What a Duke Dares (Sons of Sin 3)

Dark brows lowered over his deep-set eyes, shadowing them into mystery. “What’s this?”

Her laugh was mocking as she lolled shamelessly against the pillows. “Cam, haven’t you understood yet?”

“I’ve done what you wanted.”

“Nowhere near,” she said lightly, and wondered if he heard the implicit threat. She hoped not. If he guessed her plans to pierce his armor, he’d be out the door before she could blink.

His hands opened and closed at his sides. The air sizzled with frustration. And arousal. He stared at her like he was starving. She flicked her hair behind her shoulders. Cam’s attention immediately leveled on her breasts.

Only a brazen hussy would respond to that rapacious stare by arching her back. But then, only a brazen hussy would succeed on tonight’s reckless quest.

Suspicion darkened his expression. “Pen, what are you up to?”

“I promise to be gentle.” Actually she didn’t promise that at all.

He looked so magnificent spread naked across the bed that Pen’s courage faltered. Then she reminded herself to stop thinking like a starry-eyed virgin. She recalled discussions in France and Italy, late at night, when the wine flowed, when the gentlemen weren’t present.

Squaring her shoulders, she kneeled above Cam. This time he didn’t make the mistake of reaching for her. He’d always been a quick learner.

Assessingly, she stared at her husband. She knew from many a scandalous duchessa or wanton comtesse that men requested services from a mistress that they’d never impose upon a wife. She even, thanks to those frank ladies, had an idea of what some of those services entailed.

The question wasn’t whether she could imagine those acts. The question was whether she could bring herself to initiate them.

Then she recalled the way Cam closed her out, even at the height of passion. Her heart slamming against her chest, she started with what lay within reach.

“Pen, what are you doing?” he asked sharply, tugging at the foot she held.

“I’m tasting you.” She carefully avoided looking at his erection as she pressed her lips to his ankle.

“Then kiss me.”

She stroked his foot. She’d never before taken time to consider what a marvelous piece of natural engineering he was. “I am kissing you.”

“On the lips.”

“Soon.” His body was fascinating, so different from hers. A scattering of black hair covered his skin. She tested the difference between bone and muscle, feeling him flex under her touch.

“We’ll be here all night if you examine me like a damned quack,” he said despairingly.

She slid her fingers between his toes. “Do you have another appointment?”

“You’ll kill me, you know,” he said almost conversationally.

A smile tugged at her lips. “All in a good cause.”

“And what’s that?”

“My education, for one thing.” She straddled his legs and kissed up past his knees to his thighs.

His muscles went as hard as rock, and heat sizzled off his skin. She cursed herself for not exerting her power earlier in their marriage. Turning him helpless with need was mightily enjoyable.

Cam’s scent had been her definition of heaven since she’d been a little girl and he’d carried her to safety from one mishap or another. Now that she lingered over him, she discovered subtle undertones. As she slowly wended her way across him, closer and closer to the part that rose hard and demanding, male musk intensified with every inch.

His animal arousal stirred her. She shifted to relieve the slick ache between her legs.

“Holy God in heaven,” he groaned, quaking under her lips.

Stroking his hips, she kissed random trails across his torso, feeling as much as hearing his breath catch when she played a sudden variation, like a bite where she’d licked or a scratch where she’d stroked. His hands tangled tighter and tighter in the sheets beneath him as he struggled not to grab her.