A Virgin for the Ruthless Duke (In War and Love #2)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

S taring into those unique green eyes that were fast on their way to becoming as important to him as his existence, he suddenly knew what he had to do, no matter how much he didn’t want to.

“You are perfect, Selina,” he said, forcing a reassuring smile as he placed his hands gently on her shoulders, hoping to chase away the frustrated look in her eyes. “You are not quite as awkward as you feel you are. You are beautiful, you are elegant, and you have the entire ton at your feet, as evidenced by the number of suitors you have attracted in so little time. I wager that you will find a man you could love before the end of the Season.”

That last statement caused a dull ache in his chest, but he swallowed the pain and kept his smile in place. Whatever he suffered was his fault, and he was going to suffer it quietly and with grace.

His smile fixed, he continued, “I know you think you need my help, but you do not. I have taught you everything I know. There is only one thing remaining for me to do to help you find your match.”

He watched as her eyes brightened with fragile hope. He felt like a cad crushing it, but it had to be done.

“What would that be?” she asked, hope spilling into her voice.

“I have to let you go, Selina,” he said hoarsely, watching as the sparkle in her eyes dimmed till it disappeared completely. “It is only when you are completely free of me that you will be able to find your true match.”

“Why?” she asked, her voice rising to a wail. “Why can’t you stay by my side and help me find my match? You are supposed to be my tutor. You can’t mean to abandon me. Why can’t you stay with me?”

“Because I am a distraction,” he said quietly. “With me gone, you will have a better chance of securing the husband you want.”

“But you are not a distraction,” she replied with a short laugh. “You are my friend, and you are helping me find the suitor that I desire.”

“But that is just it,” he said with a shrug. “You want more.”

He watched as she started to shake her head in denial.

“It is so obvious for even the blind to see. You tremble in my presence, you feel empty when I am not around, you seek me out at events, and you are willing to meet me in secluded spaces like the one we stand in, even under the threat of potential ruination. At some point, Selina, you have fallen for me, and I know this because I feel the same.”

He paused at the glitter in her eyes. He knew how she felt. How difficult it must be to stand before another person when emotionally vulnerable. He swallowed thickly, forcing himself to continue.

“Unfortunately, dear Selina, even though I want you so acutely that I feel I might die without your presence, we would not suit one another, and it is best that we go our separate ways now. A few more of these meetings and it might be impossible to do so because a few more of these meetings,” he said, gesturing between them, “and I might not be able to hold back from taking your maidenhead. I scarcely have control where you are concerned. Even now, I am fighting the need to pull you close and kiss you senseless.”

The tears in her eyes finally spilled out and fell in a straight track down her left cheek. The sight of her tears felt like a stab to his heart. He had done this simply because he had not been courageous enough to leave her earlier.

“I know. I know I am an absolute cad for doing this. I think I might have fallen for you a very long time ago, even before we met again in the ballroom. I had just used the guise of teaching you etiquette to justify my need to be close to you.

“I should never have led you on, but I could not help myself. I am addicted to you, Selina, and it is evil of me to tie you to myself when I do not have the intention of doing right by you. You deserve better. You deserve a man who will love you and adore you. A man who would be proud to declare to the whole world that you are his. Every part of my being wishes that I could be that man, but it is not meant to be. That is why I need to let you go.”

Slowly, he let her go. Stepping away from her was the hardest thing he had done in his life. His face turned away, he walked towards the door, but he was halted by the sound of her voice, raspy but firm.

“Wait!” she called.

It had been difficult enough to walk away from her, and the allure of her presence told him that he knew he should flee, never stop, and never turn back because he might not be able to break free of the temptation twice.

But he ignored the warnings in his head, and even before he decided to turn around, he was already doing it.

She looked so beautiful in the candlelight, fragile like his mother’s expensive china. Her face shone with her tears, and he wanted to pull her into his arms, dry her tears, and tell her that he would be with her forever, but he knew that was impossible even as the thought came to mind.

He was not prepared for the next words that escaped her delectable lips.

“Kiss me,” she said as if she was asking for a dance.

It was a simple request with a multitude of consequences. The cocktail of emotions that flooded his bloodstream meant that it was dangerous to even stand close to her, not to think of placing his lips on hers. She just might end up spreadeagled on the table while he ravished her, and there was no guarantee that he would stop until he made her his.

