Page 71 of The Duke's Only Desire

Yet these touches weren’t nearly enough. He untied her dressing gown and spread it open wide to reveal the plain white night rail beneath. The same plain night rail that inexplicably drove him wild whenever she wore it. Not that it ever stayed on for long. Not that it would tonight either.

He took her shoulders and gently lowered her onto her back on the solid table, then grabbed the neck of her night rail with both hands and yanked. The fabric ripped with a loud tear and an even louder cry of surprise from Sophie, but she didn’t move to stop him as he tore it in two, all the way down to its hem. He spread it open wide to reveal her naked body to his hungry eyes.

He sucked in a harsh breath. “You are stunning,” he murmured and ran his hand down the length of her, from her elegant neck and across her breasts to that hot place between her thighs.

“Shay.” His name was a plaintive whimper.

Overcome with desire for her, he darted his head down to her breasts to capture one of the pink nipples between his lips. He felt it harden against his tongue, and with a growl, he sucked hard, each pull of his lips taking her deeper into his mouth. She moaned and arched her back against the table to bring herself harder against him, her fingernails digging into the taut muscles of his biceps through his coat.

Desire to possess her burned through him as hot as the fire at his back. He pinched and pulled at her other nipple with his right hand while his left swept down her body to capture her feminine mound against his palm. He teased her between her thighs with his fingers even as he laved his tongue over her nipple, then nipped.

“Shay!” A shudder raced through her at the jolt of pleasure-pain as he continued to worry her nipple between his teeth, as his fingers played between her thighs at the soft folds that quickly turned slippery with need.

His finger slipped inside her tight warmth, and her body clamped around him. He groaned. She was ready for him, wet and hot, all the tiny muscles inside her contracting and releasing as the pulsating ache at her core grew stronger. God knew he was more than ready for her, his cock hard and thick and pressing painfully against the confines of his riding breeches.

Too filled with need to bother to remove his clothes, or even his greatcoat that still smelled of the road and whose wool still held the cold of the night, he reached between them and deftly unbuttoned his fall. His cock sprung free with a painful throb that made him suck in a hard breath through clenched teeth. Sending up a silent prayer that he would never lose his desire for her or the joy that joining bodies with her brought him, he positioned his erection against her, took her hips in his hands, and jerked forward, driving himself deep inside her with a single thrust.

She cried out at the sensation of being filled so completely so quickly, only for her cry to melt into a throaty moan of overwhelming need when he began to move inside her in hard thrusts and smooth retreats. The fabric of his breeches rubbed against her inner thighs, and his waistcoat teased at her nipples as he lay over her. She drew up her legs until the bottoms of her still slippered feet rested on the table, then used the tabletop as leverage to shove herself up beneath him to meet each fierce thrust.

His chest tightened around his racing heart to know she wanted him as much as he craved her, and he eagerly complied, lacing his fingers through hers and pinning her arms over her head as he continued to thrust inside her, propelling himself as deeply as possible into her sweetness.

She tensed, her folds quivering as her body clenched hard around his cock as if to pull him even deeper of its own volition. He knew she was close to coming, and he wanted to show herexactly how much he loved her, even if he could never utter the words, how much she rocked him to his core every time they made love.

So he released her hands and pulled himself up to his full height. He stood at the edge of the table between her legs, his hands on her hips to keep her molded tightly against him, and moved deep inside her with each hard pulse of his hips. He reached down and buried his fingers in her folds, to find the sensitive little bead—

“Shay!” Her climax tore through her, and her body clenched around his like a vise. Her fingers dug into his forearms as she desperately reached for him, her legs wrapping around his waist and her folds fluttering around his shaft in a desperate attempt to milk him of his own release.

With a groan against her mouth as he leaned over to kiss her, he resisted and continued to move inside her, to let her ride the wave of pleasure and release as long as possible. The sides of his greatcoat flapped around him, and her soft whimpers were punctuated by the faint squeak of his leather boots and the crackle of the fire. His entire body shook violently with hard-won restraint as the fierce ache inside her grew again, begging for a second release.

“Shay…I need…” She was unable to catch her breath to form a coherent sentence. “Oh, I need…please!”

He swirled his hips as he rubbed his pelvis against her, grinding against her sensitized clit. Her hips bucked against him, and his hands tightened on her hips to keep her close against him as he repeated the torturous movement.

“Yes,” she panted out, her ankles locking together at the small of his back. “Oh, yes!”

When she began to come again, he thrust hard one last time and held himself deep inside her. His cock jerked fiercely, and his seed exploded from him in a rush of liquid heat. He squeezedhis buttocks and leaned forward with a small thrust of his hips as he strained to empty every drop of himself inside her, to claim every bit of joy he could.

“I love you!” she cried out. Her body shuddered as release surged through her again, and she arched her back to bring herself as hard against him as she could, to pull him as deep inside her as possible as bliss overcame her.

He collapsed on top of her on the table, utterly spent, his lungs gasping hard to collect back the air she’d stolen.

Keeping his spent length inside her, she moved only to wrap her arms around his shoulders and rest her cheek against his. “I love you, Shay,” she told him in an aching whisper. “I love you with every ounce of my being.”

But he couldn’t say it back. Instead, he buried his face against her bare shoulder and murmured hoarsely, “I know.”

He turned his head to give her a kiss, one containing all the love and affection he could never admit. His heart shattered at the taste of her salty tears.