Chapter 22 Grace #2
His fingers bring to life a roiling heat that builds and builds. Heat rises and I don’t fight it. I let it take me with it. “I’m going to…” My hips jerk. “Duke, I’m–”
His mouth and fingers disappear as he backs his chair away. My legs slip from his shoulders and he holds my ankles, placing them back on his knees. His cheeks are flushed, but I’m guessing not as flushed as mine. “No, Angel. Not yet.”
The tremors running through my body make my voice vibrate. “Please, don’t stop,” I beg, eyes widening when I realize he’s fucking serious.
“You’ll come when I say you can come.”
My jaw drops in understanding. “Are you punishing me?”
Duke gives me a wry look. “I can stop if you want.”
“You did stop,” I point out.
Reclining backwards, Duke unbuckles his belt and unzips his pants. As he pulls out his cock and wraps a fist around his shaft, I sit up to watch. He uses his thumb to spread beads of cum over his crown.
“If you want this, Angel, you need to earn it first. Lie back down. I haven’t finished eating you out yet.”
Three times Duke edges me towards oblivion with his mouth, his tongue and occasionally just his breath. Three. Times.
I can’t take any more of this torture and this time, when he curls his fingers and pumps into me, I wrap my legs around his neck and lock my ankles.
Threading my fingers through his hair, I’m grateful it’s now long enough to hold onto. I grind against his mouth and my body comes alive again. I’m past the point of flutters and ripples. With a few swipes of his tongue, the wave I’m so desperate to ride begins to surge.
“Please, Duke. Don’t stop.” My back arches off the table as the tip of his tongue traces figures of eight around my pulsing clit, but he presses a hand to my stomach to keep me in place. “Please…” I beg.
I purse my lips. I’m not going to tell him how close I am to unraveling.
I won’t give him the chance to pull away again.
I hum through the coiling pressure, but the flickering flame of desire he ignites with his tongue is too much.
My breath hitches, giving away how close I am.
Then hitches again when his mouth and fingers still.
“Duke, I just might hate you!” I all but scream as he untangles himself from my hands and legs.
I swallow back the next insult when he stands up this time instead of sitting back to revel in my misery.
“I think you’ve earned that kiss,” he says, then laughs as I launch myself at him.
Roping my arms around Duke’s neck, my mouth finds his. My lips find his. And my tongue finds its mate. Duke grabs my ass and lifts me so I can wrap my legs around his waist. His cock lines up with my dripping center.
His lips are slippery. He tastes of my need for him. I tilt my head at an angle and our kiss deepens. Our tongues tangle and when he bites my lip as we pull apart, I groan.
“Best. Kiss. Ever,” I gasp as Duke peppers kisses along my jaw to that sensitive spot behind my ear. I roll my hips against him and it’s his turn to groan.
“Do we need a condom? I have a clean bill of health,” he whispers in my ear.
My eyes roll back in my head at the friction between Duke’s cock and my poor, mistreated clit. “I’m on birth control and all up to date too.”
“You’re OK with me going bare?”
I pull away so I can give him a look. “I will be once your cock is inside me. And don’t you dare think about pulling out.”
Hinging at the hips, Duke lays me back down on his desk. He brushes my nose with his. “I intend to fuck you thoroughly and regularly, Grace. Whatever happens next, you don’t get to walk away from me again. Understood?”
I manage a nod before bringing my lips to his. It’s a soft kiss. A promise and a prayer. “As long as you understand we’re in this together.”
His brow rests against mine. “Understood,” he says. “Now. Are you ready to take your punishment?”
His hand slides between us to take hold of his cock. He runs it along the length of my pussy, but that’s as much teasing as I’m willing to take. When he seats himself at my entrance, I plant the heels of my feet on the back of his thighs and tilt my hips to take him deeper.
“Greedy girl,” Duke whispers, and with one thrust, he fills me.
I cry out with… I don’t know what. Joy? Ecstasy? Relief? We took the long way, but we made it back to each other. I have the man of my dreams and endless fantasies.
Duke’s face hovers above mine as he withdraws almost to the tip before thrusting back into me. He does it again, his eyes hooded and his jaw feathering as he fights to keep control with each hammer blow that nails me to his desk.
“No more games,” he promises on a thrust. “You have me, Grace. You have all of me.”
