Chapter 15
The room the Duke led her to was clearly his bedchamber, and although he did not speak as he let her inside, locking the door carefully behind them, Marian had the feeling she was being granted some great honor — that she was perhaps the first person other than Andrew himself to have set foot in here for a very long time.
Before she could think more on the matter, however, Andrew was kissing her again, and she kissed him back eagerly, her entire body alight with anticipation as he walked her slowly backwards until they were standing at the foot of the huge four-poster bed which dominated the center of the room.
Marian’s breath sped up as she felt the foot of the bed touch the back of her legs. She had never been inside a gentleman’s bedchamber before, and the thought of what might happen here made her almost breathless with both excitement and fear.
But what will happen here? How do I know what’s expected of me?
As a properly raised, unmarried young lady, Marian had only the vaguest idea of what went on between a man and a woman in the privacy of her their own bedchamber. Quite simply, there had never been any need for her to know, and her mother, who was a stickler for etiquette, had died long before it would have occurred to her that her daughter might one day have need of such information.
As it turned out, however, there was nothing she needed to know; as Andrew’s kisses grew hotter and more insistent, Marian found herself responding to him instinctively, her lips parting as the kiss deepened, and her arms circling his neck, pulling him ever closer. Before long, they were lying together on the bed, and Andrew had somehow loosened the fastenings on her dress, his masculine hands fumbling slightly with the rows of tiny buttons until Marian finally took pity on him and came to his aid.
With the buttons undone, she stood up, the dress falling to the floor and leaving her standing there in just her chemise. Her cheeks blushed crimson, but a delicious tingling sensation had started somewhere between her legs, and it felt so good that when Andrew stood up and gently started to undo the ties that held her undergarments in place that she made no protest, instead reaching up to release her long hair from its pins until it tumbled down over her now bare skin.
“Let me look at you.”
The Duke sat down on the edge of the bed, his eyes filled with such lust as he took her in, from top to toe that it gave her the confidence to step towards him, allowing him to pick her up and place her gently back down on the bed, his eyes trailing down over her body as she lay there beside him.
To Marian, who had been raised never to show so much as an ankle in public, to be naked in front of a man was a thing so scandalous it should, by rights, have made her blush. Instead, though, when she saw the way Andrew looked at her with such undisguised admiration, Marian found it had quite the opposite effect: it made her feel powerful — as if she were capable of anything.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered, kissing her again. “From the moment I saw you, I knew you were beautiful, but now —”
His gaze traveled slowly down her body, taking in every inch of her. Marian sank back against the pillows which were piled high at the head of the bed, her body so alive with sensation it was almost as if she could feel his eyes upon her skin. She knew she should not let him look at her so, and yet she found she did not want to stop him. His face was filled with such lust for her that any other woman might have feared what he might do to her. But Marian was not just any woman. She did not fear him; she trusted him. And as he moved towards her, moaning with desire as he kissed her once more, she once again felt that sense of power.
It’s me. I’m making him feel like this. I am in control.
The thought excited her, and as Andrew moved lower and began to kiss her neck and then her breasts, the sensation of his warm lips on her skin was almost too much to bear. She gasped in pleasure as his mouth found her hard nipple and started sucking on it.
Oh! This is so wicked! And yet it feels so good, I must have more.
She gasped again as he released it and moved to the other breast, sucking it in its turn until both nipples were swollen and so sensitive to his touch that she could hardly stand it. Andrew paused to look up at her as if asking her permission to proceed. Marian simply nodded then lay back again and watched as his kisses traveled further down her body, his mouth touching every part of her, like an act of worship.
From her position propped against the pillows, Marian looked down, seeing her own body as it must appear to him, all curves and softness. She had never looked at herself thus, had always dressed quickly, and bathed with the help of a maid. There had never been the opportunity to look upon her own body until now, and seeing it through Andrew’s eyes made Marian wonder why she had been taught to see nakedness as something sinful when the body was capable of such pleasure.
Suddenly wanting to see him too, she sat up, reaching for his clothes and trying to pull them from him. But Andrew took her hands firmly in his.
“No, Marian,” he said, his voice thick with lust. “You must not touch me. I will not be able to control myself if you do. Now, lie back.”
Marian did as he asked, her lips pouting with frustration as she lay obediently back against the pillows. Andrew groaned as if tormented by the sight of her, and, to punish him for his refusal to let her undress him in return, Marian stretched languorously on the bed, displaying her body for him in a way she knew was quite brazen.
She did not know where this new confidence of hers had come from. If she had thought, when she set out from home on her horse that day, that she would come to find herself sprawled naked on a bed in front of a man she barely even knew, she was sure she might have passed out at the very idea.
But her body was so alive from his touch, her skin still tingling from his kisses, that she could not stop herself.
