Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
“ G ive it back!”
Frederick dodged Eleanor’s attempt to seize the book back from her, putting some distance between them as his hands held the pages open.
“Your Grace! Please don’t!” She begged desperately, stepping towards him with flushed cheeks and her heart hammering heavily in her chest.
Frederick looked up at her his dark gaze rendering her feet unwilling to move any further as he ordered lowly,
“Behave, wife.”
She felt compelled to obey, stuck to that spot as he continued to read what she had been trying to learn from. Time seemed to drag on forever, passing at an excruciating pace, and it felt like a lifetime had gone by when he eventually raised his gaze to meet hers once more.
Almost instantly, shivers ran down her spine and she sank her teeth into her lower lip, throat drying up as her husband walked back to her.
He held the book up, his eyes scanning the pages as he spoke,
“And then, he laid her down on her back, his hands tugging at her clothes, exposing her skin to his touch –”
Pure horror filled her veins as she realized he was reading from the book and she attempted to grab it from his grasp, letting out a frustrated huff when he smoothly pulled it out of her reach.
“Please,” Eleanor gasped desperately. “I have never asked you for anything before – and I likely never will – but I am begging you, stop this.”
“I’d rather you beg for something else,” Frederick muttered conspiratorially, before continuing to do what he did best – get on her last nerve. “And then, he licked at her dripping center, setting her insides ablaze with flames of lust and passion – all right, I can barely stomach such exposition myself.”
As he lowered the book, Eleanor sighed in relief, unable to keep herself from complaining “How do you suppose I feel? I asked you to stop – several times.”
He ignored her complaint as he regarded her with a strange look in his eye that had her embarrassment returning tenfold. Her heart resumed its thunderous beating and she nearly failed to hear the words he spoke next.
“You should know that words in a book cannot compare to experiencing it in real life.” He said with a raised eyebrow.
“I do not know why you would expect that, but I do not –”
Eleanor gasped audibly when Frederick’s fingers curled around her chin and he tilted her head back so she could meet her eyes.
"Though I might not have touched you, surely you’ve had a lover. A woman as beautiful as you would have had no problem luring a gentleman she desired to her bed.” He added matter of factly.
Heat rushed to Eleanor's cheeks and she brushed away Frederick's hand, vexed that he had expected her to take a lover in his absence – although he did not recall he had told her to take one or more before he left her.
“No. I did not have a lover.”
The Duke stared at her, eyes wide with surprise.
“You must have. I was gone for a year. That is a long time for a woman to stay and wait – all the while unsure if her husband would ever return.”
“I do not appreciate how you expect promiscuity to come so easily to me,” Eleanor tutted, fuming. “I did not take a lover, Your Grace. I did not have time nor interest in such frivolities.”
"I highly doubt that duchess," Frederick pushed further, reaching out to tug Eleanor closer by her hand. "You could have relegated your duties to your underlings. I know you understand the power of your title, do not pretend not to. And you cannot tell me that you never felt the need to be… embraced. Your current situation has exposed your curiosity. This merely begs the question; why have you not pursued your desires?"
His grip was firm and his touch felt too warm against her skin, and she fought against the shivers threatening to overwhelm her.
"I did not need to. My duties mattered the most to me above all else and although my husband thought little of our vows, I did not. I swore an oath, before God and my parents. I was not going to tarnish it for a few moments of pleasure." She managed to state, eyes narrowed in annoyance.
Frederick had a habit of studying her silently, his gaze heavy as it settled upon her thoughtfully and she always found herself become nervous as she waited for him to share his thoughts.
“I think,” he started, his tongue darting out briefly to lick over his lower lip. “You merely need to experience a few ‘ moments of pleasure’ yourself. Just so you are well informed about what it entails. Books barely scratch the surface of what the right touch can do.”
Eleanor swallowed with difficulty, suddenly aware of his thumb stroking her wrist gently, the light ministrations eating away at the thoughts in her head.
