“But we hardly know each other,” she said searching the face above hers, wondering if he could really feel the same desperate want she endured.
"Oh? Many people in society simply marry after a few weeks of walking in the park and dancing at a ball a few times. Or they marry because of wealth and connections. We've had much more than many alliances in society, and I daresay you like and want me as much as I do you."
“Heaven help me, but I do, Christopher!” She fused her lips with his, kissing him with all the building passion in her heart.
Heat raced from where his lips kissed along her cheek, down her nape and shoulder before moving slowly, with shudder-inducing sensations, down her spine. He shifted her slightly, so she lay on her stomach. He kissed along the delicate length of her spine, the curve of her buttocks.
“You have the lushest backside I’ve ever had the pleasure to see,” he murmured, biting down on the globes of her flesh. Pippa moaned arching up.
He caressed her hips in a long, soothing stroke, then peeled off the stockings until she was completely naked. He turned her around and spread her legs wide. Mortification and sensuality blushed through her body, and she stared at him helplessly. Christopher rose and removed the rest of his clothing until he was just as naked as Pippa.
“You are the beautiful one,” she said softly, amazed by the corded strength of his body, the chiseled elegance of each defined muscle. And that part of him was nothing like the pictures in that book she and Miranda had found. The duke was much longer, and thicker.
She felt intoxicated on the sheer wicked excitement of being with him like this.
He knelt between her thighs, and his lips curved in a dangerous smile. Her heart thundered, and anticipation crested through her like a wave of fire. Her mind hazed in shock, and blistering desire when he lightly spanked her quim. The shock of it made her gasp even as the spike of heated lust had her arching her hips for more. Her heart began to race in heavy, erotic excitement as he spread her legs even wider.
“I knew you would be just as wicked,” he praised, leaning over, and pressing an approving kiss above her navel.
Pippa panted, sweat slicking her skin, unbearable need and heat burning her from the inside. Her thighs fell wider apart at his urgings, and his broad shoulders wedged between them. Before Pippa could question his intention, he dipped his head and kissed her in a place she never dreamed could be kissed until she’d seen his erotic drawings.
“Christopher!” she cried out his name, her head falling back as her hips tilted forward, giving him access to her wet, aching sex. The feel of his tongue against her folds, licking and nibbling at her nub of pleasure was agony and ecstasy all rolled into one, and she didn't want it ever to end. She was awash in pleasure, and his name as it released from her lips was a scream of bliss. Every lick, every kiss, nibble, and touch felt like sin. She felt close, so close, to a pleasure she couldn’t define.
His wicked, wicked lips latched onto her nub of pleasure, sucking mercilessly. Need as she’d never known before drew her taut, her hands fell into his thick hair and gripped, like something dark and wanton held her in an unrelenting grip. Sensation almost painful in its intensity peaked inside of Pippa. Her moan sounded raw and guttural as it gathered inside her like the most violent of storms, and she chased it, not afraid but hungering for the destruction she knew it would bring.
Unexpectedly it broke, and she shattered as ecstasy pulsed through her. The wailing, desperate cry that fell from her lips echoed in the library. While she was caught in the throes of unrelenting pleasure, he crawled over her, bracing himself on one elbow. His other hand slipped under her hips, arching her to him and with a surge of his hips, pushed his thick length in her wet, aching sex. The sharp pain was fleeting, but he held himself still, allowing her flesh to relax around his throbbing invasion.
He leaned down, brushing his lips against her forehead. “Marry me, Pippa,” he whispered as his fingers rasped over the tender flesh of her stomach.
The stark lines of his face were heightened by desire and something tender. Almost like…love. “Yes,” she said, despite the sudden pounding of doubt in her heart.
He held her wrists easily above her head, restraining her gently. Suddenly she could feel the phantom caress of a silken cravat and knew one day he would bind her, and she would surrender to all his wickedness.
Then he moved, withdrawing to thrust inside her with piercing deep strength. Pippa gasped, arching into the rough demands of his body. He released her hands, and she hugged him to her, clasping his shoulders and wrapping her legs high around his waist. He rode her, with raw passion, each driving stroke an exquisite burst of painful pleasure, each stroke edging Pippa toward the bright flames she could sense hovering.
Threads of reality dissolved beneath the lashing pleasure, and she clung to him, sobbing, with a desperate cry she surrendered to the sensation tearing through her body. And with a rough groan of deep satisfaction, he tumbled right along with her.
Chapter 14
Christopher kissed along Pippa’s body, tickling the underside of her breasts with playful nips. She peered at him with shyness, her gaze dark and slumberous with the slow awakening of her sensuality. An enchanting ripple of laughter broke from her, and he closed his eyes, delighting in the sound.
Who would have thought that a laugh could so bewitch him?
“I must still go to New York,” she said breathlessly. “My father is ill, and when I arrive, he may be recovered…or dead.”
He kissed her shoulder soothingly. “I will come with you.”
“That would be beyond improper!”
He came over her. "Not if we are man and wife. I'll procure a special license, and we'll marry before we depart."
The tentative hope in her eyes constricted his breath. There were still shadows of doubt as if she believed his words were inconstant. He reposed against the pillows and tucked her into his side. With a sigh, he said, "I swear on my honor I did not seduce Lady Miranda."
“I know,” she murmured, coasting a few of her fingers over his chest in an idle pattern.
“She told you?” he asked gruffly.
“I deduced the man I know could not be the one she described.”