Enchanting the Duke - Lana Williams Page 0,23
she answer coherently when she knew all his delectable nakedness was so near?
“Nothing serious,” she managed. “My hip is still a bit sore.”
He moved behind her and his warm hands ran along her aching shoulders, nearly causing her to shudder as a delicious desire filled her.
“No doubt your muscles are stiff from the cold.”
She relaxed into his caresses even as her breasts tightened when his breath fanned over her. “That feels heavenly.”
He worked along her shoulders then her upper arms before moving to her back. She leaned forward to grant him better access, her body heating from the inside out when his touch lowered to her hips under the water. His thumbs worked magic along her sore muscles in more than one way. The painful aches eased even as a different sort of ache began.
Did he realize how his touch affected her? Did she dare show him? She swallowed hard at the thought. Yet she knew that if she wanted more from their marriage, she had to give more. Any overture on her part carried risk, for he could so easily rebuff it.
Her internal debate continued, swirling her thoughts. Then she suddenly realized his hands had slowed, gentled. His breath changed slightly. Could he possibly be as aroused as she?
She bit her lip and reached for his hands that were still on her hips, her fingers tangling with his. Relief filled her when he didn’t pull away. Should she say something or just tug him into the water with her? But they might overflow the tub. How embarrassing that would be.
She settled for leaning back in the tub then tipping her head up to look up at him. “Will you wash me?”
His pupils darkened at her request, his entire body still for a long moment. “Of course.”
He reached for the cloth and soap and shifted to her side. She held one arm out of the water, and he ran the soap along its length, rinsing it carefully with the cloth. Watching the muscles of his chest ripple with each movement was a sensory delight. He repeated the process on the other side then eyed the rest of her.
She arched her back in invitation, hoping he’d respond the way she wanted him to.
When he ran the soap over her breasts, she sighed with pleasure, wanting him to know how much she was enjoying his ministrations. Her body pulsed with need, and she moaned when his hands moved lower still as he knelt beside the tub.
“Your hip?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
She opened one eye. “What hip?”
His chuckle pleased her more than she could say. He so rarely smiled, let alone laughed. For that, she had to reward him.
Eleanor wound her dripping arms around him and pulled him close to press her mouth to his while his hand continued its path along her belly then lower still to the apex of her thighs.
She released his lips with a gasp at the intimate touch even as she held him tight. Spirals of pleasure spun ever higher inside her until she felt as if she stood on the brink of a cliff, barely holding on. “Douglas!”
“Yes, my sweet. Let go.”
My sweet? Her heart leapt at the endearment. He’d never called her anything other than her name in the heat of the moment. Those quiet words made her release all the more intense, lending it depth.
Before her body had slowed its quivering, she rose and held him tight, despite being dripping wet, and kissed him as if her life depended on it. Her hands wandered over him until at last she drew back, her gaze holding his. “Your turn.”
With a smile, she stepped out of the tub onto a cloth and gestured for him to step in.
~*~
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am that no harm befell your duchess,” Burbridge said as he watched Eleanor across the room that evening.
“As am I.” Douglas had yet to regain all his faculties since their delightful interlude. His skin heated at the thought of Eleanor’s boldness. And he couldn’t help but press his fingers to his chest at the stirring within. He was beginning to think she was bewitching him.
Should he be worried that the feelings surfacing inside him would steal his determination? Was he destined to follow in his father’s footsteps and allow a woman to ruin him?
“The weather took a turn for the worse at the wrong time.” Burbridge shook his head. “Though I must say that resting this afternoon seems to have benefited you