Page 73 of The Duke's Second Bride

“Christian …”

He held Ava closer, then released her.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I don’t mean to dwell on the past.”

“You aren’t,” Ava said firmly. “I asked because I wished to know. And I am glad you have told me.”

“I will gladly tell you anything you wish to know,” he promised. “If anything, I imagine you would understand what it is like to lose a spouse.”

“Yes.” Ava paused, biting her lower lip. “Yes and no. It was different for William and me.”

“How so?” Christian asked.

“Like you and Isabel,” she said, speaking with some difficulty, “it began as an arranged marriage. And like you and Isabel, our relationship changed over time. But in the opposite direction.”

“I see,” he said.

“You have heard the rumors, after all.”

“Yes, but they are just rumors,” he said. “I imagine most, if not all, are false.”

“The worst ones, yes,” she said. She sighed. “But it is true that we were hardly husband and wife at all, after a time. He grew bored with the marriage and went seeking his pleasure elsewhere.”

Christian shook his head. “Bastard,” he swore under his breath.

Ava laughed. “He was not discreet either,” she agreed. “Nor was he kind. I did not know what else to do but stay home. William was a known scoundrel, but he was also vivacious and, therefore, well-liked. I never found society to be quite so easy.”

“That surprises me,” Christian said. “I have never known you to bite your tongue when talking to me.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that.

“Well, you are easy to argue with,” she said, pressing back into his embrace, and sighing with pleasure as he kissed the side of her neck.

“Yes, I am well aware of your penchant for bickering with me,” he murmured, smiling against the skin of her neck. “The more I hear about your first marriage, the more I am convinced that it is my duty to make it up to you.”

“Is that so?” she asked with a smile.

“Indeed,” he replied. “I’ll show you how a real man treats his wife.”

He nipped at the sensitive skin below her ear, and she could not help but shudder.

His hands ran across her, fingers brushing over the dusky pink peaks of her nipples, already hard where they met the cold air above the water.

One hand remained toying with her breasts while the other reached down to her center. His fingers slipped in easily. It was as though just being close to him was enough to have her feeling ready to take him in at any time.

The feeling seemed to be mutual. Against her buttocks, she felt the length of him harden, his arousal spurred on by her gasps and sighs as he worked at her with those strong, skilled fingers.

Just as he brought her to the edge, she grabbed his wrist.

“Wait,” she said, then leaned forward.

Rising to her knees, she turned around so that she could face him, straddling him in the tub with her legs to either side of his hips.

She rose just high enough to allow him to line himself up with her entrance, then lowered herself down onto him in one swift, smooth motion.

He pulled her close, so that her chest was pressed tightly to his. The slick skin brushed against her nipples, sending a shock of pleasure through her as she rode him.

Their kisses soon became open-mouthed and messy. Water lapped gently over the sides of the tub as he began to rock his hips upwards to meet hers, their thrusts becoming so desperate that there was a slapping noise as skin met skin.