To Desire a Wicked Duke (Courtship Wars)

Rising slightly then, Rotham shifted his position and knelt between her legs. With his hands he spread her thighs farther apart and bared all her feminine secrets. Tess felt wide open and vulnerable as he bent down to her.

Rotham settled his mouth on her thigh and began moving upward, tracing the earlier path of his hand, trailing searing kisses on her skin. Her stomach clenched in a knot of sensation. Still it shocked her when she felt his warm breath against the heart of her.

Tess trembled violently as she realized his intention. At the tender flick of his tongue over her most sensitive flesh, she jerked, lifting her hips halfway off the mattress.

“Easy,” he whispered, his hands slipping beneath her bare buttocks to hold her steady.

He dipped his dark head again and pressed a kiss against her sex. Another tremor rocked her, and she slid her fingers into his thick hair.

His tongue continued to stroke her with infinite delicacy until her body surrendered with shameless wantonness. Her breath coming in hoarse pants, Tess shut her eyes, her head shifting desperately back and forth on the pillow. She was unbearably hot, yet longing for some distant fulfillment that seemed to elude her. It was like being on the edge of a precipice, about to fall off.…

She held on to him blindly as his hot tongue dragged back and forth over her sweetly aching flesh, plying the bud of her sex in a soft, clever rhythm. With a whimpering cry, Tess arched upward against his mouth, seeking surcease.

However, it wasn’t until his lips closed over the taut nub and gently sucked that the first fierce jolt of ecstasy hit her.

Tess sobbed, her lungs laboring wildly. She had no control over her body’s responses any longer. Every part of her pulsed with a hot passion she had never before experienced.

One last relentless kiss from Rotham sent her completely over the edge. She cried out as she shattered and burst into flames, the fire burning her from the inside out.

When finally she stilled, the aftermath left her throbbing with hot pulsations. Her limbs felt weak, utterly limp, her body boneless with pleasure.

With one final, tender kiss on her thigh, Rotham stretched out beside her again and gathered her in his arms, her face tucked against his shoulder.

It seemed an eternity before Tess regained her senses enough to become aware of her position. Her hand rested on Rotham’s warm, hard chest, while below, the heated maleness of him pressed against her thigh.

When he eased away from her a moment later, Tess opened her eyes to find Rotham had closed his, as if he were in pain.

Her gaze slid downward toward his hips, to his naked loins. He wasn’t as indifferent as he pretended, she realized. He was fully, hugely aroused.

Her breath went shallow at the sight of his long shaft so large and swollen. Thick and darkly rigid, it jutted out from a sprinkling of crisp black hair at his groin, with heavy sacs beneath.

“Do you want …” Her voice came out as a husky croak so she stopped.

His eyes opened. “Do I want what, love?”

Tess swallowed and tried again. “To seek your release? Fanny said it can be painful for men to remain swollen like that.”

“I will survive.”

She wasn’t certain she could believe him. When she reached out tentatively to touch his male member, though, he caught her hand and held it away, as if he couldn’t bear to have any contact with her.

Tess felt her face flush with heat, this time from embarrassment instead of passion. Her shame only increased when Rotham’s low drawl broke the silence.

“Your blushes are charming, sweeting, but hardly necessary now that we are wed.”

When Tess stared at him mutely, Rotham sat up long enough to draw the covers over them both, then reclined on his back and shut his eyes again.

Tess bit her lower lip hard. How could he just act as if nothing had happened? Passion had been a stunning discovery for her, a raw awakening. Rotham’s incredible tenderness had only confirmed her suspicion that lovemaking could be wonderful with a considerate lover.

His consideration had completely disappeared now, though, while she lay there shaken, trying her best to act as if she had not just felt the most earthmoving sensation of her life.

Worse, the stunning experience only left her yearning for more of his caresses. Far more.

Yet Rotham was completely ignoring her again.

She could play his game if she had to, Tess vowed to herself. Indeed, she would be better off if she could pretend the same disinterest he was showing her.

“Thank you,” she said, infusing blandness into her tone. “That was … an edifying experience.”