Page 74 of Wedded to the Cruel Duke

It was a rather strange feeling. Phoebe supposed that this must be what a butterfly felt when it shed off its past form to unfurl its wings.

“Does it hurt?” she heard him ask her, concern written all over his anxious features.

Did it? She was certain that it did just a moment ago, but it was fading now. Instead, she felt a fullness. She felt herself stretching, accommodating him.

“Not so much,” she whispered shyly. “It almost feels…nice.”

He laughed hoarsely and drove deeper inside her, until he sank fullywithinher tight channel. She felt the faint ripples of delight in her very core as her muscles clenched him, drawing an erotic groan from his throat.

“Does it hurt?” she asked him.

He shook his head. “On the contrary,” he smiled wistfully.

Then, he began to move within her. Shallow thrusts at first that stoked the fire inside her once more. She let out a soft gasp when she felt the first frisson of pleasure coursing through her, like the first rumblings of an earthquake.

It felt similar and yet totally different from the feelings Charles evoked from her. Somehow, this burgeoning delight felt deeper. Like it was somethingmore.

The more he moved within her, the more it built within her until she was clinging onto his shoulders once more, his name falling from her lips in cascades.

“Oh… ooh!” she moaned as Charles began to thrust into her with greater urgency. “Charles…oh, Charles…!”

His pace quickened, spurred on by her enthusiasm, it would seem. Phoebe, on the other hand, was lost in a sensual haze, her little moans soon morphing into sobs and cries of delight, her hips starting to buck as she matched his tempo in this age-old dance between a man and a woman.

He took her hands and pinned them over her head, stretching her whole body before him as he drove into her. Deeper. Faster.

Phoebe had never felt so exposed and vulnerable—and shelovedit. All of it.

She felt the huge tidal wave of pleasure building low in her belly, making her toes curl, as gasps and moans fell from her lips. Still, Charles did not stop thrusting into her.

Once. Twice. On the third, she felt herself shatter, her vision blinded for a moment as sheer, undiluted pleasure flooded her entire being. Vaguely, she heard Charles growl as he sank deep into her one more time, filling her. A warmth spread within her as she shuddered, her tight channel clenching him.

“Oh, God, Phoebe,” he groaned, as he gathered her into his arms.

Phoebe let out a soft moan as little waves continued to assail her. She shivered in his arms as he drew the covers over them.

Moments later, when her breathing had calmed, she felt him press a soft kiss to her forehead. She raised her eyes up to him.

“How do you feel?” he asked her tenderly, smoothing a lock of hair away from her face.

Phoebe smiled up at him, her eyes bright with wonder. “I feel… like awife. Like I am truly yours.”

He groaned and hugged her tighter. “If you keep looking at me like that, we arenevergoing to get a wink of sleep tonight.”

She blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?” she murmured, snuggling into his side with a soft yawn.

He just chuckled softly. “Do not be stubborn, Phoebe. Sleep.”

She still did not understand what he meant by that, but when she thought about it, staying up with Charles did not seem like such a bad idea. She had stayed up for much longer as a débutante, whiling away her hours in some ball or another.

This, she decided sleepily, would have been a much better use of her time.

Perhaps, she thought to herself as her eyes fluttered close.Perhaps I had to go through all of that, just so I can find this perfection I have with Charles…

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The space next to Phoebe on the bed was empty when she woke up, but Amelia was already waiting for her with a shy smile, her cheeks tinged with a rosy flush that indicated to Phoebe that she knew precisely what had happened the prior night.

“Good morning, milady,” the maid bobbed in greeting. “Would you need assistance getting out of bed?”