Page 13 of The Duke’s Defiant Angel (Dukes Gone Dirty #1)

13

R aff wasted no more time.

Weeks’ worth of pent-up desire had his mouth claiming hers in a hot, open, hungry kiss before he’d reached the bed.

Even when his knees bumped against the edge, he found himself reluctant to let go of the wet, wanton creature in his arms.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed those perfect tits against him. Wet as she was, she soaked the fabric of his shirt, and through it, he could feel all of her. Her hot skin, her hard nipples, the softness of her thighs.

He groaned as his fingers dug into her flesh, holding her tighter before finally setting her down gently atop the bed.

For a long moment, he ignored the primal need that had his manhood standing at attention and forced himself to wait. To devour her with his eyes before climbing atop her.

Because once he had her in his arms, he’d be lost to desire, and right now, for one heartbeat, he wanted to see her. All of her.

“Beautiful.” It came out choked and gruff. His lungs were too tight with reverence. With awe. His gaze roved over her bare belly that glistened with bath water, down to the swell of her hips, lingering at that dark tuft of curls—the only shield between her tight cunny and his hard shaft.

Her back arched slightly as if her tits were begging for attention.

A smile tugged at his lips at the thought. Those rosy nipples were hard, and the soft swell of her breasts were rising and falling quickly.

His gaze darted up to her face. Was she afraid?

His tension eased the moment he caught her dazed gaze locked on his groin. She bit her lip, but it wasn’t fear he saw there. It was curiosity.

Maybe a little trepidation, too.

He stepped closer and reached for her hand, bringing it down to cover his hard length. With his hand over hers, he cupped her fingers around his shaft, groaning when she gasped.

With wide eyes, she glanced up at him.

“It’s all right, Angel,” he said. “I don’t want you to be frightened, and you can’t hurt me.”

She wet her lips, and he bit back another groan. This was temptation like he’d never known. The most beautiful woman in the world spread out for him like a buffet, willing and eager and his.

His for the taking.

Once again, he had to inhale deeply against the tightening in his chest.

He was humbled by the moment. Him. A duke who’d never been humble about anything in his life. But eyeing this woman who was his to bed. His to worship. His to…

He shook off the thought before it could finish.

No.

He would not love her.

She shifted onto her side, adjusting her grip on his cock. The innocence in her gaze when she peeked up at him through her lashes was nearly his undoing. “Are you certain I cannot hurt you?”

Her grip was so light, and yet he throbbed in her hand at the sound of her voice.

“I’ll show you how to touch me, shall I?”

Hell. He felt like this was his first time. He’d never been with a virgin before. The enormity of what he was about to do—of what they were about to do—struck him anew.

She was his wife. She was his to take care of. Her happiness, her pleasure...it rested in his hands.

She nodded. “Yes, please.”

He shucked off his shirt, followed by his breeches, his gaze never wavering from hers. He gave her a moment to stare at his member, despite the fact that her wide-eyed gaze and those sweetly parted lips had his heart pounding with the exertion of holding back.

She gave him her hand, the gesture so trusting he swore right then and there to never take her trust for granted. To never give her reason to look at him the way she had their first night together.

He settled her hand over his length and let go.

She gasped, biting her lip as a blush stole over her cheeks. With tentative fingers, she explored the ridge at the head, then traced her fingers up and down the rigid length.

This was hell.

It was torture.

And yet…he couldn’t look away.

“Angel,” he said, his voice thick with unbridled lust. “You won’t hurt me, but I…” He let out a sharp exhale. “I’m afraid there’s no way around me causing you some pain. I’ll do my best to be gentle, but?—”

“I know,” she said softly.

“You do?”

With a soft smile, she said, “My mother told me that part.”

“Ah. Er… What else did she tell you?”

Her eyes glittered with laughter as she blushed bright red. “Well, she did not tell me about any of the things you’ve already done to me. And she never mentioned how good it felt when I...that is, when you…”

He leaned down, cupping her cheeks in his hands to kiss her.

She kissed him back so sweetly, it brought another tightening in his chest. A warmth spreading through him that had nothing to do with the heat of passion which had his loins throbbing, begging for release.

Her mouth opened for him readily, her tongue sliding to meet his, tangling and tasting with an eagerness that made his heart soar.

This was night and day compared to the way their wedding night had gone. Everything about it was different. Better. Not just her physical response, but the way she looked at him with trust, the way she lay back and reached her arms out to him.

Almost as if she really were begging.

As if she were just as eager to satisfy this aching need as he was.

He settled himself over her and tried to show her instead, his lips covering her cheeks and jaw in gentle kisses as he trailed a light caress over her arms, her waist.

He gave her time to adapt to the newness of it all.

Yes, they’d been intimate in the past, but never like this. She’d never been naked beneath him, at his mercy. Her stomach muscles tightened as his fingers made lazy circles over her ribs and lower belly.

“You’re teasing me,” she said in a breathless whisper.

He chuckled before claiming her lips in another deep, languid kiss. “You’ve been teasing me for weeks, Angel. I’d say it’s only fair.”

She opened her mouth to retort but gasped instead as her hips arched off the bed to meet his fingers as he slid them down between her thighs. “You like it when I touch you there, love?”

“Yes.” Her whisper was harsh, and he grinned down at her in response.

