Page 71 of Wedded to the Cruel Duke

His demons.

Maybe she was right. Maybe he was simply seeing too much into things. Maybe he had been projecting his experiences onto what they had.

But right now, she was kissing him, her lips pressed ever so wonderfully to his. Her soft hands held him close, her heaving breasts crushed against his chest.

And with a groan, he tumbled headfirst into her, returning her kiss. Deepening it. Losing himself in it.

Right now, there was only him and Phoebe—and he was no longer going to allow his demons to come between them.

Not for now, at least.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Phoebe could feel the moment Charles surrendered to the fiery passion she felt for him. His lips moved over hers insistently, his tongue probing the seam of her lips with a fierce tenderness that was totally at odds with his normally cold and aloof demeanor.

When he held her in his arms like this, it was always as if he was an entirely different person. It was like witnessing a different side to him that only she was privileged to see.

It was humbling. Exhilarating.

Sensually intoxicating.

She let out a slight yelp when he suddenly swept her off her feet. Her hands instinctively went up to his shoulders to keep herself from falling.

“Charles! What do you think you are doing?” she demanded.

“What I should have done ages ago,” he replied gruffly. “What I should have done the moment you arrived at Wentworth Park.”

She choked on her muffled laughter. “Well, I do not see why we cannot—”

“Phoebe.” He spoke her name in all seriousness and she feared that she had somehow offended him or ruined the moment for the both of them.

She raised her eyes up at him shyly. “Yes, Charles?”

“I will be damned if I took you on the cold, hard floor for the first time.”

Her eyes bulged at that, but then she felt mirth bubbling up her throat. “Well, My Lord, thereisthe table…”

“Now,thereis a suggestion I might be enticed to consider,” he murmured with a rare, devilish smile. “But not tonight. Tonight, I am taking you to my bed.”

“Mine is much nearer,” she volunteered quickly.

He leaned close into her ear and nipped delicately at the lobe. The sensation from that naughty gesture had her toes curling in her slippers, her body going soft and warm.

“The servants will still be able to hear you scream in your room,” he growled. “For tonight, I want everything of yours to be mine—your kisses, your moans, your screams.Everything.”

She felt the heat spreading from her chest up her neck to her cheeks. There was a hint of a threat in his tone. A dangerous promise.

And heaven help her, she was thoroughly looking forward to him making good on his word.

“I am yours, Charles,” she whispered into his ear and pressed a soft kiss to his temple. “Make me yours.”

“Oh God, you do not know how long I have wanted to do just that!”

They managed to reach his bedchamber so quickly that Phoebe hardly even remembered Charles kicking the basement door close behind him with a loud bang.

She had giggled softly as she’d laid her head on his shoulder. “I thought we were worried about waking the servants?”

“The basement is far beneath their quarters. It should not be much of a problem,” he had replied.