“I do not know what you mean –”
“I can show you. Would you like me to?”
It felt as though the world slowed to a stop. For some reason, Eleanor’s tongue felt heavy in her mouth at the thought of immediately refusing him.
She thought of the quiet yearning slowly taking over her days, thought of how his touches had her silently asking for more at every chance she got.
And although she had come to the library seeking answers, she was being offered a different sort now and it certainly piqued more than her interest.
Eleanor’s silent hesitation apparently spoke in volumes, because Frederick urged seriously.
“I need you to say it, Eleanor. Tell me that you want this, because I do not want to break one of your rules.”
It was the first time he had called her by her name, and the gruff tone of his voice made her heart quake dangerously. The simple act seemed to push her over the edge and she heard herself say,
“Yes. Show me. Please.”
The corners of Frederick’s lips twitched and he pulled her closer, his lips pressing firmly against her in a firm kiss.
A chill ran down her spine as his hands caressed up and down her body, as though he was learning each and every curve and dip of her flesh. She gasped as Frederick groped her behind and he took advantage of her reaction and slipped his tongue into her mouth.
She whined and he tightened his grip on her, not relenting in the slightest as he continued to kiss her deeply, their mouths moving in a heated frenzy.
Eleanor clung to him desperately, her knees weak as he continued to run his hands all over her, her skin burning beneath his deliberate touch. She had assumed that there would be an end to how much she could want something so… crude. But it seemed that by giving in to her wants, she had fallen into a trap that was determined to see her completely undone.
“P-Please,” she begged as his lips left a blazing trail of kisses along her jaw and down her neck. “Please, Frederick.”
His name tasted like a prayer on her tongue and he seemed to listen, his lips returning to hers feverishly as he lifted her into his arms, ignoring her startled scream as he carried her in the direction of a couch. It seemed to be kept in a secluded alcove, and as soon as he had dropped her onto the soft cushions, his body was pressing against hers again. She ran her hands over his arms, sighing into his mouth as the firm muscles rippled and tensed up beneath her touch.
“You are,” he grunted as he sank his teeth into a soft spot at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. “So incredibly beautiful. I knew you were, from the moment I laid my eyes on you. Absolutely remarkable.”
Frederick speaking the words over her skin made her body tingle and she tightened her grip on his shoulders.
“Perhaps I should prove to you that books can only offer you so much excitement. Let me show you precisely what the heroine of that book has been fortunate to enjoy within the company of her lover.” Frederick grinned.
And then slowly, he tugged at the knotted connection of the straps of her dressing gown, humming appreciatively as he pushed back the fabric to reveal the soft fair skin. Eleanor threw her head back as he settled between her legs, still leaving lingering kisses over her skin as his hand slipped beneath her nightgown.
Frederick pushed her thighs even further apart, looking like he belonged right there. Eleanor felt the breath leave her lungs and she wanted to arch into his touch but he shushed her.
“Patience, Eleanor. Good things take time,” he muttered, trailing his fingers over the insides of her thighs, smirking at how she seemed to come a little more undone with each passing second.
Eleanor wanted to beg. She had never felt this way before, completely overcome with wanting satisfaction only this man could give her.
It was infuriating, how willing she was to do anything he would ask of her there and then – anything that would get him to give her the release her body craved.
“How did it go again? In the book?” Frederick whispered, leaning forward to press his lips against hers lightly. “I believe he tugged up her skirts to expose her to himself.”
As he spoke, his fingertips clutched onto her nightgown, pulling up the light, smooth fabric slowly. Eleanor felt the heat that was already threatening to consume her increase in intensity, filling her face and bathing her neck and chest in a deep red flush.
“Then, he dropped down to taste her. Do I have that correctly?” he asked, staring up at her.
“I-I don’t know –”
“That’s all right,” Frederick assured, his tone low as he adjusted himself to settle on the chaise, between her legs, his head hovering against her hips. “I remember enough to give you what I promised.”