He ground his hardness into her hip with a quick thrust. “Do you feel what you do to me? Do you have any idea how long I’ve lain awake at night imagining this very moment?”

She batted her lashes, her lips parting. “What did you do about it?”

Her eyelids were growing heavy, and there was no mistaking the dark glimmer that filled her gaze.

“Naughty, naughty girl,” he whispered against her ear. “Do you want to see how I took myself in hand, pretending it was your tight little cunny?”

She gasped at his vulgarity, but with a quick flick of her tongue to wet her lips, she turned her head to meet his gaze. “Yes.”

He reached for her hand again. “How about I show you?”

Her breathing quickened as he once more brought her hand to his shaft and used her grip to stroke himself until they were both breathing heavily.

After a bit, he released his hold, and she kept going. Soon, she even grew brave enough to broaden her exploration, her fingers gently touching his thighs and ballocks as he teased her folds with strokes of his own.

“Lord, but you are wet,” he growled as his fingers parted her lips and found the liquid heat at her core. He dipped a finger inside her, making her whimper before drawing it back out, spreading her wetness as he slid his fingers through her folds.

He dipped his head, nibbling at the sensitive skin of her neck and then lower. Lower still.

She cried out, her head arching back as his lips covered her nipple and sucked it.

He sucked hard, his tongue teasing one tip and then the other. She forgot her own exploration as she brought her hands up to hold his head to her breasts, her hips wriggling beneath him. “Please,” she whimpered when he teased her entrance but pulled away when she arched up to meet him. “Please, please.”

His lips curled up in a smile as he let his teeth graze over her hard nipple.

She moaned his name.

Triumph had his hands growing more confident. More urgent. She might have said she was begging before, but this…

“Raff, please,” she moaned.

His name was a plea on her lips, and he could hold back no longer.

Positioning himself between her thighs, he nudged her entrance. The temptation to slam into her tight heat was almost more than he could bear. But stronger than that was an urge to protect her, even from himself.

He hesitated, sweat breaking out on his brow as he hovered over her, his weight resting on his forearms, so he didn’t crush her.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.

She lifted her head to kiss him. “I know.” She rocked her hips, bringing her hot entrance in contact with his rock-hard member. “But I want this.” She rested her head back down, and her big blue eyes met his with sweet, open honesty. “I want to be your wife.”

He groaned as he kissed her, her words wrapping around him and making his slow thrust into her entrance feel like a momentous occasion.

Her hot breath against his lips was a pant, a whimper.

I want to be your wife.

You are my husband.

He was just as bowled over by this woman’s words as he was by the perfection of her body.

And she was perfect.

She was tight. So fucking tight. He eased into her slowly, pausing to let her adjust to him. Each time he paused, he worshiped her with kisses. He used his tongue to tease her ear, her neck. He dipped his head to suck on those perfect tits until she wiggled restlessly beneath him. A silent plea for more.

She cried out and stilled beneath him when he broke through her virgin barrier, but after another long moment of kisses and whispered words of praise and encouragement, she tilted her hips, and he was fully sheathed.

He was home.

Not thrusting, not taking, not claiming her with rough hard movements strained his every muscle. Every instinct begged him to bed her hard. To bring her to climax so fast, he drove out any memory of any other man. To claim her and fill her with his seed. To make her his so no one else could ever have her.

This wave of possessiveness rocked him to his core. But through it all, he held still. He kissed her and stroked her as she slowly softened beneath him, her breathing evening as her impossibly tight channel made room for him.

“Angel,” he groaned against her neck as he slowly shifted inside her, letting her get used to the friction. “You feel so good.”

“You feel...odd,” she said. She gave a breathless laugh, and he chuckled, too.

Never in his life had he thought he might laugh during sex—and certainly not with his wife.

But that soft laughter made the moment even more significant.

He pulled his head back to meet her soft, languid gaze. “You are my wife,” he said. “And I am so grateful to be your husband.”

Her eyes welled with unshed tears before she blinked them away. Then she reached up and buried her fingers in his hair to drag his mouth down to hers for a long, deep kiss. When she released him, they were both breathless, and he thought he might explode with the effort it took to be so still inside her.

“I’m ready,” she whispered against his lips, her hips moving restlessly.

He chuckled. “Mmm, now you’re ready are you?” He nipped at her neck. “After teasing me for so long? Tell me what you want, Angel. Tell me what you need.”

With a gasp, she arched her hips upward as she sought friction and relief. “I want…I need…” Her breaths were short and choppy as she wriggled beneath him. “Take me,” she said, the words a whimper. A plea.

He growled against her soft skin. “You want more, is that it?” He rocked against her and she moaned with pleasure.

“Yes. More,” she gasped.

A smile tugged at his lips as he kissed her. “Greedy girl.”

She giggled, the sound so sweet it tore his heart out. “You’re the one who called me Angel. I never made any such claim.”

“Mmm,” he agreed with a grin as he pulled out slightly and then drove back in. She gasped, but this was one of pleasure, and her muscles clenched around him tight.

“It seems I was mistaken. You’re no angel at all, are you?” he teased as she rocked her hips again, trying to claim more of him.

“Not an angel,” she agreed with a pant as he drove into her harder than before. Her grin was outright wicked as she dug her fingers into his back. “Not an angel,” she panted again. “Just your wife.”