Chapter 12 #2
Her innate sensuality was the biggest aphrodisiac he had ever known.
But then, maybe it was simply Verity. She had undone him, thoroughly and completely.
He’d thought he was wedding her to slake his boredom, but the truth was that she had bloody well saved him.
Saved him with her goodness and her love, with her smiles and her open heart and everything that made her who she was.
“Just like that.” With his ungloved hand, he caressed her inner thigh and then higher, finding the split he sought.
His fingertips met unimpeded with wet, hot flesh, and he groaned.
“This seems very forward indeed,” she murmured.
He sucked on her throat. His fingers found her clitoris, stroking. Her hips jolted as he teased the swollen bud.
“How does this seem?”
She made a breathy sound of appreciation. “Quite rude, in fact.”
He stilled. “Shall I stop?”
“Don’t you dare,” she growled through gritted teeth.
King chuckled, slicking his way to her entrance and sinking a finger inside her.
Her inner muscles clenched in welcome, and he felt an answering pulse in his cock.
Pity there wasn’t time to properly fuck her now, but he could at least bring her pleasure.
And pleasuring his wife had become King’s unlikely obsession.
He was a rake no more.
King simply knew to his marrow that he would never want another woman but her. The realization was terrifying and humbling for him. No other woman would move him the way this one did.
Verity was his other half, the part of himself he had been missing. He knew this instinctively, the same way he knew the sun would rise in the morning and set in the evening. And he embraced it.
Because he loved her. He loved her desperately. Some day soon, he would find the courage to tell her. To speak words he’d never imagined he would utter.
But not yet.
“How about now?” he asked her, adding a second finger and pumping deliciously in and out of her wet heat.
“Wonderful,” she bit out, flinging her thigh over his and widening her legs.
“Deeper?” he asked slyly, intentionally keeping his strokes just short of the place where he knew she was most sensitive.
She made an incoherent noise of approval, which he translated as a yes, thrusting deep inside her and curling his fingers.
Wetness sluiced down his hand, past his wrist, dampening the impeccable fabric of his coat.
He didn’t give a damn. He would happily shred it and toss it into the streets to be trampled just to please Verity.
“I wish I could get on my knees and worship you as you deserve,” he murmured, lifting his head to study her.
She was beautiful always, but even more so with her creamy skin flushed with passion, her eyes glazed with desire. Her hat was charmingly askew, but otherwise, from the waist up, she was the picture of elegance. Below, she was the picture of debauchery.
He continued his pace, working her with his fingers as she made panting sounds of surrender and was gripping him tightly.
With his thumb, he found her sensitive pearl, teasing it in time to his plunging fingers.
Only then did he take her lips, capturing her moan just in time.
He licked into her mouth as she quaked and shuddered beneath his determined hand.
Her tongue mated with his, the taste of tea and sweetness invading his senses.
When he was satisfied that he had wrung the last of her release from her, he gently withdrew and allowed her skirts to fall over her legs. Breaking the kiss, he held her gaze as he brought his glistening fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean.
The essence of her flooded his tongue.
“Delicious,” he told her as the twin patches of red on her cheeks deepened.
“I hope I wasn’t too rude, angel,” he murmured, feeling wicked, his cock harder than marble.
“I do think that your manners could use some polishing,” she returned with a saucy smile. “Perhaps I could offer you some lessons.”
He nearly groaned aloud at the thought of more such sessions. Discreetly, he adjusted himself as the carriage rolled to a halt.
“You may teach me anything you like, wife,” he promised with a wink.
Life was good.
Perhaps too good. But he intended to enjoy every second of it, just the same.
She stared down at the diamonds glinting up at her from an open tooled-leather case, in awe.
The jeweler had excused himself to a back room, allowing King and Verity privacy to examine the parure he had presented upon their arrival.
Only the two of them were in the shop now, which was a good thing indeed, because she very much feared she would embarrass herself over the extravagance of the jewels nestled in their case.
She didn’t think she had ever seen so many beautiful pieces together at once.
The necklace was set in a collar fashion, with large, faceted diamonds extending outward from delicate gold filaments.
