She gave a soft laugh. “Because you’re a duke,” she said. “You can do anything you want and there’s no one to gainsay you.”
“Untrue.” He tilted her chin up so that their gazes met. “I met a striking young widow with a mind more cunning than any mechanical device. She told me to go slow, and I obeyed.”
She glanced down at where his knees met the stone floor. “You don’t have to kneel at my feet.”
His voice was deep and gravelly, even to his own ears. “Perhaps I want to be on my knees before you.”
Her mouth opened slightly, and the very tip of her tongue ran along her lower lip. A bead of perspiration traveled down the length of her neck to settle in the hollow of her collarbone.
They both considered what he’d just said, what he’d revealed. He was torn between arousal and rare apprehension, his cock already half-hard, his body aching for her.
“Tell me what you want,” he rasped. “Tell me, and I’ll do it.”
She sucked in a breath. Her gaze moved over his face as if searching for something, an answer or the question itself. In the quiet of the conservatory, her ragged inhalations mingled with his own.
He’d never wanted anyone more. “Jess.”
“Kiss me.”
No sooner had she uttered her command than he readily obeyed, leaning close to cup his hands around her jaw. She angled her mouth up to meet his.
There was the briefest pause as they held themselves in suspension. It was a mutual savoring of the moment—the last second of rational thought—before their lips came together.
This time, they did not linger on preliminaries or gradual submersion. It was reckless and blazing as they opened their mouths to each other. He groaned when her tongue immediately met his. She could not wait to lap at him, just as he needed to devour her now, in great, greedy draws. Each kiss shot straight to his cock—he was now so hard it verged on painful, but it was the kind of pain he welcomed, making him feel alive and fully present.
He knew her taste now, and only when her flavor filled him again did he realize how much he craved it.
He positioned himself between her legs that had fallen open, and she arched against him, rubbing the length of her torso on his. Every lush curve of her seared into his flesh. Yet he had better means of learning the feel of her. He skimmed his hands down her neck, along her arms, molding his palms to the curve of her waist and then cupping her breasts. Her nipples were drawn into firm points and she moaned when he stroked them—through her bodice, then her bare flesh as he dipped his hands beneath the neckline of her gown. Softly, he pinched her nipples.
“Harder.” She lapped at him hungrily. Then, “God, yes,” when he did as she demanded.
“More,” he growled. “Give me more commands.” Ever since she’d verbally sparred with him the first day of the Bazaar, she had been the one in control. Having had a taste of bending to her mastery, he wanted to serve her forever, binding himself to her will so that he lived only to give her pleasure.
He was too inflamed to be shocked by this sudden need. It felt so perfect.
“Touch me,” she gasped into his mouth.
“Where? Tell me where you want me to touch you.”
“My . . .” She swallowed hard. “I want your hand on my pussy.”
He jolted with arousal. “You want me to make you come.”
“Do it,” she gasped. She dug her fingernails into his back, sharpening his need even more.
“Yes, Jess.” Molten lust poured through him at his eager submission. He gathered up her skirts, the silk covering his forearms as he delved beneath them to find the stocking-clad flesh just above her knees. He went past her garters, and cursed roughly when he reached her bare thighs. “So fucking soft.”
“Noel.”
He loved the sound of his name on her lips as she gave the single syllable the weight of her desire.
With measured purpose, making himself go slowly so he could absorb each moment, he stroked up her thighs. His fingers reached the opening in her drawers.
His hand shook as he touched the silken, wet folds of her quim. She shuddered with a sound of ecstasy as he delved into her. He caressed her outer lips, then went deeper, gliding along her inner lips. He circled her opening before stroking up to her clitoris, and she rewarded