“And I’ll fight anyone to keep you,” I reply, grinding against him as his movements quicken. “Only I get to love you, Duke. Only I love you. I. love. You.”
Duke stops trying to hold back. He fucks me desperately. Possessively. Perfectly. Pleasure skitters up my spine and stars dance across my vision as I cry out.
“Come for me, Angel,” Duke says as he slams into me. Again. And again. “Let go. Right. Now.”
The coil of tension in my center contracts with his words, and with his next thrust, it doesn’t just snap, it explodes. The heated rush has my eyes rolling back in my head and my body shatters.
“Fuck!” Duke cries out as my inner walls clamp tight around him. “How… Just how… can you be… so damn perfect.” His cock pulses inside me and he comes hard with a deep groan drawn from the depths of his soul. “My sweet angel. Mine.”
We lose all sense of time and rhythm as we thrust and grind and press against each other, riding out our orgasms. My hands cup his face as we kiss, slowly and sensually.
I lick and suck his lower lip. He sucks my fingers, my earlobes, my nipples.
I thread my fingers through his hair, drawn to the scars that are no longer visible but will always be there.
Duke turns his head and kisses my palm. “I love you, Grace. And I will fix this.”
“No, we’ll fix this,” I correct him, releasing my grip so he can lift himself off me.
He helps me sit up, and as he pulls up his pants, we both look down at the mess we’ve made all over his desk. There’s a smirk on Duke’s face as he assesses the damage proudly. “I’ll get a towel.”
I’m grateful his office has its own private bathroom, but that’s the least of my worries. I grab hold of Duke’s shirt before he can move away.
“You’re not going anywhere just yet.”
He doesn’t react to my change of tone, or my scowl. He’s still basking in the afterglow of our off-the-scale orgasms and doesn’t notice my hand clenching. I slam my fist hard into his chest.
“Ow!” he yelps even though it’s my face that scrunches up with pain from the blow. “What was that for?”
I shake my hand, my knuckles throbbing. The sting is exactly what I need to jolt me out of my blissed-out state. “Don’t you ever give up, Duke!” I yell at him. “Don’t do that to me! Not ever! Do you hear me?”
“Hey, I won’t give up,” he replies, confusion creasing his brow. “I promise.”
He tries to wrap me in his arms, but I push him away. “But you did yesterday. You put a gun to your head, for fuck’s sake!”
Duke visibly pales and he takes a step back. “Who told you that?”
I glare at him. “Who do you think?”
He swipes his face and leaves his hand covering his eyes for a moment. Then he’s stepping back into my space. “She had no right to do that.”
“Would you have told me?” I demand. “If I had gone back to your hotel room last night, would you have told me everything, Duke?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. You would have kept it to yourself because you’re good at that.” I choke on my words when I add, “You’re too damn determined to do everything on your own, but no more. I won’t let you.”
Duke doesn’t give me the option to push him away this time. He threads his fingers through my hair and holds my gaze to his. “It wasn’t a choice I took lightly.”
A fat tear trickles down my cheek, “Were you going to pull the trigger?”
Before he answers, Duke scoops me up into his arms and takes a seat on his executive chair, cradling me on his lap.
I rest my head on his chest and take comfort from the steady beat of his heart.
He’s alive, but he nearly wasn’t. I trail my hand across his shirt, following the contours of his sculpted body, worshipping every sacred inch.
Duke inhales deeply and holds it for two beats. “It wasn’t a hollow threat,” he admits. “Rory’s accident…”
“I know Katarina was behind it. And I know about Fitz too.”
Duke cranes his neck to look at me. “What else did she tell you?”
I scowl at him. “What else could she tell me? Because if there’s anything else you’re holding back, Duke, I promise I will find out. And if it doesn’t come from your mouth, I’ll make you regret it.”
A smile creeps slowly across his face, but I pinch the skin beneath the fabric of his shirt. I think I catch a nipple.
“Ow! Again,” he complains, but he shakes his head. He’s back to being serious when he says, “No, Grace, there’s nothing else I need to confess. I swear.”
“Promise you won’t keep so much to yourself in future. Talk to me, and if it can’t be me, tell someone else. Your brothers. Max. Ed. Do I need to list all the people who’d have your back if you weren’t so stubborn about asking for help?”
“I promise.” He kisses my forehead. “But it’s your time to spill. Tell me how the hell you got talking to Katarina.”