Claiming his Cursed Duchess (Cursed Brides #2)

Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

“ F inally,” Adam shut the door to the bedroom and pulled Rosaline in closer as soon as she approached him.

She allowed herself to be pulled into him. Never before had he kissed her so passionately.

“All to myself,” he murmured between kisses.

Swiftly, he pressed her against the wall, pinning her with hands and hips.

When she reached up to pull him closer, he grabbed her hands, pinning them above her head before kissing her more deeply still.

“Keep them there,” he said darkly, his eyes twin pools of lust.

She obeyed, staying still as his hands roamed her body, tracing over the seams of her dress. He just barely brushed his fingers across the bits of exposed skin where fabric met flesh, at her bosom, her neck, her wrists, until she could hardly keep still anymore.

“If you are having difficulty figuring out how best to take off my gown,” she said, making her tone as sweet as possible, “I am certain I would be happy to give you some help.”

His eyes darkened even further at that. “I will manage just fine,” he replied, before all but tearing the fabric off of her.

Layer by layer, dress and stays and shift alike, his dexterous hands nimbly untied and undid and lifted off of her body with such hunger, she found herself almost shaking with desire from the slight brushes of his hand alone.

“There,” he said, a wolfish smirk spreading over his face, “that is much, much better.”

The air was cool against her newly bared skin. She longed to do the same to him, but remained mindful of his order to keep her hands above her on the wall.

Rosaline looked up at him through her lashes. “This seems rather unfair,” she said. “Quite unequal. Am I not to be allowed to return the favor?”

“You thought that was a favor to you?” he said. “No, my dear: it was entirely selfish. I want to enjoy the sight of my ravishingly tempting wife, after a long and difficult day of being denied such a sight.”

“Oh, such a long and difficult day,” she cooed. “Was it really? Was the powerful Duke of Oldstone tortured by the mere presence of one woman?”

“You underestimate your own power, sweetheart,” he said.

“Not at all, husband,” she began almost arrogantly, but sucked in a sharp inhale as he ran his hand up along her thighs, stroking up towards that most sensitive of places.

“Were you going to say something?” Adam asked, his smirk triumphant.

God, but his hand felt good between her legs.

“No?” he taunted and she shook her head.

Within a few moments, she found her thighs beginning to tremble; but every time she bucked slightly into his fingers, his other hand pressed against her hips, holding her in place against the wall.

Above her head, her fingers twitched.

“You look so pretty. All flushed from pleasure. I want to keep you looking like this all day and night, wife,” he whispered into her ear, his velvety voice caressing her head, sending even more shivers down her spine.

When he finally kissed her again, it was a great relief to be able to touch him at all. They mouthed at each other hungrily, lips and tongue exploring those of the other. Combined with the steady rhythm of his hand against her sex, it was only a matter of time before she was moaning, writhing against him, approaching that edge.

“Yes, that’s it, darling,” Adam mumbled into her collarbone.

When she was close, she lost herself for a moment, allowing her hands to drop to his neck and trying to pull him in closer.

“No, no. That won’t do,” Adam said in a mock-scolding tone, and before she could react, he picked her up and tossed her gently onto the bed.

“Wha—” she protested, however, any and all words died swiftly on her tongue at the sight of him approaching, especially when he stripped off his shirt and breeches as he climbed up towards her.

He kissed his way across her stomach, worshipping her waist and hips with lips and tongue and strong, lustful hands before he moved down to continue teasing her thighs.

“You drove me wild tonight,” he growled against her skin. “Do you realize that?”

Her fingers tightened in his hair. “So did you,” She tugged, forcing him to look up at her, and a small smile rose to her lips. “I craved you too, Adam.”

Those deep, piercing blue eyes darkened further with unshakable hunger and lust.

In a quick movement, he hooked each of his arms under each of her legs, so that her legs were over his shoulders, knees bracketing his head.

“I should amend that immediately, then,” he said, before burying his face in her heat.

He licked up the center of her, eliciting a moan as she felt the drag of his tongue against her aching core. It was half lick and half kiss, hot and open-mouthed, and she found her fists curling in the sheets when he stopped just short of the sensitive nub at the top of her sex.

She tried to jerk her hips up into the movement, but with his arms around her legs and his hands gripping her thighs, he stopped the movement with ease.

“Where do you think you are going?” he said, pausing only briefly from his current task and she felt the words vibrate against her and echo all the way up her body.

“More,” she said breathlessly. “I need more .”

“Oh, so now I am not allowed to tease you?” he chuckled against her, and she moaned again, louder than before.

“Please, please. Stop torturing me,” she said, snarky even as her voice shook from pleasure.

“Mmm, I rather like doing that,” he pressed a kiss to one thigh, and then the other, before licking her core again, “but I like spoiling you a lot more.”

Using every bit of those dexterous fingers and experienced tongue, he played upon her body with all the ease of a master musician playing the harp.

The sensations built within her. His mouth held fast on her. His fingers, moving and curling to hit every sensitive spot within her. His other hand, roamed her body, leaving a trail of hot explorative shivers in its wake.

He stopped at her breast, running a thumb across it to tease at her peaked nipple.

“Oh,” she moaned, and he held her hand, when she reached down in search of something to grab onto.