The brooch boasted a massive teardrop diamond suspended from a sun-like cluster of diamonds above.
The earrings and tiara matched perfectly, with more round and pear-shaped diamonds glistening from the delicate gold filigree scrolls that ornamented them.
“What do you think, my love?” King asked.
“I think it is far too dear,” she told him honestly. “Those diamonds must be worth a king’s ransom.”
“But do you like the set?”
“Do I like it? I love it.” She shook her head. “But I already have a necklace from you, and I wear it with pride every day, close to my heart.” Her gloved fingers went instinctively to the golden locket that hung on her bodice. “It is priceless, because it’s from you.”
Something inscrutable shifted in his expression.
He frowned, his gaze dipping to the necklace at her throat. “Nonsense. You are a duchess now, and you cannot forever wear that plain gold locket. I want to see you in diamonds.” His voice lowered, his gaze searing hers. “In nothing but diamonds.”
A rush of yearning went through her. Verity’s awareness was yet heightened from their naughty carriage ride. But that didn’t mean she didn’t long for him again. If anything, it made her desire him more. King was intoxicating.
Still, such an extravagant surprise from him was beyond her ken. Everett was quite wealthy, and she had lived a comfortable life, but she was not accustomed to ostentatious dresses and jewels.
“I thought you preferred me not to wear a necklace when we are making love,” she pointed out quietly, taking care to keep her voice from traveling to the jeweler in the back room.
She had taken to removing her locket each evening because of his repeated requests.
King’s jaw hardened. “In this instance, I shall make an exception.”
“But it is far too costly,” she protested.
The jeweler had refrained from sharing the price of the impressive parure, but she was sure it was a tremendous sum.
“Nothing is too costly when it comes to you, my beautiful wife,” King said fervently, taking her gloved hand in his and lifting it to his lips.
How she wished their hands were bare, that she might feel his skin on hers.
“You are trying to spoil me, I fear.”
“Oh, I intend to spoil you quite thoroughly and at every opportunity I have.” His grin showed off his neat, even teeth.
King was impossible to resist when he plied his legendary charm.
Her heart beat faster, and she couldn’t help but think about their sensual interlude on the carriage ride to the jeweler.
How he had teased and pleasured her until she had all but ruined her drawers.
The glide of his fingers inside her had been expert and knowing, and when he had sucked them clean afterward, she had nearly come a second time.
Her nipples hardened just thinking about it again.
She sighed. “You, sir, are a menace. I do believe you have already spoiled me amply.”
His dark eyes glittered to rival the diamonds, holding untold promise. “I’ve only just begun, angel.”
“I must insist that this is a gift I cannot accept.”
“Of course you can.” He took off his gloves with slow, elegant motions, and Verity was entranced by the revelation of his hands, so large and masculine, hands that were capable of bringing her such unimaginable pleasure.
She had never previously found the act of a man removing his gloves to be erotic, but somehow her husband seemed to make the most mundane and ordinary of acts sensual and rousing. She shifted in her chair, an ache igniting between her thighs.
King took note of her sudden restlessness, a knowing smile playing at the corners of his lips. “Are you not comfortable in your chair? I would be happy to fetch you another.”
The tufted chair arranged before the low, glossy table was quite comfortable. That wasn’t the problem, and her sinful husband knew it.
“The chair is fine.”
“Whatever is the problem, then?” He reached for the velvet ribbon holding her hat in place, methodically untying it.
“There is no problem. Whatever are you doing?”
“Taking off this blasted hat so I can see how lovely you shall look wearing the tiara.”
He was impossibly near, his divine scent teasing her senses. And although she knew the jeweler could reemerge at any moment, Verity found herself wanting to kiss him. His full lips were sensual and well-defined. They fitted against hers perfectly.
He leaned nearer, his warm breath coasting over her mouth. “I do believe this knot is stuck.”
“Stuck? Are you certain?”
“Mmm.” His lips were on hers now, just as she had wished, his agile fingers untangling the knot beneath her chin. “Perhaps this shall do it.”
