Page 22 of The Virgin Duchess (Unwanted Brides #2)

Chapter Nineteen

I t appeared that all of Frederick’s truths were being revealed this day, even those that had never been his to begin with. The situation with Rose was not his story to tell, only his sister to protect. He’d promised her that he would say nothing whenever asked about it, for she feared the ton’s repercussions more than anything.

And just half an hour ago, she had revealed it all to Charlotte.

Still, there was something about his wife, something that even Rose had apparently seen. She was charming, to say the least, this bright star of blazing honesty and integrity in a world that preferred to see neither. He admired her for that.

Frederick admired her for so much in truth.

“I don’t understand.” Charlotte shook her head as he stood before her, her chest fluttering like a bird’s. “What do you mean me?”

He sighed, chuckling lightly. The air from it wafted through Charlotte’s dark curls, and he couldn’t look away from that dazzling chocolate stare if he wanted—not that he did. No, if he were honest with himself, which was always quite the task with Frederick, he never wished to look anywhere else.

And my, what a problem that could be.

“Seeing you at that first dinner, the one that Amelia had invited you to,” Frederick stepped closer to Charlotte, closing off the space between them all the more until he was practically plastered to her sumptuous body, “I had found you utter bewitching, darling. A sight I had to tear my eyes away from.”

Her brow sunk into a deep furrow, exasperation and delightful irritation making her countenance shift into that face of annoyance that Frederick found impossibly fetching.

“You said nothing. You made no move at all except to tease and condescend me. The only time you appeared remotely interested was after we were already wed.”

Frederick couldn’t help but chuckle. “Does it now occur to you that might be because I was silencing it? If you haven’t noticed, I am quite the decent actor.”

Charlotte scoffed, swatting at him. He caught her arm by the wrist as she leveled it at his chest, and the two of them froze, pressed up against each other. She smelled divine—roses and sunshine. His wife’s stare was locked on his as tightly as a safe, and neither of them dared look away. Frederick could feel her flustered breaths rocking her chest.

“I am not angry with Rose for telling you. I am not angry with you for confronting me.” He focused on those deep brown eyes, allowing himself to fall into their depths. “And I will be honest with you from this point forward, Charlotte.”

The tension between them hung in the air like a knife poised to strike. Should it fall, Frederick was confident that the devasting blow would end him. Though it could be from rejection or acceptance, Frederick knew that whatever Charlotte said to him now, whatever moves they both made, nothing would be the same after tonight.

“I want that man dealt with because he’s harmed my sister. I wanted to marry you to keep that secret. And…”

She didn’t blink as she looked into his eyes. Charlotte barely moved. Her arm was still held in his grip, and he could feel the pulse of her blood rushing beneath her skin where his fingers wrapped around her skin. He could see the deepening pink that colored her cheeks, the way her lips gently parted as she flicked her eyes down to his mouth and then back up.

“…because the thought of making you mine made my blood boil hotter than the sun, an all-consuming need for you that I’d never felt for anyone previously.”

Eyes flaring, Charlotte’s hand relaxed in his hold, and he yanked her forward, crashing his lips down on hers. The moan that left her was a dream in his system, his entire body flaring further to life from the exquisite feeling of her against him. Frederick ached to claim her, to know her every intimate curve.

But he also knew that she had not been ready.

After a beat, their tongues dancing together in an intricate dance of give and take—just like their time at the ball—Frederick leaned back, meeting her eyes intensely.

“Charlotte, I cannot keep myself from you, but…” He sucked in a shaky breath, his lips tingling from their caresses. “…I will do nothing you do not wish—as I have always asserted and will always continue to do.”

She swallowed once more, the action bobbing the delicate column of her throat. “I…I do not know if…I wish to feel you again. That was…but I am not?—”

“There is no need for further justification, sweet Charlotte.” He held her face with one hand, holding her close to him with the other. “I will give you all the pleasure I can without taking it past your comfort.”

She relaxed against him, that thread of concern drifting away as he plied Charlotte with heated kisses up and down her neck. He was already roasting as if he were suspended above the fire in the hearth, and there was nothing more to remove than his trousers.

The thought made Frederick’s mind circle to thoughts he’d had time and again of revealing Charlotte’s glorious self to him. He’d seen her breasts, caressed and admired them, but Frederick was ravenous for the rest of her.

“Charlotte…” He drifted his kisses down the front of her chest to where the low neckline of her dress stopped him; though she wore a chemisette today, the vexing fabric blocking her from him. “… please , let me see you.”

