Chapter Five #2
With shock and anticipation in their expressions, the footmen rested the remaining buckets in the bathtub then hefted the item between them. Seconds later, they scuttled through the open doorway.
Emma darted a glance between him and the door. “If you insist on being in this mood, I’m leaving.”
“I don’t think so.” Not bothering to close the wooden panel, for it would add heightened awareness to the act, he caught her by the arm. Already, the excitement for the chase as well as the claiming raced through his blood. “You’re mine to do with what I will.”
“When did you become this misogynistic bastard?” As one of her blonde eyebrows rose in challenge, he knew that had been the absolute wrong thing to say. “I said no.”
Hot annoyance went through his chest. “I’m a duke, and what I want, I’ll have.” Though he’d wanted to show her he was still in control even if he’d been terrified enough to live apart from her to keep her safe, he might have gone a tad too far.
Mottled red went into her cheeks as her eyes flashed. She tried to wrench out of his hold, but he tightened his grip. “And I want an attentive husband. You made certain that didn’t happen, didn’t you?”
How long would she hold that against him? To be fair, it had been almost two years, so she was probably quite miffed. “Well, we are both here now, and this is together.” When she didn’t respond, only continued to glare at him, he sighed. “You can either agree or not, I don’t care.”
“You wouldn’t take me against my will. Again.” After a few attempts to be free of him, he gave up the battle.
Cold disappointment went through his chest, for he adored verbal sparring with her. “You agreed to everything when you let me fuck you last night.”
She snorted. “I didn’t agree to that either. You took what you wanted.”
“Did you or did you not enjoy the release?”
Another wave of red color infused her cheeks. “That is beside the point.”
“But I made it, nonetheless.” He shrugged and knew he had the advantage even if he was a monster about it. “You’re my wife. That ends all discussion.”
“Estranged wife, and that still doesn’t allow you access unless I invite you.” She glared.
So did he, and it excited the hell out of him.
Hot need shot through his shaft, tightening it.
“You gave me that access and permission the moment you enacted scandal for my attention. I understand your motivation now.” The men at his club had been correct, damn their eyes.
“Well, you certainly have that in spades, so you’d best square with that. ”
“Or else what?”
He couldn’t help brushing the knuckles of one hand over one hardened tip of a nipple.
“Then I’ll be the only one satisfied this afternoon.
” With that, Cecil took hold of her robe and wrenched it off her body despite her efforts to keep the garment on her person.
“Shall we commence to the act, or do you want the preliminaries?”
Though fear reflected in her eyes, there was also longing and anticipation deep in those depths. He didn’t need to hear her consent in words; it was already there. “Only a man would wish to skip foreplay because it largely benefits a woman.”
Damn, he’d forgotten about her tart mouth, and he couldn’t wait to employ it in something other than conversation. Deep down, though, he wanted her to remember how good they’d been together in the hopes she might forgive him… for everything.
Gripping her hips, Cecil lifted her up then planted her arse onto the side of the bed. “If you want foreplay, you’ll have it. I’m not quite the cad you believe.”
“There is doubt, for you are acting as if you’ve escaped from Bedlam.” To her credit, she didn’t shrink away from him, and when he took her breasts in his hands and squeezed, she gasped but didn’t slap his face.
Her bravery, her confidence, had his respect for her rising. He’d treated her like last week’s rubbish, yet she was here, daring him to go forward, to pleasure her. But her statement grated. “I… I can’t help who I am, and sometimes, it’s confusing enough to figure out who I truly am.”
Confusion scudded through her eyes. “Cecil, I…”
He didn’t want conversation. “Hush.” He wasted no time in giving each hardened nipple a light pinch. Did she crave the type of carnal play they used to indulge in or had her tastes changed, matured?”
“Oh!” A gasp eased from her throat, but she didn’t shy away, and that only prodded his own lust. “I never considered that forceful and dominating could add weight to the pleasure involved.”
“It can at times.” Not meeting her gaze, for he might break, Cecil ducked his head and took one of those pebbled tips into his mouth, sucking hard before releasing it and then teasing, soothing, the nub with his tongue and lips.
The words he needed to say might not come readily, but he had always been able to communicate with her through intercourse.
A slight moan came from her, and when she put a hand to his nape to encourage him onward, he chuckled.
