Page 104 of The Devil's Accidental Duchess
“Why not?” She peered up at him.
“Because this is about your pleasure, not mine,” he replied, then pulled her up to hold her tight, skin to skin, filling her up with the most intense need.
She could not leave this room without knowing what it meant to lie with the man she loved. It was a clear and determined thought that would not be ignored.
“And… if I want it to be aboutourpleasure?” she asked shyly. “Is there a… um… a way to do that?”
He tilted his head. “Of course, my love,” he rasped thickly. “But I assumed you would want to wait until tomorrow.”
She shook her head slowly. “Tomorrow will be a busy day.” She could hardly believe her courage. “I don’t want to wait. I know that I love you and that you love me, and that we will both be there at the church tomorrow to pledge ourselves to one another. There is no reason to wait.”
He made a gruff, impassioned sound, half-moan, half-growl, as if she had just said the most intoxicating thing.
“Don’t tease me,” he warned, his hand caressing the curve of her back, smoothing over the swell of her backside.
She shook her head. “I am not teasing you, my love. I want you.”
Whatever that means.
She had read countless books about trysts and passionate love affairs, but not one had gone into detail. She could guess, of course, and put the pieces together, but she wanted to know the truth of it intimately.
She wanted Philip to be the one to show her.
As he caught her mouth with his, his kiss became something altogether more intense. A desperate and ravenous thing, as if it could never be satiated. She kissed him back in kind, melting into him, her skin warm against his, no barriers between them anymore.
In one powerful movement, he swept her up into his arms, his lips never leaving hers, and carried her to the unmade bed where she had spent the past few days in uncertainty. She was not uncertain any longer; she had never been more sure of anything in her life.
There, on the mussed coverlets, he lay her down.
For a moment, he just stood there at the end of the bed, gazing down at her, taking in every curve and contour of her body with appreciative eyes.
She, in turn, took that brief pause to enjoy the perfection that was him—so tall and broad-shouldered, his muscles so defined they looked to be carved. She admired the sculpted lines of hisbroad chest, wanting to touch the deep diagonal contours that seemed to join that chest to his ridged abdomen at the farthest corners.
At first, she had thought those lines were ribs, but as she looked closer, she understood that they were more taut and honed muscles.
The anatomy books in the library could have learned a great deal from just staring at Philip for a while.
Slowly, her gaze lowered, following the V of his hips and the trail of hair to that rigid, tempting flesh.
What if he doesn’t fit? What if we aren’t meant to be?
A flicker of worry joined the tingling, prickling layers of anticipation that tightened her stomach.
Her gaze dropped lower to his powerful thighs, carved with such definition that she could hardly believe there were so many muscles in one leg. Her own thighs certainly didn’t have any of that, but Philip seemed to like their softness.
“Say you want me again,” he growled, his husky voice sending a thrill through her.
“I want you,” she murmured, her gaze snapping up to his.
He moved forward, scooping an arm underneath her so he could lift her further back onto the bed. With her head resting on a pillow, he paused to kiss her on the lips, slow and searing, before his kiss trailed away.
Already in a hazy world of ecstasy, her body yielded to his every kiss and touch as he made his way down her neck and across her collarbone, dipping lower to the swell of her breasts. She arched her back, pushing her bosom toward him, eager for the warmth of his mouth on her nipple.
He flicked his tongue against that pert flesh, teasing her, heightening the anticipation. His hand cupped her other breast, brushing his thumb over her sensitive skin, before at last he drew her nipple into his mouth and sucked.
“Oh, my love!” she cried out, her hips bucking almost involuntarily. “Yes… Oh, yes!”
A jolt of pleasure ricocheted through her, a lightning bolt that made her eyes close and her whole body pulse with the promise of more bliss.