And then he dipped his face low and licked at her center.
Immediately, Eleanor’s legs came together in an effort to close, as she threw her head back with a breathy gasp.
Frederick exhaled, his breath on her sink supplying a moment of ticklishness, before she was pushed to the edge again as his tongue pressed into her wet folds. It stroked her and lapped at her wetness as if her husband could not get enough of the taste of her.
Eleanor did not remember putting her hand on his head, only coming to her senses as she realized her fist had closed around something soft. Only for her to find locks of his hair trapped beneath her fingers as a moan ripped out of her throat.
“F-Frederick – Frederick, please –”
“I like it when you beg,” Frederick grinned cheekily, raising his head for a moment, his gaze locked on hers as he licked his lips. "It gives me so many ideas for the unspeakable things I wish to put you through. I would not recommend giving a man like me too many ideas. My current situation affords me a lot of free time, after all.”
Scarcely had his words sank into her mind when he returned to his mission at hand, his mouth and tongue working at her incessantly.
Eleanor's grip on his hair tightened, her other hand coming up to press over her mouth, trying to stifle a scream as his tongue lashed deeper into her.
It was outrageous how good Frederick looked as he delivered on his promise, his lashes fluttering against his cheeks as he worked at her center. His brows came together in a concentrating own, clearly focused on the task at her.
It had struck her suddenly, the urge to cower in the face of his unwavering certainty and confidence, consumed by how she felt.
“Do not hold back your sounds, wife,” Frederick tutted, pulling back just as a weight within her stomach tightened slightly.
Eleanor began to shake her head, gasping as his hands that had been keeping her legs open for him tightened their grip on the flesh of her thigh, his fingers pressing into her skin in an almost bruising grip.
“Do not be naughty,” he said to her coyly, returning his face to where it had been, mouthing at her eagerly.
Eleanor could barely focus on her commitment to be silent she had tried to hold up on her own. Not when she felt so… good, helpless beneath his tight grip and ministrations of his tongue.
The pressure began to build within her again, pulling her farther down the abyss of pleasure as she moaned his name, lost from the world as his tongue circled her drenched bud. That caused her hip to jerk up suddenly, as she barely kept herself from grinding down on his tongue.
It seems her reaction pleased him greatly, because he repeated the action, sucking on her fiercely as his hands held her in place for him. Frederick's grip did not let up, despite her writhing and moaning, keeping her just as he needed her to remain, while he sampled the taste of her.
Eleanor's limit was met when he curved his tongue upward within her and she stiffened in his grasp, gasping his name in a long, drawn-out inhale. Frederick held her through it, waiting until she had settled down from it to kiss her, sharing the scent and taste of herself with her.
The duchess melted into his arms, her mind devoid of any thought that did not pertain to how warm and sated she felt.
“That was better than any book, no?” Frederick queried, his tone low as he sat back on his foot, licking his lips as he wiped away the mix of moisture that had gathered on his chin.
Dazed and drained, Eleanor nodded, her eye feeling far too tired to remain open.
"Good. Moving forward, do not settle for fiction to satisfy your desires. Always seek out the real thing if possible, so you will have no regrets about the opportunities you never took," he said, pulling down Eleanor's nightgown to cover her once more.
Silently, she nodded once more and he gave her a look of mild bewilderment.
"If I'd known pleasure was all you needed to not fight me at every chance you got, I would have offered my expertise sooner," he chuckled lowly, lifting her into his arms.
“W-What are you –?” she scrambled to wrap her arms around his shoulders.
“You look as though you are on the verge of falling asleep. And while leaving you there might be less exhausting, I do not like the idea of anyone else setting their sights on you like this.” Frederick simply stated, maneuvering the hallways expertly.
She had thought of directing him to her room, but ultimately fell asleep before long, unable to resist the peaceful and warm lull of his embrace.