Page 15 of The Duke’s Cursed Virgin (Cursed Brides #3)

Chapter Fourteen

“ H ere we are again,” Philip commented, eyeing his friend. “Go to her.”

Theo was now standing with Philip near the entrance of the parlor.

It was not like him to hesitate. It was not like him to watch someone from afar this obsessively.

Theo might be waxing poetic, but everything around him became more potent—the sounds of laughter, the buzz of gossip, the smell of perfume and fancy meals and faint sweat.

“I do not know what you are talking about,” he muttered, even though the secret was out now.

With the way he was watching Sophia, there should be more people noticing. However, most of the guests were preoccupied with their own interests.

Thankfully.

Theo had not exactly been able to keep his indiscretions secret lately. For a long time, he had not thought of his widowed paramours or the danger of their identities being revealed because of spreading gossip.

The only reason the stories had not spread like wildfire was that the ton thought him an exotic, wild animal, interesting to talk about but dangerous. Wealth and power certainly helped.

“If I can’t make you admit your attraction, I can at least pursue someone,” Philip said. “You are not fun tonight. You are only fun with your ladies of the night.”

“Watch it, Philip,” Theo warned, but he knew that both of their minds had turned to the fact that he gave them gifts and protection.

Philip, ever the rake, scanned the crowd with glittering eyes. They seemed to have settled on a particular lady, though the Duke could not be too certain. He wasn’t that interested.

Except he noticed that Lady Sophia and Miss Martin had been separated. The latter proceeded to perform her duties as the host’s and hostess’s daughter, while the former remained in a corner.

Undoubtedly, Sophia was trying not to be noticed. But a woman like her would always find eyes on her for various reasons.

“Not a good idea, Longford,” Theo warned.

But he knew it was futile. Once Philip had set his sights on a woman, he would not stop until he had her.

“Oh, is it not? But I will ask you anyway if you’d mind terribly if I leave you for a woman?”

Philip wasn’t even looking at Theo. He was already walking toward Anna Martin.

“I could never stop you from any type of flirtation, could I?” Theo called out, but he could not help but shake his head and smile.

Philip merely chuckled in response before he moved faster toward his target.

Standing alone, looking through the doorway leading to the grand parlor, Theo let his eyes find her again.

Sophia.

And then he went to see her, and as ever, the rope around him tightened as she displayed her wit and uniqueness.

He knew that there was so much more than he could find in her as he peeled back her layers.

Layers of her clothing.

Layers of her character.

But there were some things that he could not peel back—not just yet. He saw her determination to be her own self, separate from the ton’s expectations, but she disengaged from their conversation when people began noticing them.

Still a respectable young lady .

Or perhaps she was not interested in him the way he was interested in her. She believed he was looking for a mistress, and she was right.

Theo noticed that Sophia and her aunt had separated. As soon as she slipped away from the parlor, he followed her. He did so carefully, so as not to frighten her.

He kept to the edges, slipping past guests and servants alike, careful to avoid any conversation that might cost him sight of her once more.

No. He’d planned for this so carefully. He would not fail again.

So far, his rigid posture and sharp glares had dissuaded most people from even greeting him. His eyes and ears were too focused on the hunt.

Soon, he realized that he was following her through a dimly lit hallway. The soft light did not deter him.

Then, he saw her entering a smaller room.

Was Lady Sophia entering another forbidden room? Another library or study? Despite the tension he felt, he could not help but smile.

“I am enjoying this habit of ours,” he could not help but comment as soon as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Her hand was poised to grab a book from the shelf, making him grin even wider. He knew he should be more careful with her, but he could not help but want to tease her, as well.

Sensing his presence immediately, Sophia whirled around to face him, her eyes flashing with fury.

“Stop following me! I told you that I can’t risk getting caught with you,” she hissed.

She stepped forward, her arms stretched in front of her as if she was prepared to physically push him out or against the door if she needed to.

“Nobody saw me, Sophia,” he reassured her, while walking closer—one small step at a time.

He walked slowly without making a sound, afraid that she would pounce on him if his shoes made the slightest noise.

“I know you have nothing to be afraid of. You have nothing to lose. Just because I have lost my family and the love of the ton does not mean I’m ready to lose it all. I-I can always live a life as a spinster—a respectable one.”

The implication was not lost on him. Sophia still believed that he was after her to ruin her.

“Why do you think I will listen to reason? Following you each time I see you is against reason, but I cannot help it. I despise public gatherings, balls, and musicales, yet here I am, attending another of these events,” he explained, startled by the honesty in his voice. “To see you .”

“You should begin listening to reason again, Your Grace,” she protested, nearly sobbing. Then, she squeezed her eyes shut and began breathing in and out. “Leave me be. Find someone else to bother. Once you’ve given it some thought, you will realize that you are only after the chase and not after me.”

The sight of her vulnerability stirred mixed feelings inside him.

The desire to hug and comfort her.

The desire to kiss and ravish her.

“Am I really bothering you, Lady Sophia? Do you really want me to leave you alone? Did you not at least wonder about me?” he asked as he continued his slow advance.

Sophia’s breath hitched. The Duke could not help it—he was only human—but his eyes had followed the rise and fall of her chest. He could still remember how she felt under his hands and in his arms.

“I take what I want. I always have. But I will allow you to choose. You can tell me to leave you be for the last time,” he said, lowering his voice so that it wouldn’t sound like a threat. “Or you can tell me how I should touch you. Or taste you. I have a feeling that you would enjoy my tongue very much.”

He didn’t want to frighten her, but he didn’t know what he would do if she said that he should leave her be—forever.

“You are impossible,” she whispered, but she had not stepped backward.

