Page 71 of The Duke of Deceit

“Lucien!” Her hips bucked against his mouth as a spark of pleasure consumed her.

He chuckled, and the sound reverberated into her like a low hum. “Shall I do that again?”

“Please,” she begged, shaking uncontrollably. She was on the verge of sobs, yet she had no idea why. “Oh, dear God,please!”

Teasingly, he circled her with the tip of his tongue and took one last, long lick along the length of her crease, and the wet sounds of his hungry lips against her folds nearly undid her. Never,neverhad she thought such sounds could be so erotic, but they only worked to increase the yearning need that gripped her body.

Then he sucked again.

She rose up, curling her body around him as the electricity that raced through her brought a wave of pleasure slamming through her, of tightening and release of what seemed like every muscle in her body. This was so much more than what he’d done to her before. A soft cry rose on her lips, and she collapsed backagainst the mattress. Every inch of her throbbed deliciously, and she could do nothing more than lie there and accept the bliss that spread through her.

With her eyes still closed, she felt him slip up her naked body until he lay over her on his forearms, resting his hips in the cradle of her spread thighs and compelling her to wrap her arms around his neck. He nuzzled her cheek with his nose and cajoled her to open her eyes.

When she gazed up at him through the shadows, she nearly lost her breath at the expression on his face… possessive, starving, wolfish. A look of pure desire.

He reached between them with his free hand. She felt something press against her folds, smooth and round yet hard.

“You are beautiful,” he assured her with a tender kiss. “And I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes, you—”

He lowered his hips and slid himself inside her.

Jess gasped at being stretched wide, at having him filling her so completely, and at the faint burn caused by the friction of his flesh invading hers. Lucien rubbed his cheek against hers and held himself impossibly still on his forearms as her body grew accustomed to his, and he murmured soft words that she couldn’t quite discern yet found comforting.

Then, he began to move with carefully controlled, impossibly smooth advances and retreats of his hips. Slowly, all her discomfort faded, all the tension left her, and she relaxed beneath him, allowing her body to mold to his.

With a strangled sigh, he began to increase his pace, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, desperate to keep him with her, exactly like this…foreverif she could. Instinctively, she tilted her pelvis and rose up to meet each of his thrusts. Their bodies moved together in a rocking, steady rhythm.

The momentum of their movements built until a sheen of perspiration formed on Lucien’s back, with his eyes squeezed closed and his jaw set hard, and Jess thrilled that she was able to create this reaction in him. Yet she suspected he was still holding back, that the shaking in his muscles came from restraint and not from concern that he might hurt her. She knew the truth—

“You’re a good man, Lucien,” she whispered in his ear as she tightened her body’s hold around him. “I never knew how much until tonight, when I was finally allowed to see into your heart.”

He stilled, and he opened his eyes to gaze down at her in the moonlight.

She stroked his cheek. “Youarea good man. No matter how much you try to hide it, I can see it now, all the way down to your not-so-black soul.” She leaned up to bring her lips to his ear and confessed in a breathless whisper, “And I think…I love you for it.”

A long, haggard breath seeped from him, and the restraint she’d felt in him dissolved. He unwound both her arms from around his neck, laced his fingers through hers, and then pinned her hands above her head. She caught her breath at being captured beneath him, so completely vulnerable, until he brought his face level with hers. As he stared down into her eyes, he began to move inside her again. This time it was more than for simple physical pleasure. This time it was a search for absolution and healing.

She arched herself beneath him as much as the weight of his body pressing deliciously into hers would allow, but she never broke eye contact. Not even when he wickedly swirled his hips against hers to plunge himself impossibly deeper into her tight warmth, and she gasped from the overwhelming sensation. Not even when a senseless plea fell from her lips, one he answered with an animal-like growl of his own.

His thrusts came hard and deep now, so intense in their strength that she felt compelled to place both feet flat on the mattress and rise up to meet each one. Electricity tingled at the tips of her fingers and toes, and the aching at her core threatened to devour her. She squirmed beneath him, begging for more—as if she could somehow will him to crawl beneath her skin, join with her soul, and never leave.

He released her hand and slipped his down between them, to the place where their bodies joined so wondrously. Not stopping in his steady thrusts, he teased at her the way he’d done earlier with his tongue, and she knew what was coming if he touched that one perfect spot that now seemed to pulse in time with her heartbeat. She gave a frustrated whimper and writhed her hips, begging for the pleasure he’d given her before.

He touched her, and she broke against him, all the tiny muscles inside her bearing down around his hard length. He smothered her cry of passion with his mouth as he captured her lips in a blistering kiss, and she fiercely clung to him, losing her breath and all her senses. Never had such joy filled her heart as it did at that moment, never had she soared so close to heaven…and never had she loved anyone the way she loved him.

As she slowly came down to earth, Jess buried her face against his neck as the pleasure pulsed through her and lapped at her toes like warm waves in the summer sea. Her hair surely stood on end, and goosebumps covered her suddenly hot flesh. The pulsating ache inside her was still there, no longer a burning need but a residual pleasure fanning out into her limbs.

She’d expected pleasure, but this—oh, this was simply exquisite!Sheer bliss.A feeling of complete satisfaction consumed her, and she closed her eyes, wanting to imprint this moment on her mind forever.

“Jessamyn.” Lucien nuzzled her bare shoulder, her whispered name bringing her back to him.

When she opened her eyes, he began to move inside her again. His body was tense, every muscle taught and hard, and he thrust in a steady, strong, quick rhythm. He swirled his hips against hers…once, twice… A fierce growl tore from him, and he pulled himself from her warmth, lowered his belly to hers and pinned his still-hard length between their bodies. His hips jerked, and she felt warm liquid spurt across her belly. His buttocks clenched as he strained to spill every drop of himself against her, and a satisfied groan sounded from his throat. He collapsed upon his side next to her, utterly spent and, finally, completely relaxed.

Jess nestled against his side, and his arms slipped around her to pull her tightly against him. She prayed he felt the same exquisite happiness she had. Perhaps he did, because his heartbeat raced beneath her fingers as she rested her hand on his bare chest and his breath struggled to calm, all as much as hers had.

Then she heard it, his soft whisper that told her the world would never be the same again—