Page 4 of The Cursed Duke (Wayward Dukes' Alliance #19)

All too soon, hot lust streaked through Giles’ blood to settle in his shaft. Where he assumed kissing an innocent would result in tears or the very least a slap, once Miss Masterson got over her initial fright, she seemed to take to the embrace with rather surprising aplomb, and every tentative return of the kiss set fire to his system while encouraging desire to burn through his body.

Then commonsense must have sunk into her brain, for his alleged fiancée planted her palms against his chest and shoved. “Stop, please. The feelings… the sensations are just so… overwhelming.” When she would have run from him, he caught one of her wrists in his hand.

“That is what is supposed to happen, my innocent.” This time, when he tugged her into his arms, he situated her back against his front, holding her tight while he nuzzled the crook of her shoulder before licking and nibbling at the soft skin beneath her jaw and ear. “There is nowhere to hide, little rabbit, for you made this mess. Now you’ll need to reap the consequences.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I can.” Daring much, Giles cupped her breasts and worried the nipples through the fabric of her gown until they hardened. If she hadn’t been kissed, then no man had put his hands on her body either.

There was a certain pride in that.

“Your Grace, I…” The words faded on a gasp when he continued to tease those buds. Again, her muscles were taut, and she was poised to run.

“I won’t hurt you, Miss Masterson. You have my word.” Every time she thrashed or brushed against him, his own arousal increased. When she quieted slightly, he slipped her bodice down, taking the underclothing with it, and when the medium-sized globes fell into his palms, he squeezed them, held them, and once more strummed his fingers over her erect nipples.

This time, she whimpered and lightly bit her bottom lip. “Oh, goodness.” The utterance was a barely audible whisper, but when she lightly rested a hand over his, he continued to bedevil her.

He was hard-pressed not to grin. “When you concocted this bit of fiction, did you think of where this might go, Miss Masterson? Did you lie in your lonely bed in the dark and imagine your fictious duke’s hands on your body?” As he whispered the words, he rolled her nipples, from the root to the tip, which made her tremble. “Do you touch yourself out of need?” With a soft chuckle, he lightly bit her earlobe.

“Oh!” She gasped and gave into a shiver, which only enhanced his own need. “I… I didn’t think…”

In many ways, her na?veté was an aphrodisiac, which surprised the hell out of him. “Ah, then what sort of fiancé would I be if I didn’t at least show you what you’ve missed out on?” Rogue that he was, he fondled her breasts again, since they were more or less hidden between the trees and the wall. Those particular charms of hers were more than enough to keep his attention. “After all, shouldn’t a duke who has suddenly found himself engaged to a woman who has the effrontery of telling a tale that can damage his reputation sample the goods before marrying?”

She squirmed in his hold, and each time her arse brushed the front of his evening breeches and his engorged shaft, need tingled through that organ as well as his stones. “You wish to go through with the marriage? I only said that out of desperation.”

Wasn’t his consideration of the union out of the same? “Why not?” He pinched one of her nipples, and was rewarded by a tiny squeak. “Are you afraid to see your story through? You were the one who started it.”

“I didn’t want this tale to grow into such scandal.”

He snorted. “The wedding wouldn’t be the scandal, little rabbit, but this certainly will be.” Because he might just be a cad, he drew up her skirting with one hand. When she gasped again, he allowed a small grin as he slipped his fingers through her feminine curls to pause at the apex of her thighs. “Let me in, Miss Masterson. This is your punishment for dissembling and involving me in your scheme.”

“But I…” She shook her head. “No one has ever…”

“There is a first time for everything, don’t you think?” He nudged her arse and tapped her inner thigh until she relaxed and slightly parted her legs. “Are you not curious?”

“Yes, but isn’t it scandalous to think about, to perhaps want?”

“Ah, little rabbit, your thoughts are your own, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to know about such things.”

She gave a little nod. “A few times I might have explored myself, and sometimes it felt so lovely, but then I stopped out of shame.”

That was entirely too sad. “No shame. Never that. It is a natural part of life.” He slipped his fingers through those curls and through her folds that were slightly damp with arousal. “If you don’t enjoy this, I will walk away and leave you still an innocent.” He might be many things, but he refused to take a woman against her will.

Her breath shallowed. One of her hands crept to land atop his in an effort to guide him to where she wanted him. That tiny tell of spirit made him want her even more. “But I…”

When he encouraged her button out of hiding, she uttered a swift inhalation of breath. “Let me show you how good this can feel, show you how there is no shame in knowing your body and what it can do.” Over and over, he applied different kinds of friction until he discovered what she enjoyed. As whimpering noises came from her, she moved her hips, brushing against his painfully erect shaft. He lifted his other hand, pressing it over her mouth, and into her ear, he whispered, “Do not scream, my little rabbit, for you will enjoy this.” Then he inserted two fingers into her hot, wet passage, stretching her, preparing her, for he already knew this session wouldn’t end with just this.