He kissed her deeply, and she forgot herself, kissing him back as she let go of all restraint and modesty. Their tongues tangled, and she couldn’t stifle a moan until the abrupt thump of something in the back room drew her back to the present and made her tear her mouth from his.
“We shall cause a scandal.”
He winked. “My darling, we are about to buy a king’s ransom in jewels. I do think Mr. Goodner will find it in his best interest to hold his tongue if the Duke of Kingham cannot resist kissing his gorgeous duchess.”
And before she could protest, he kissed her again, deeply and lingeringly. Love for him bubbled up inside her, along with desire. Life at his side would never be tedious or boring. How fortunate she was to be this man’s wife.
His lips didn’t leave hers until a familiar lassitude flooded her, and he finished untying the ribbon, gently removing her jaunty hat with its spray of silk blossoms on the crown.
“There,” he murmured, placing her chapeau on the table. “Now humor me, my love, and wear the tiara.”
She would do anything he asked of her, particularly after those toe-curling kisses.
“Very well,” she acquiesced, holding still as he placed the diamond tiara atop her head.
His eyes traveled over her with naked admiration. “They sparkle even more when you wear them.”
“Impossible.” She shook her head, smiling at his antics. “How can I make them sparkle more?”
He reached behind her and undid the clasp on her locket, removing it with swift ease. “Because you make everything better, angel. Even a disgraceful voluptuary like me.”
His words stole her breath. It took Verity a moment to sufficiently gather her wits to respond.
“Thank you, my love. But you are hardly disgraceful.”
“You see the best in me, and I don’t deserve it.” He laid down her locket and reached for the diamond necklace. “Will you not try this as well?”
She was already wearing the tiara. She supposed it wouldn’t do any harm to try the necklace as well. The diamonds were so large. Surely the piece would be heavy and uncomfortable to wear, in addition to being far too dear.
But no, she found as he fastened the necklace at her nape.
It wasn’t heavy at all. Rather, it was the ideal weight and length.
King reached for a small, carved mirror the jeweler had laid out on the table for their use, along with the parure and its case.
She inhaled swiftly at the sight of herself with the tiara and necklace, the diamonds glinting and lustrous.
“What do you think, angel?” he asked.
“It is lovely,” she admitted.
“You are lovely,” he corrected tenderly. “The diamonds pale in comparison.”
“You are partial. You love me.”
“Yes,” he said, his expression turning seriously and intense. “I do. But yours is a rare beauty, both inside and out.”
A warm flush stole over her at his affirmation, her heart feeling as if it had grown thrice its size. He never failed to make her feel cherished and special, as if she were the only woman in the world who mattered to him.
“You shall make me turn into a watering pot,” she said past a lump of emotion that had presented itself in her throat.
“We cannot have that. You are meant to enjoy your surprise, not weep over it.”
Lightly, she trailed her fingers over the delicate work of the gold and diamonds at her throat. “You cannot mean to buy me this entire set.”
He grinned. “Watch me, my love.”
He cleared his throat, and Mr. Goodner emerged from the back room as if on cue. “What does Her Grace think of the parure?” the jeweler asked with a hopeful air.
“It is truly beautiful,” she said, unable to keep the admiration from her voice.
The pieces were indeed unique and carefully designed. But she wasn’t accustomed to such lavish jewelry. She most certainly didn’t expect it. If, however, King truly was intent upon gifting her with it, disappointing him would prove difficult indeed.
“Does she not look as if the necklace and tiara were made for her?” King asked. “We shall be happy to buy the parure. And, naturally, anything else that interests Her Grace as well. Particularly sapphires to match her eyes.”
“Very good, Your Grace.” Mr. Goodner bowed, looking well pleased. “I believe I may have a sapphire piece that would be of interest.”
The jeweler moved to a case and unlocked it, drawing forth more of his wares for her examination. Verity shot a pointed look in King’s direction, for she didn’t wish to gainsay her husband before Mr. Goodner. But good heavens, the entire diamond set and sapphires as well?
It would be far more than a king’s ransom.
But King just flashed her his devil-may-care grin. “You’re worth any price, angel.”