Page 63 of How to Capture a Duke

“Here is where I want to taste you.”

She watched as his head lowered and he kissed her there. She cried out at the sensations, the heat and stroke of his tongue licking and laving wickedly. She dropped her head to the pillow and threaded her fingers into his inky dark hair as he worked her devastatingly.

Her heart throbbed with her building need, her breath stolen and her lips muttering incomprehensible words. He was relentless and giving, gentle and teasing, and she had never imagined such intimacy could exist between a man and a woman. This was torturous bliss, and she moaned, her hips surging forward, begging for more pleasure even as he gave it.

Her body strained, wanting, wanting something…

“Not yet.” His growl vibrated against her, teasing her more.

She didn’t know what he meant. She only knew she was close to some perilous precipice, a pleasure she had never experienced but one that she knew only he could give her, a building release that she desperately needed.

He understood. His tongue lashed out to stroke the aching bud where she needed him most. Shameless with need, she writhed beneath him, her stiffened nipples pointing to the ceiling. He was the sinful giver of pleasure with his circling and swirling tongue.

“Now,” he said.

His finger dipped further inside as his tongue circled her most sensitive flesh. Fire spread through her veins, and she careened over the edge, crying out his name over and over until she was boneless, her heart pounding.

He rose to kiss her belly, cradling her until her body stilled and her heartbeat returned to some resemblance of normal. She stroked his hair.

“That was lovely,” she whispered.

He lifted his head, met her gaze, and grinned in an expression of pure male satisfaction. “It was magnificent.”

Her heart flipped in her chest. He was everything she’d wanted. And everything she feared. She knew he hadn’t received his own pleasure. She tugged on his hair and opened his arms. “Come to me.”

He froze, a look of anguish crossed his face, then he shook his head. “I received all I’ve wanted this evening.”

Her mind was slow to register confusion. “But you haven’t…you didn’t.”

“Giving you pleasure is all I require.”

All he required.

Her heart stilled. The warmth of the chamber dissipated and left a chill on her sweat-soaked skin.

“You may remain here for the night,” he said.

He thought to act the gentleman by permitting her to sleep in his bed? She rose on her elbows to watch him. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll sleep elsewhere.”

He meant to leave her, to maintain his ridiculous resolve that their marriage never be consummated. She’d foolishly thought they’d grown and come past this. The earth-shattering intimacy of moments ago blurred and changed into something cold and shameful—into a selfish act.

“No, don’t do that. Don’t turn what happened here into something wrong.”

“Why? My husband just did things to my body, unbidden things that made me feel wonderful and beautiful, and then when I offered him everything, he refused with an icy coldness. Why shouldn’t I feel unwanted?”

“Because I meant every word. You are beaut…beaut…lovely. And because I c…c-annot offer more.”

In the flickering candlelight, she saw the glimmer of anguish in his eyes, and it tore at her heart. Just like his words tripped from his lips. His silent suffering had never been more evident, and she wanted to reach out and soothe him, but she instinctively knew not to show pity. He required something else, and she was more determined than ever before to help him.

…

“It seems your duke is still conflicted,” Ellie said.

Olivia stayed silent. She’d arrived at her sister’s home early the following morning. Ellie was the only person in the world she could trust to tell her secrets, all of them, including the events of the prior evening. She hadn’t described everything in detail, but her sister had an uncanny way of reading her thoughts.

“How can a man be so giving and so withdrawn at the same time?” Olivia’s voice cracked with strain.