“Frederick, I…” Charlotte arched against his lips, lighting her with sensation even through the thin fabric. “Yes. Please…help me get this off.”

In moments, they were a tangle of limbs and fabric, the layers peeling from Charlotte’s exquisite form until she was naked before him. Trepidation and, dare he say, embarrassment clung to her, Charlotte’s hands shielding her lower self from his hungry eyes. Kissing her, he walked his wife backward to the bed.

“God above, Charlotte. You are as perfect as Diana, as the stars themselves.” He worked his caresses down the front of her throat, nipping playfully before kissing the alabaster flesh of her bosom. “To taste you on my tongue is to taste ambrosia.”

She whimpered, her hands tangling in his hair as he slipped down her body, careful to pay possessive attention to each inch of her skin. Charlotte arched as Frederick reached the underside of her breast, sucking on the supple curve, then dancing his tongue across it in a long sweep.

“Frederick!” Charlotte’s leg was suddenly wrapped around him, and the feeling of her thing sliding against his hip had him throbbing with need. “Please, I cannot stand it. The…desire is ungodly strong.”

“You have no idea, precious Charlotte,” he mumbled against her skin, sinking lower and lower down her form until his kisses reached the crease of her hip. “Shall I tend to you, wife? Shall I show you yet another of the myriads of ways I can bring your body to new height?”

“Yes, please …”

The ways of pleasuring a woman were not lost on him, but Frederick had to admit that it had been some time since he was in a position to do so. His heart thundered against his ribs as he approached the hidden gem between Charlotte’s legs. He’d felt her climax around his fingers, and he was desperate to feel it again—on his tongue.

Charlotte bucked against him as he reached her, slipping his tongue through her seam and gathering her taste. It was magnificent, so purely hers. Frederick could spend hours tending to her like this, feeling her grip his locks, her legs squeezing around him as her hips shifted up and down—her body needed more of the sensations.

And he was all too happy to deliver them.

“Frederick, that’s…oh, God…how is it possible? The way you make me feel…”

Swirling his tongue around the bud at the very tip of her, Frederick grinned, pride swelling as much as his need.

“All I want is to pleasure you, my sweet Charlotte.” He swept up her slit once more. “The way you fall apart for me is breathtaking.”

Her legs clamped down as he continued working her with his tongue. Charlotte’s movements became relentless twitches and swivels of her hips, her moans ceaseless and growing in intensity. She was on the brink of tumbling over that edge for him, and Frederick was agonizingly hungry for it.

“I’m…Oh, Frederick, I’m—Ugh!”

She surged around him, his nails digging into his scalp. Frederick only continued, now gliding his fingers up her thighs to her core so that they might draw out her pleasure all the more.

It was bliss to feel her succumb to the bliss so thoroughly, and Frederick nearly lost his mind at the feeling of her walls clamping down around his fingers. He was right on the edge himself, unable to keep his hips still, rubbing himself against the bed.

The shudders taking hold of Charlotte backed off some, but God as his witness, Frederick was not done with her. He wouldn’t leave. There was still so much more he could pull from her body. Frederick devoured her all the more, working her quickly back to the edge. When she shattered this time, Charlotte cried out, filling the room with her delightful sounds.

Her hands pulled at his face. “Frederick, Frederick, wait.”

He looked up at her, smirking. “What, darling? Don’t tell me you are already tired out.”

Peering down at him with heavy lids, Charlotte grinned, a light chuckle making her smile all the brighter.

“No, it’s not…no. I just…” She pulled herself up toward the head of the bed, coming to a seat. “I…can I do that for you?”

Frederick’s brows shot to his hairline, his jaw dropping. It took him several seconds before he managed to shake himself and respond.

“You want to…Charlotte, there is no pressure on you to return anything right now. I can be…patient.”

If he were honest with himself, though, Frederick knew that that patience was limited, and he would likely have to tend to himself once they separated.

“It’s not because of pressure.” Charlotte shook her head, her brow furrowing before she glanced down at the bed and then met his eyes once more with a small smile. “I want to.”

Lord in heaven. I shall not survive her.

Frederick cleared his throat, a half-chuckle escaping him before he sat next to her on the bed. “All right.”

It took her a moment, but then Charlotte was crawling over his leg to kneel between his thighs. His shaft ached, jumping against the fabric as she reached for the fall of his trousers. It was secured with two buttons, and as Charlotte freed them, his pulse was a procession of cannon blasts in his ears.