She remained where she was, mere inches from him. He could feel the heat radiating from her, smell the scent of her hair—soft, like fresh roses, and alluring rather than cloying.

“Am I?” he asked, regaining his confidence.

Sophia was still staring at him in wonder. She probably thought he had gone mad. And perhaps he had.

What was he doing, chasing after an inexperienced woman? Young ladies were after only one thing—marriage—and that was something he could never give them.

Pleasure. It was pleasure that he could offer. From the way her pupils dilated as he stepped closer, it seemed that she was halfway there even before he had even touched her. Her blue eyes had turned a darker shade, desire blatantly present.

“Yes,” she whispered.

The response was meant to tell him that he was impossible, but there was a long pause that it almost felt like she was agreeing to whatever he wanted.

“Oh, you know I am, My Lady. But from what I know about you, you are a bundle of contradictions, too. All prim and proper with your aunt, and an explosion under my lips. Do they know that you are a weapon, Sophia?”

Her eyes were now certainly on his lips, and he took it as his cue to kiss her.

It wasn’t a chaste pressing of mouth to mouth. It wasn’t unadulterated lust. This one was desperate and consuming, borne of weeks of torture—more complex and delicious.

Sophia gasped against Theo’s lips, her body trembling in his arms. She felt good in his embrace, fitting so perfectly in it. His palms caressed her curves while she gripped his coat.

Then, he stopped.

He did not want to stop, and from the way Sophia was panting, he knew she didn’t either. She looked bewildered and hurt as he walked away from her.

He inspected the lock, made sure it was secure as she waited for him.

The Duke could only guess the battle that raged within her. As she bit her lower lip and watched him with lust-glazed eyes, he knew that propriety was losing to something more primal.

Consumed with hunger, he lunged back at her and pushed her against the lone desk. It reminded him of that last time in Foxmere’s study. If not for the commotion in the corridor, he did not know how that unexpected tryst would have ended. He hoped that he could control the ending now.

Holding her against the desk, careful not to hurt her, he let his hands travel all over her body as he kissed her jaw. She sighed when his kisses trailed down the column of her milky throat.

“I know what you want,” he murmured against her skin, and she shivered. “Let me give it to you.”

He let his hands map her body from her shoulders to her breasts and from her waist to her hips. She moaned appreciatively as he continued touching her. Squeezing her.

When he dropped to his knees, however, she tensed again. He held her by the waist while his eyes sought her permission.

“We… We shouldn’t,” she said softly, but she did not push him away.

Her thighs parted for him—a betrayal.

“Do you truly want me to stop, darling Sophia?” he asked as he lifted the hem of her dress until her thighs were exposed. He drew circles on her inner thighs until she was quivering. “Do you want me to stop?”

“I…”

He merely watched her, silently probing even as his fingers continued their ascent. Slowly. He wanted her to be able to tell him no.

When his fingers got too close to the apex of her thighs, she moaned and squeezed her eyes shut.

It was all the permission the Duke needed.

Theo replaced his fingers with his lips. Hot and insistent, they traced a path up her thighs.

“Let go. Stop thinking and let me pleasure you,” he coaxed, his breath hot on her inner thighs.

His fingers reached that bundle of nerves, moving over the bud tentatively at first. Then, he rubbed it with his thumb slowly, almost lazily. Her hips started to move, even though he suspected she had not been introduced to the carnal dance of making love. Her instincts were strong and urgent, and the rhythm of her hips was addictive.

He slipped a finger into her wetness. She was tight and hot, and begging for more. He curled his finger as if beckoning someone and slid it in and out of her.

“How about now?” he groaned, feeling himself getting harder in his pants.

“Yes,” was all she could say.

When Theo slipped another finger inside her, she bit back a gasp.

The Duke had made love to several women—mostly in their homes. Each time was always in secret, but there would always be one loyal servant and a private room where his women could scream.

The situation was different now. Sophia could not scream, or else they might alert the whole Holton household and its guests.

“I want to hear you scream my name,” he whispered. “Yet it makes me harder, seeing you biting your pretty lip to keep this all a secret.”

“It’s so close. That feeling. I-I…” she trailed off, her eyes squeezed shut as he continued assaulting her senses with his fingers.

He moaned as he felt her clench around them. So tight. What he would have given to know how it felt to have his cock in there, plunging into her most secret place.

“You are so beautiful,” he praised as he tried his best not to grip his cock and drive it into her.

Tonight was all about her pleasure. Tonight was all about gaining more of her trust.

Then, he stopped and slid his fingers out of her.

A flustered Sophia opened her eyes to look at him accusingly.

“W-What? Did something happen?” she asked.

“Nothing. I want to see you on the edge of pleasure and back again. You look so beautiful with your face so red that I want to see it all over again,” he confessed.

“And torture yourself some more?” she demanded, pointedly looking at his erection.

“If this is the torture I get, I will accept it gladly,” he whispered as he eased his hips between her legs.

When he thrust his hips against her core, she whimpered. Desire and fear seemed to blend on her pretty features.

“W-What are you going to do now?” she asked.

“I want to taste more of you,” he said as his hands cupped her breasts above her dress. “I want to see more of you.”

“Then taste me,” she said boldly, looking shocked by her own words.

“Oh, I will,” he promised as he lowered her bodice to free her full breasts. “You are so beautiful. So flushed and pink.”

“Oh,” was the only thing she could say.

That one word was repeated over and over at an increasing pitch as Theo lowered his mouth to capture a nipple in his mouth and sucked.

“So delicious,” he murmured as he swirled his tongue around it before sucking hard again.

“Please,” she begged, squirming under his ministrations.

The Duke knew just what to do.