When she was so close to reaching her peak, she squeezed his hand tighter.

“Wait,” she said.

She almost hated herself for saying it, but there was something she wanted even more.

He raised his head. The sight of him in the candlelight, looking feral and almost as dazed as she felt, a slick smile cutting across that darkly handsome face, nearly brought her past the edge just to look at him.

“What is it?” he asked.

“I want to feel you inside me,” she said.

Still holding her gaze, he slipped two fingers inside her, pressing them once again at the spot that had her toes curling.

“I am inside you,” he said so matter-of-factly she wanted to smack him.

She shook her head, though her hips twitched with pleasure. Her thighs trembled with the effort of holding back her climax, after having been brought so close.

“You know what I meant,” she breathed out.

“If you ask nicely,” he said, his tone teasing, verging on cruelty. Not truly cruel, but playfully so. “If you beg like a good girl.”

Her heart beat in her chest—spite warring with lust as he continued to move his fingers in and out of her.

“M–must I?” her voice trembled, the ecstatic sensations in her body taking over her mind.

“Yes, wife, you must,” he leaned down, and pressed another kiss to her inner thigh, still not looking away from her all the while. “If you do not yield, I will stop.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “You would not.”

“Oh, yes, I will,” he kissed her other thigh, nipping lightly at the sensitive skin there.

“How dare you!”

Adam chuckled at her protest, then Rosaline exclaimed as she was flipped onto her stomach.

“What—” she gasped as Adam left from between her legs and sat up.

She felt the bed shift beneath her as he moved them both so that he was sitting upright, and she was straddling him, a leg to either side of his hips.

There was a sharp, delicious impact against her bottom. She nearly jumped at the unexpectedness of it, then squirmed against his lap when he rubbed his palm soothingly against the stinging stretch of skin.

She noticed with pleasure his sharp intake of breath at her movement. She shifted again, being sure to press herself against the still hard length of his manhood.

“Too much?” he asked as she looked him deep into his eyes.

The stinging in her backside had turned into a pleasant tingle, which only made her all the more aware of how delicious it was to be where she was now—naked, aroused, and in the arms of a man who wanted nothing more than to show her all the different ways of experiencing pleasure.

“No,” she said finally, sounding a bit breathless.

“Good girl,” he purred, “Here, it is. Your turn. You wanted to be in charge, after all. You want your pleasure? Take it.” He added, looking up at her with those blue eyes so piercing they could drive any woman mad with lust.”

Taking her hand in his, he showed her how to line up the head of his length at her entrance. Removing his hand, he nodded at her.

Rosaline sank down on his length slowly, enjoying the way it filled her from this new angle. She felt him even more deeply this way, she was surprised to discover.

“Mmm, very good. That’s it, my darling,” he hummed in her ear.

Once she had taken him to the hilt, she was forced to stop for a moment, allowing herself to grow accustomed to this new feeling.

As she did so, she ran her hands across his chest, lightly scraping her nails across. He seemed to like that, growling in approval, and his hands similarly explored her body.

“Yes, very good,” he breathed out, his pupils dilated, midnight black.

His hands ran up her waist to cup her breasts, and his eyes greedily dragged across every inch of exposed skin with a ravenousness that made all the shame about her scars melt away.

“You are ravishing,” he said, hips shifting slightly below hers.

She rolled her own hips in response, allowing him to move in and out of her, setting a slow rhythm.

She could see from his face how much he ached for her to move faster. She ached for it, too, but there was a wicked sweetness in making him wait longer, in continuing to push him up to the edge in the same way he pushed her.

He soon caught on to what she was doing. “So you enjoy torturing me too, wife,” he growled, his hands clamping onto her hips, trying to encourage her to move more quickly.

“Perhaps I do,” she said tauntingly, though she did pick up the pace a bit. “Perhaps I enjoy torturing you more than you do me.”

“You wicked girl. Somebody ought to teach you a lesson,” he replied.

Suddenly, she found herself on her back.

Adam thrust into her so deeply she could not help but let out a low, guttural moan, legs wrapping around his hips and arms wrapping around his back to claw at his shoulders.

Finally, it seemed she had reached a breaking point.

He pounded into her with increasing speed and force, hitting spots deep within her that delivered her more pleasure than ever before—she saw stars with each delicious thrust.

“Nothing to say now, wife?” he said, his breath hot against her ear, chuckling when she could do nothing but moan in response.

“D–do not stop,” she managed, clinging to him with all her might as she neared her edge. “Please don’t stop. I’m nearly there, Adam. So close—please?—”

“Yes, that’s my good girl,” he said, redoubling his efforts. “Come for me. Fall apart, just for me.”

Finally, she tumbled over the edge. He continued to thrust into her as her pleasure peaked, growing harder still as he neared his own completion.

He shuddered, spilling into her, before the two of them collapsed, clinging to each other like two people who had just been through a great storm.

“I cannot resist you, Rosaline,” he told her, panting between his words. “I want you more than I have wanted anything in my life. I would do anything to have you like this. Every day. And every night.”

Rosaline planted a kiss on his shoulder, trying to steady her breath, her body still twitching with bliss.

“So would I,” she said, and let herself fade into sleep.