“I hardly think that is a good idea,” he said quietly, remaining near the door, maintaining the distance between them.

“But I want you to,” she replied.

“It is dangerous,” he said, swallowing thickly.

“For old times’ sake. Please,” she said, her voice breaking in a way that worsened the ache in his chest. “It would be goodbye for us. I promise to let you go after this.”

“Selina…” he started to protest halfheartedly.

“Please,” she begged, her tears falling in earnest now. “It would be my memory to hold onto when you leave me.”

The sight of those green eyes swimming in tears gutted him, and at that moment, he was ready to do anything to soothe her, even if she demanded the same thing that had been the genesis of this pain. So he took a step forward, then another, until he was finally standing in front of her—temptation made flesh.

He cupped her face, and with his thumb, he wiped her tears, making soothing sounds in the back of his throat. He waited till she had calmed down enough, and she pressed her face into his warm palms like a kitten.

He dropped his forehead to hers with a loud groan. “You tempt me, Selina Wilkins.”

Instead of replying, she pressed her cheek into his palm. Then, rising on her tiptoes, she placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

The furnace within him raged such that he trembled with need, and when she placed a chaste kiss on his lips, it raged even harder. He might have been able to hold on if she had stepped back then, but she lifted her lips to his ear and whispered to him in the most sultry voice, “Kiss me, please.”

He lost any semblance of self-control he had at that moment. In the next, he was hooking an arm around her waist and pressing her body to his. He dipped his head and took her lips, moaning at the mix of relief and desire he felt as he tasted her, enjoying the moans that escaped her lips. He urged her lips to open, entangling his tongue with hers.

He caressed her breasts through her dress, tugging at her laces until he had access. He cupped her breasts, kneading them and twisting her erect nipples until she moaned and gasped, melting in his arms.

Carrying her to the settee in the library, he laid her there and bent his head to take one nipple into his mouth, sucking and nibbling on it while he worked its twin with his free hand.

Releasing her breast, he stared down at her with sultry eyes, his hand sliding up her leg until he touched her core. He caressed her there, spreading her folds to find her hidden pearl. He strummed it, enjoying the screams of pleasure she tried to muffle against his chest.

Touching her pearl with one hand, he played with her erect nipple, sucking and nibbling on it until she was a mass of sensation in his arms, gasps of pleasure escaping her sweet lips and inflaming him in turn. When her peak came, she convulsed, her pleasure bathing her with liquid warmth. He kept touching her, prolonging the sensation until she came back down to earth.

He gathered her into his arms, bringing her to sit in his lap. She stretched to kiss him, inadvertently moving against his erection and eliciting a hiss from his lips.

“Take care, love,” he said between gritted teeth.

“You did not take your pleasure,” she said, staring into his face. “Show me how to give you pleasure,” she demanded in a husky voice, tempting him to take what she offered.

“You do not have to do anything, love.”

“I can pleasure you just like you do for me,” she said, boldly caressing the bulge in his trousers.

He groaned loudly, shutting his eyes against the tide of pleasure that flowed through his veins.

He felt her fingers unfastening his trousers, and he helped her until his hardness sprang out ruddy and eager into her hands. At first, she caressed it tenderly, then she fisted it lightly.

“Tighter,” he grunted. “Hold it tighter.”

He showed her how to touch him, guiding her hands over his length, alternating between a loose and a tight grip until he was groaning his pleasure and spilling his seed into her hands.

“This has to stop,” Richard said in a whisper when he had regained control of his sanity and realized they had once again fallen into the temptation he had always tried to avoid.

“Are you willing to let go of everything we shared for some unknown reason?” Selina asked, standing up to look out the window into the night.

“I will do anything to protect you, Selina. I will do what I must,” he replied, watching her back as she studiously avoided his eyes.

He knew she was crying, and it was confirmed by her next words.

“Goodbye, Richard,” she said in a voice that shook with emotion.

Pain clawed at his chest, but he had to leave.

Selina heard the door open as he left, her heart aching as she waited for the second slam of the door that would announce his departure, but when it didn’t come, she knew something had happened. Sure enough, when she turned around, she found Richard standing still in the doorway, staring at someone.

They had been caught. At that moment, Selina could not decide whether she wanted to laugh or cry.