He gave a soft laugh, sounding both amused and just a touch deviant. “I am giving your nails more flesh to scratch.”
She gasped then, starting to sit up. “Did I hurt you?”
Slowly, he began skimming the hem of her night clothes up her thighs. “Not to worry. I liked it. Very much.” And then he pushed the fabric higher, exposing her naked lower half to his gaze. Heat filled her cheeks, but she consoled herself that he could neither see her blush or her womanly parts in the dark.
But he found her now-bare seam and ran the tip of his middle finger through her flesh as pleasure rioted through her. “Later. When you’re more accustomed to lovemaking, we’ll do this with a hundred candles lit all about. You look so beautiful in candlelight.”
Her breath caught. How…romantic. “Really? You’d want to see me like this?”
“Ophelia,” he groaned. “You have no idea how much I want to see, touch, taste every inch of you. I’m burning for you.”
Her insides throbbed with pleasure. “When we light our hundred candles,” she said, momentarily forgetting she hadn’t agreed to marry him. “Can we cover the bed or couch or whatever it is in rose petals?”
He groaned. “Damn right we can.”
She licked her lips as he pushed her night rail higher still, until the fabric gathered under her arms, exposing her abdomen and breasts. “It could be in the summer, with the doors open and a soft breeze coming in the room.”
He didn’t answer as he bent over her and took one of her now-bare nipples into his mouth. She gasped, digging her fingers into his scalp. “Oh,” she breathed as his other hand lightly parted her female flesh. “Chase.”
He started to kiss a trail down her stomach. “I love the sound of my name on your lips. Now tell me more of your fantasy. One hundred candles, rose petals, open doors and soft breeze. Will we be near the ocean?”
“Oh yes,” she replied, his mouth tickling her lower stomach. “The sound of the waves will create a rhythm exactly like your hand and…” Was she saying too much?”
“I like the sound of that,” he answered. “Very much. And I hate the open water.”
She blinked, momentarily forgetting her pleasure or the fantasy. He’d taken the long route to Ipswich by the water, he’d mentioned he was searching for answers. He was still mourning his parents.
And then he moved lower, his tongue flicking against her tiny nub. Pleasure rocked through her. She’d been right, of course. He was too much rogue for her to handle. But she also realized she might be able to help him after all.
“Could we set up our candles, our bed, and our rose petals outside under the stars?” The words took forever to push out of her lips, her body twisting and turning inside from his touch.
“Yes,” he said, lifting his head for just a moment. “That is a fabulous idea.” Then he started again, increasing the pressure.
She dug her fingers into his shoulders, crying out as he slid a finger inside her body. He felt so good, she wondered if she’d die from the pleasure. If she did, it was a wonderful way to go.
* * *
Chase squeezed his eyes shut, trying to regain his sense of control. He’d started this seduction with a clear purpose but the longer he inhaled her, tasted her sweet strawberry nectar, touched the silky skin of her body, the less rational his thoughts became. First, she’d wrapped him in a delicious fantasy of making love under the open sky. Christ, the woman was a natural-born storyteller.
And then there was the actual passion she was capable of. Even now, her fingers left delightful little marks on his shoulders. He couldn’t wait to see what sort of seductress she grew to be. Yesterday, she’d never even been kissed. Today, she was raking her nails along his skin and concocting elaborate seduction scenarios. But still, she needn’t ever worry about his fidelity. This woman was everything he’d ever wanted all wrapped in one buxom little package.
His cock was near bursting as he slid his finger into her channel, the tight wet flesh making his vision blur. He shoved a hand into his breeches, needing almost no actual stimulation. She was enough. Her thighs quivered about his ears and the little mewling noises she made nearly tore him apart in pleasure. She sunk her fingernails even deeper into the skin of his shoulders as she panted, moaning out his name.
He didn’t want to think of the scenes of carnality that he’d participated in or watched that had left him almost bored. But not this. He was going to soil his own damn pants at this rate.
And then she came apart, shuddering and shaking against his mouth. Christ. The indecent duke playing with himself as this woman turned him into a panting schoolboy barely even able to contain himself. As she bucked against him, he completely lost control, his own orgasm rocking through him. He groaned, her heady scent overwhelming his senses. If he’d been uncertain before, he knew it now. He was desperately in love with this woman. Crawling a few inches forward, he lay his head on her bare stomach.
Her fingers slid from his shoulders and into his hair, massaging his scalp in a slightly rough but very satisfying rhythm. “And when we’re done, we’ll fall asleep under the stars as the candles burn themselves out one by one.”
He smiled. His legs were mostly hanging off the end of the settee, his shoulders crammed between her thighs, but he’d never been more comfortable in his life. “Can I stay up and watch them burn out?”
He felt the muscles of her stomach flex as she smiled. He’d never realized that before, that a smile could be felt so far down the body. He reached up and grasped her waist wanting to feel more of her as though he were learning the mysteries of life. “That’s a delightful idea.”
He skimmed his hand over her stomach. “Maybe that will be the time that I fill your belly with my baby. We’ll start a family under the stars.”
Her fingers stilled for a moment before they started again, her touch lighter. “Family?”
Was it him or did her voice sound more distant? Her fingers were still working through his hair and he closed his eyes, pushing away his worry. “We’re going to have to buy a new home. I sold the property located on the ocean. It was one of the few that wasn’t entailed.”