Page 89 of Last Night with the Duke
“And so they shall.”
Griffin kissed her tenderly, slowly, while the pads of his fingers traveled over her chin and down to rest in the hollow at the base of her neck. A tremor of expectancy shivered through her. He kissed her soft and long. Sweet and soothing. Without letting his lips leave her skin, he kissed the path his fingers had walked and then moved back up to her lips again and showered her with short, eager kisses.
While they kissed, one hand slipped down her body to her breast. He palmed it, gently squeezed and felt its weight. The thrill of his touch was shattering to her senses. His lips left hers and glided across her cheek, over her chin, and to the soft, sweet skin behind her ear. He kissed his way down her chest and across her shoulders to her breast again, covering her nipple with his mouth, and gently sucked. Delightful shivers of pleasure tingled along her spine, down her abdomen to settle and gather between her legs.
Esmeralda’s head fell back, and her chest arched forward. Her breasts tightened with anticipation of more to come. His tongue circled her nipple, bathed it, and then gently drew it fully into his mouth again. A thousand sensations blossomed inside her, and her senses reeled in delight.
While his mouth tugged on her breasts, his hand slipped down her hip between her legs, and he cupped her. The feeling was warm and strangely comforting. His fingers found the intimate place between her legs. She swallowed and moaned with pleasure.
The gentle, gliding movements created even more desires and feelings she couldn’t explain and couldn’t control. She rose up and wound her arms around Griffin’s neck, burying her face into his shoulder and, hugging him to her, she gave herself up to the exquisite feelings spiraling through her as waves of explosive sensations tore through her womanly core, robbing her of breath before fading into pleasant, languid ripples.
“Griffin,” she whispered before collapsing back down onto the bed with no breath left in her lungs, no strength in her bones.
“That is what loving is supposed to feel like,” he whispered against her ear.
Griffin fitted his body between her legs and nestled his manhood against her as he covered her mouth with his. His kissed ravenously, gently pushing his body against hers, over and over again. He brought his tongue down the long sweep of her neck, tasting her, devouring her with more eager kisses and caresses.
Esmeralda gasped softly from the constant pushing of his body. She trembled and twisted beneath him. Her hands combed over the solid wall of his back, hips, and buttocks. Her lips kissed the heated skin of his shoulders.
“It’s all right?” he whispered against her lips.
“Yes,” she answered. It was all right.
When at last he’d fully entered her, he whispered her name and kissed her softly.
Griffin made love to her with a tenderness that overwhelmed her. His movements were slow, sensual, and reverent. He kissed her, stroked her body, and moved gently on top of her. That same indescribable pleasure she’d felt before kept mounting and caused her to join the rhythm of his hips meeting hers.
The delicious sensations continued when his movements changed to long, sure strokes that grew stronger, fuller, until with breathless wonder all the sensations in her body exploded once again.
Griffin’s breath quickened. His body shuddered as he slid his arms under her back and hugged her to him. Esmeralda relaxed on a contented sigh. Moments later, his rough breathing slowed and he rolled to his side facing her and pulled up the sheet.
They lay there side by side, not moving. For how long, she had no idea. It was just comforting having him beside her. She was too filled with the wonder of everything she’d experienced to want to move. If anyone had tried to tell her how magical it was to lie with a man, she couldn’t have comprehended what they were saying.
“You’ll have to tell her,” Griffin said into the darkness. “You know that, don’t you?”
Esmeralda tensed.About us? About tonight?“Tell Josephine what?” she asked.
“The real story about her mother, your family, and her father.”
“No,” she said unequivocally.
He raised up on his elbow and placed a short kiss on her lips. “Yes. She will have to know everything that you know. Not now. She’s still young, but in time you will have to tell her. You can’t keep it from her.”
“In time,” she said and looked past him out the small window. “Maybe.”
“She will ask you one day.”
Esmeralda knew he was right—again—but that was another one of those things she didn’t want to think about tonight.
“I still want to get Napoleon back for her.”
“But you won’t.”
“No.”
“Look at me,” he said. With the tips of his fingers under her chin, he turned her face toward him. “I should have allowed you to explain everything that happened yesterday.”
“Is that an apology?”