Her palm smoothed against him, and Frederick groaned, his head falling back against the headboard. Charlotte stroked him over the fabric, gathering her courage before she pulled away the fabric, hiding him from her. A tiny gasp escaped her, and he shot his attention to her. But the concern melted away immediately.

She looked down at him with wide eyes, her lips gently parted. “You’re…heavens.”

Frederick chuckled again, putting his hand on hers. “You still don’t have to?—”

But her movement cut off his words, and he watched as Charlotte leaned down, taking him in her hand before placing just the tip of her tongue against him. The moan he let out was a strangled cry for more. He ached for her with everything he had.

And Charlotte’s determination and bravery were impressive. As her tongue smoothed further against his flesh, she hummed low in appreciation, the sound buzzing through him marvelously.

She took him between her lips then, using her hand to further drive him mad. Charlotte glided it up and down as she sucked on the head, and Frederick gripped the sheets near his hips until his knuckles throbbed from the strain. But he would not hurry her or risk making Charlotte nervous.

“God, dearest, you’re… incredible .” Frederick’s voice was reverent, and he hoped that Charlotte took it as such, that she knew that he worshipped her with his entire being even as it was she who was going to such lengths to please him.

She didn’t relent, her caresses and touches taking Frederick up and out of his body into a land where all he could comprehend were the exquisite sensations pooling in his core, the closeness they shared sending his spirit into the sky. Charlotte was a quick study as well, learning what made him moan or jerk and repeating it over and over until he thought he might burst.

Taking him within the warm confines of her mouth, the smooth glide of her tongue across his flesh as her delicate fingers held him was a bliss Frederick had never known. While the basic situation might have been experienced in his past, nothing back then compared to what happened now. Charlotte was beyond all others, better, more…his.

You are in so very deep, you fool. What have you done?

But it was no use. Here in this space and out into the world, Frederick had begun to fall profoundly for his bride of convenience. Charlotte had wormed her way into his heart, a place he’d long locked up and kept free of anything else aside from his zest for life and business.

Now, all that seemed frivolous. All of it was so utterly unimportant as Charlotte took his entire length down her throat, demanding more from his body to the point where he would empty his entire soul into her if she so demanded it.

“Charlotte.”

Only her name, the sole word that he could think of that encompassed the enormity of his connection to this complicated, vivacious woman.

As the heat and demand of the moment rushed to the heights, Frederick tried to pull back. He wouldn’t have himself finishing like that with her when this was her first time doing this. It would certainly be a shock, and he hated the thought of harming or distressing her.

“Charlotte, dearest,” she continued, holding him close and not allowing him to move away, “ugh, I…Oh, Lord, Charlotte. If you continue, I shall?—”

She slipped back only far enough to look up at him with her finger pressed to her lips.

“Shh.” Charlotte gripped him with both her slim hands. “I’m not finished.”

Well, that put him in his place, and as much as Frederick knew that he should protest, as her lips closed around him once more, he simply couldn’t. It was too marvelous to fight, and he stood no chance against the otherworldly pleasure blooming through his insides.

It didn’t take long after that. Frederick reached his crescendo, and Charlotte was there for it all, taking him wholly and completely. After a moment, one long enough that the kicks in his shaft that echoed his release stopped, she slid back. He watched her swallow, a smile pinned over her face as her cheeks burned a bright red.

Hauling her up, Frederick pressed a passionate kiss to her lips, utterly moved by her devotion to pleasing him. They shared that quiet moment for a long stretch that expanded like taffy in a confection shop.

When at last they parted, Frederick held Charlotte’s face in his hands. “You’re incredible.”

She grinned, shy and small, as she ducked her eyes.

“I mean it.” He lifted her chin. “You’ve made me feel…nothing I’ve felt before. It was…”

He chuckled, and Charlotte quickly followed him, crawling up his body a bit more to switch onto her side and lie next to him.

“It was incredible. Ugh, that word is not enough. But I will settle for it because I simply cannot think of another one.”

Charlotte smiled all the more, cocking her head up to meet his eyes as she offered a look of smug pride.

“Resplendent? Extraordinary? Astonishing? Shall any of those do?”

He smirked, narrowing his eyes on her as he squeezed her chin before pulling her under his arm and fully relaxing against the bed.

“Hmm, somewhat. I shall take them all and see if together they can make a word suitable for you. Give me some time to think it over.”

“Restraordinishing?”

They burst out laughing, and Frederick’s chest felt so marvelously full that he didn’t know how it was containing the joy that reverberated through his ribs. Still, he was quite glad that it did. He wanted to dwell in this moment for as long as he could.