He did this. He made me feel this. And I cannot regret it, for it is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
“Marian,” Andrew whispered, coming to lie over her again. “Why do you torture me so? You drive me almost wild with lust for you.”
With that, he kissed her so passionately, she felt her body arch into his, her naked skin pressing into his hard body, a groan escaping her lips at the sensation of rough fabric against her soft skin. She could feel the hardness of his member pressing against her; she barely even knew what it was that men had between their legs, but she knew she wanted to feel it against her, and she pressed herself brazenly against him again, smiling as she heard him groan in pleasure.
But her own pleasure was now taking over her, making it impossible to even think clearly.
“Please, Andrew,” she whispered desperately, still writhing against him. “Please.”
She knew not what she asked him for, but as he pulled away, abruptly breaking their kiss, she realized Andrew knew exactly what to do.
Laying her tenderly back against the pillows, Andrew’s lips once again worked their way down her body, ignoring her moans as he kissed and sucked at her breasts. His hands roamed freely over her, teasing still more sensation from her as his rough palms grazed her skin, moving down from her narrow waist to her thighs.
Marian’s eyes, which had closed as he’d kissed her, flew open in surprise as her legs parted. This, she knew, was very wicked indeed. But as Andrew’s lips moved down, down to the soft, secret place between her legs, Marian suddenly felt that being wicked might be exactly what she wanted.
Her thighs parted obediently for him, and when his next kiss landed right on her very core — the hard, throbbing center of her body — it was all she could do not to scream his name.
Marian was dimly aware that the space between her legs was suddenly slick with wetness, but Andrew did not seem to mind. His tongue glided over her skin, circling her nub again and again, and making her whimper from the strength of this new sensation.
“Please. Please,” she murmured again, reaching down to touch his dark hair. He paused then to look up at her, grinning as if he was enjoying her pleasure almost as much as she was.
“Lie back, my sweet,” he said. “If this night is all we have, I mean for you to remember it.”
Then he went back to his kisses, and Marian’s eyelids fluttered closed. Lying sprawled against the pillows, his tongue between her legs, she surrendered fully to the pleasure which engulfed her, allowing her hips to rise to meet his mouth. Her head thrashed from side to side as she rocked wildly against him, not caring what he must think of her.
“Easy, my darling,” Andrew whispered. “Easy. Lie still.”
But it was impossible to be still. Not when her body was so desperate for his touch. Not when she needed so much more. Her hips rose again, and they fell into a rhythm, his tongue still circling and lapping at her nub as her body rocked against him in the way that seemed to bring the most satisfaction.
Marian could have remained like this forever, she thought, as she writhed against him, her lips parted, and her breathing quick. But the sensation inside her was growing to the point where she felt that she might explode. Desperate for release of some kind, she spread her legs still wider, feeling Andrew’s tongue dart tantalizingly close to the slippery entrance which now begged to be filled.
Yes. That’s it. That’s what I want. What I need. I need it desperately!
As if reading her mind, Andrew pulled back slightly, his fingers replacing his lips as he rubbed at her harder now. Marian bit her lip to stop herself from crying out, but as the finger moved lower and then slid inside her, a scream burst out of her.
Too much. It is too much.
But the finger continued to move inside her, sliding out then back in again in a way that now felt exactly right. Marian shuddered as she felt his mouth between her legs again, and then she was rocking wildly back and forth once more, her entire being balanced finely between his lips and hands until she could truly take no more.
With a cry that seemed to come right from the depths of her soul, Marian felt herself come apart, her body clenching around Andrew’s finger, squeezing and contracting as wave after wave of the most exquisite pleasure she had ever felt crashed over her. On and on it went, her body shuddering with the sensation, completely out of her control. Ignoring the wild rocking of her hips, Andrew continued working at her with his hand and lips, expertly teasing every last drop of pleasure out of her until she slumped back against the pillows, completely spent.
“Should I —?”
Her eyelids fluttering open, she reached for him again, wondering if she should somehow return the favor and do for him the miraculous thing he had just done for him, But Andrew simply took her hand in his and kissed her fingers gently.
“No, my love,” he whispered. “I told you, if you touch me now, I will not be able to hold myself back from you. I want you to go back to your home with your reputation unspoiled. It’s the very least I can do for you.”
He gathered her to him, enfolding her in his embrace before reaching down and pulling up a blanket from the bottom of the bed until it lay over them both. Marian, exhausted from all that had happened, was half asleep already, but she reached up and touched him lightly on the face, pulling him down for a kiss.
“Thank you, Andrew,” she said as she drifted into a deep sleep. “I will never forget this.”
Marian did not know it, but Andrew held her like that all night, his own eyes open and staring up at the ceiling above them, not wanting the night to end.
But end it did.