped again when he renewed his onslaught, closing his mouth once more over the taut bud through the thin fabric of her chemise and lightly suckling it. Ripples of pleasure tore through her, the delicious shock making her cry out.

His body tensed, his muscles coiled like that of a cobra, as he took his lips off her and looked up again.

“Don’t stop.” She drew his head back to her bosom. “I cried out because I liked it.”

His laugh was painful. “So did I…like it, that is. Then you are all right with what I am doing?”

At her nod, he tugged her chemise lower to expose her breast, then proceeded to tease and lick the creamy mound with exquisite care, now understanding no one had ever done this to her before.

Her head was in a spin, for relations with Shoreham had been nothing like this. Never passionate or set-flames-to-the-bed hot. Always discreet. Polite. Done.

However, with Rob, it was hearts blown wide open. Every touch of his mouth was a scorching demand for her surrender. His every kiss and smile was an ardent declaration of his love.

Well, she was going to let him declare that he loved her as often as he wished for these next seven days.

And then they would walk away from each other.

They had to walk away. For his sake and to save his dukedom.

“I hear you thinking,” he said, his voice a soft growl, as he shifted lower down her body. She was not certain what he meant to do, but she trusted him.

It did not matter what he planned next. She was his for now and always, although she would never admit the always part.

“I am not thinking at all.” She tugged on his hair, liking the soft, wavy feel of those dark-gold strands as she sank her fingers in them. “I cannot even recall my own name.”

He nudged the hem of her chemise upward so that the garment bunched around her waist. She wasn’t certain why he had tugged it down and now up, when he could have just slipped it off her and cast it aside with the other clothes now strewn on the carpet.

But there was a bit of prurient naughtiness in leaving it on and yet covering nothing.

“What are you going to do next?” she asked.

“Must I draw you a map?” His shoulders were now between her legs. Dear heaven. This was too, too shocking. “Do you really not know, Fiona?”

“I have my suspicions.” She had read books that went into some detail. Also, some of her women friends had whispered about the sort of things they did with their lovers. But she had listened only with half an ear, for these were not happily married women.

She had never considered herself to be in their situation. Indeed, she had been content with Shoreham and grown used to his no-frolic attitude. He may not have been exciting, but he had always been considerate when performing his marital duties.

Besides, she had taken her marriage vows seriously. How could she ever betray that kind man?

Stars blazed in her eyes when Rob put his mouth to her most intimate spot and began to tease and suckle as he had done with the bud of her breast. Fiery comets sped past her and burst into flames as his tongue touched her where it had no right to be.

Rob had his hand on her stomach, gentling her as she squirmed. But how could she not wriggle about when he was exciting her to the very core?

If he did not want her to move, then he needed to get his head out from between her legs and stop licking her as though she were ice cream.

Oh, dear heaven. That sounded so dirty!

But it felt so good.

“Rob…” She called his name urgently as her entire body suddenly turned volcanic and seemed about to explode from within. “ Rob .”

“I have you, Fiona. Let yourself go.”

How?

She had never experienced anything so intense, and now felt herself coming undone as quivering waves began to ripple through her body.

She cried his name again. Blinding stars filled her eyes and then tore apart to become shimmering bits of starlight.

She began to tumble through this blaze of starlight, tumble toward Rob, who was there to catch her as she fell, just as he had always been and could forever be, if only she would let him.

She had never felt anything this powerful before.

But she felt safe throughout the entire experience, because this was Rob and he would always care for her.

She stayed floating through the silvery sparkles of starlight as they fell gently in a shimmering rain that now surrounded her. Her breathless journey was about to come to an end.

No mere journey, but a beautiful moment in time.

Rob took her in his arms as she calmed, his kisses soft and loving. He slid his hands up and down her arms, caressing her while she regained her composure.

She rested her head upon his bare chest, her escape of air feathering his chest hairs as she nestled against him and inhaled his clean, rugged scent of musk and maleness. His skin felt hot against her cheek.

She threw her arm across his torso, as though this was enough to hold him to her forever. But she’d never had enormous strength in her arms. She could not hold him back if he wanted to go.

And he would have to go soon.

She forced her mind back to the now and not the inevitable, heart-shattering future.

“How do you feel, Fiona?”

“Shamefully good. Astounded. Not quite recovered from whatever that was.”

He chuckled. “It’s called pleasure.”

She had heard the word used so often with regard to the bedchamber, but never understood the power of it.

How could she have possibly been so dense? Why had Shoreham never tried this in all the years of their marriage?

But somehow, it felt right that Rob should be the one to show her the true meaning of pleasure. “I think I’ll swim with you tomorrow, Rob.”

A smile tugged at the corners of his sinfully beautiful mouth. “Good.”

She sighed. “It’s the clothes, you see.”

“What about clothes?”

“Mine are half on, half off, and bunched around my waist,” she explained.

“Whether they are on or off doesn’t matter.

That I held back today and chose not to swim with you doesn’t change the truth of things.

You see right through me to my heart. Even if I wore layers upon layers of winter clothes, you would still see through them into my heart.

You would even see me clearly through a wall of iron, for that matter. ”

“You give me too much credit. All I had was a desire to share a moment like this with you,” he said, his voice low and rumbling, “and a hope that it might please you. I was going to slowly teach you the ways of desire—inching steps, although I did not think you would be afraid of anything.”

“I’m not when I am with you,” she admitted.

“However, I was worried that you would think too hard about what we were doing and shy away. I wanted to gain your trust.”

“Trust in your mastery?”

He grinned and rolled his eyes. “But this is better. Just a raw explosion of feeling. A hot mess. Nothing planned.”

She nodded. “And nothing held back.”

In all her married years, she had never lain unclothed beside Shoreham.

It felt so natural with Rob. She was nestled against his bare chest, her bosom pressed against his warm skin, and all she wanted was to stay this way all night.

And tomorrow she was going to swim with him.

She did not know what this signified beyond two friends going into the water together. She had several bathing gowns—most were wool and designed for modesty by the shore, but not for actual swimming. The material was too heavy when wet and would weigh her down.

For this reason, she’d had two others made for her that were of black cotton and more practical for going into the water.

She did not know how easy they were to remove when wet, but Rob was a resourceful fellow and would figure out a way, assuming they were going to do something more than take an innocent swim together.

He worked his magic on her once more that night, stealing her breath and her soul as she soared to these newly discovered heights of passion.

Starlight surrounded her again. Beautiful, glittering, and silvery.

Would this always happen with him?

Always only meant these next seven days, she reminded herself.

His gentle caresses lulled her to sleep. The next thing she knew, it was morning and the sun was shining into her bedchamber. She liked to sleep with the drapes drawn open because she enjoyed waking up to the warmth of the sun on her face.

When she turned to greet Rob, she found the other side of her bed was empty. It was as though he had never been here.

An ache tore through her heart and left a gaping hole in it.

She glanced down at herself. Her chemise was back in proper order, which meant he must have adjusted it sometime during the night. She hadn’t felt a thing, no doubt because she had been thoroughly satiated and fallen into a deep, restful slumber.