Her whimpering sounds were muffled but it was all too obvious she enjoyed his invasion.

Over and over, he manipulated that button, and seconds later, she bumped her head against his shoulder and her eyes fluttered closed. Her soft scream was released against his palm. Damn, but seeing her in the throes of a small release had him aroused beyond the point of return. What the hell was wrong with him since this was the first time he’d met her? “That’s it, little rabbit. Fall into it.” He wouldn’t be a disreputable duke if he didn’t go ahead and claim her body. At least then that bit of drama wouldn’t mar their wedding night. And it wasn’t as if it were scandalous, for he intended to marry the chit anyway. The reasons behind which could be analyzed later.

Much later. With copious amounts of brandy.

When he released her, Miss Masterson shook as he spun her about. “That was… incredible. I had no idea there was more than merely touching that could make me feel like this.”

“Poor na?ve rabbit, there is so much more.” As much as he wanted to take her from behind due to how quickly the act would go, it would have been awkward to do outside, and he didn’t want her to cry foul. Instead, he pushed her backward until her back connected with the brick garden wall. As he trapped her between it and him, he gave a small grin. “Do you want me?” When he lifted one of her legs and encouraged it to rest at his hip, she gasped.

“I… I… I suppose it might be lovely, and I won’t die without knowing about what happens between a man and a woman…” She shook her head, clearly flustered, but he couldn’t blame her. This night had already been rather much.

Through and through the rogue as well as a duke who thought society could go hang, he bent his head, took one of her nipples into his mouth, and suckled hard enough to have her cry out. After, he manipulated his front falls until his engorged length surged out. “Say what it is—you want me to fuck you and make you fly.” How would she react to the vulgarity?

“Oh.” Miss Masterson’s eyes rounded, but she gave him a shallow nod. She stammered and didn’t fully respond, but he took what she had said for consent—dubious though it was—and he kissed her hard. At the same time, he aligned the head of his shaft to her opening then speared into her, penetrated her body, broke through her maidenhead, and didn’t stop until he was fully seated. “Merciful heavens,” she breathed in a tearful whisper.

“Damn.” Her passage was so fucking tight. Though he hadn’t moved since he joined with her, sensation was everywhere, inside his body as well as out. That virgin channel hugged his member, seemingly sucked him inside. “You feel incredible.”

“You should have warned me that you were so large.” A few drops of moisture was visible on her cheeks in the dim illumination, but her fingers scrabbled over his shoulders until she gripped him, pulled him infinitesimally closer.

“This will go quick; I haven’t been with a woman for some time.” Then he began to move, sure and steady as he pumped into her lush body. It was such a different experience than he was used to that he continued to stroke into her like a man possessed, and with every thrust, he rolled or pinched her nipples.

“Oh, oh, oh…” Miss Masterson’s head lolled backward against the wall. One of the pins in her hair fell out and a lock of sandy blonde hair tumbled down to her shoulder. Her leg rose up his hip to curl about his waist, which only sent him more deeply into her passage. “This is… Never could I have dreamed anything like this.” Wonder and a sense of urgency wove through her voice.

He only grunted in response but drove harder and more frantically into her body, over and over and over. In the back of his mind, he realized that he claimed her with probably more force than was strictly necessary, for this experience was unlike any other, and it was her first time with a man, but there was something satisfying about knowing that he would be the only man she did this with

Unless she took a lover, and that would be her right if they didn’t get on, once he had his heir, that was.

The thought of that, about perhaps having a future, skewed his concentration. Giles came before he was ready, before she was, and damn he should have made sure she climaxed before that, but there would be other times. No, this wouldn’t be the only time he laid claim to her body, for he hadn’t had enough yet. “Shit!” Like a man addicted to opiates, he’d been immediately hooked like a novice, and his hard release took him by surprise.

“Your Grace? Is it over?” If possible, the petulant note in her inquiry made him voice a breathless chuckle.

“Unfortunately.” He ground into her, but her passage fluttered lightly into a weak but belated release. “A poor showing, I know.” Then, bastard that he was, he pulled out, stepped away from her, and put himself to rights. “Congratulations, Miss Masterson, you are no longer an innocent, and you most definitely belong to me. I’ll be in touch as to when our nuptial ceremony will occur and where.”

Then he went back into the garden where he returned to the house as if nothing had happened, and though he couldn’t be certain, he thought he heard her softly crying where he’d left her. Happy tears or not, her fate had been sealed with that Drury Lane tale she and her family had told all over London.

May they both have the courage to move through those consequences.