Thank goodness his wife wasn’t shy when it came to carnal play, and that pushed white hot need through his body.
She hadn’t changed in that regard. “Just because I might enjoy mutual desire between us, it changes nothing, won’t solve our issues. ”
“No, it won’t, but it might put us on even ground with clear heads.
” With an encouraging nod, he spent copious amounts of time enjoying her breasts.
Damn but those globes were full and still perky; they were very nearly perfect, and the soft, perfumed skin drew him onward.
The rose-colored nipples matched the hue of her lips, and when he rolled one of the buds from root to tip, she trembled and gasped.
“Why are you like this? Why must you prove you’re an arse?” she asked in a soft voice even as she reclined backward onto her elbows. “Do you hope to drive me away?
“Perhaps I do.” Once more he manipulated her breasts and nipples, gave them a bit of torture. With a chuckle when she squirmed, he took one tip into his mouth while urging her thighs more fully apart with his hips. “Even now, you are too close to the monster.”
Yet he could no more leave off than cut off his own scarred left hand.
It took little effort to glide his fingertips through her slippery folds and ease them open to uncover the swelling bud at her center. The second he brushed them over that nubbin, she gasped. “God, I can’t wait to taste you. I’ve long dreamed of just that since we parted.”
“Whose fault is that? You could have had me all the time yet you ran,” she managed to say around gasps as he continued to torment that tiny bundle of nerves.
“I had to.” Need shot through his shaft to harden it almost painfully. It wouldn’t be long now. Damn, but battling wills with her was as exhilarating as exploring her body, and he was enjoying it far too much, as was she even if she fought trying to not show it. “But something must give.”
“Agreed.” Seconds later, she inhaled sharply.
Her body went taut momentarily before she let loose a half-strangled cry as she fell into a release.
A flush rose up her chest into her cheeks, and when she opened her eyes, the dislike of him was still there.
“You got me off, now let me go.” When she attempted to try and wriggle off the side of the bed, he once more stopped her with a hand on shoulder.
“Not yet, I think. I’m not done.” The years of separation had taken a toll, and now that he had access to her body, he didn’t want to waste it.
For either of them. When she would have protested, he flipped her body over.
Her legs dangled off the side of the bed until the tips of her toes barely found purchase on the carpet, but as she cursed him, Cecil admired the smooth arse cheeks.
“God, so tempting.” That sight would prove his undoing if he wasn’t careful.
To stave off the inevitable, he smoothed a hand over one cheek then gave it a crisp smack.
Her inhalation of breath and the fact she curled the fingers of one hand into the bedclothes bore testament to the fact she was as invested in this coupling as he.
“That’s right. Remember who holds your pleasure in his hands. It’s certainly not damned Galahad.” Never in their history together had he fucked her arse, but perhaps there would be an opportunity later, if he could manage to puzzle out what he wanted from their marriage.
“Don’t even think those thoughts. I am not in the mood for such kinks.” She wriggled her hips, tried to push off the bed, but he held her in place with a hand on the small of her back. “Let me go.”
“Not a chance. I’m claiming you as my duchess this afternoon.
” As he spoke, Cecil manipulated his frontfalls, wrenched the buttons from their holes, and when his engorged length tumbled out, he took himself in hand.
“Consider it a renewal of my commitment to you.” Yet that would imply he wished for the marriage to continue.
Did he? That hinged on many, many things.
“Then you wish to reconcile?” She glanced at him from over a shoulder. The stormy gray depths of her eyes showed shadows, but he couldn’t—or wouldn’t—analyze the emotions.
“I… I don’t know.”
The delicate tendons of her throat worked with a hard swallow. “Then, please, don’t do this.” The graveled sound of her voice went from his chest to his stones.
“You are mine, duchess, and I want you to remember that.” Then, after spreading her legs wide, he fit his tip to her drenched opening.
In one powerful thrust, Cecil penetrated her body, went stones deep and then paused merely to enjoy the feel of her tight passage as it sucked greedily at his shaft.
“Damn.” Moisture gathered in his eyes. “Mine,” he whispered in a barely audible voice.
And he would keep her… if she would let him.
A cry broke from her throat, but he couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or pleasure. When he moved within her, she shivered. “Oh…” Her fingertips fisted and relaxed in the bedclothes.