Chapter 4
Grace
The room temperature is perfect but goosebumps prick my skin at the sound of Duke’s command. I watch him watching me and try not to let my nerves show as I let go of the front of my dress. It hangs around my waist as I tug on the side zipper.
My dress pools at my feet and I flick it away as Duke’s gaze travels down my body then up again. He stares at my bra, this command a silent one. I can do this. I want this. I want him, I tell myself as I unhook my bra and drop it on top of my dress. I’m left in just my thong and my strappy heels.
Duke sucks in a breath. “I thought you looked beautiful in that dress,” he says. He rubs a hand across his face. “But out of it? Damn it, you’re perfection.”
My face twists. He can’t mean it, but the scowl he directs my way has me clamping my mouth shut before I can dismiss the compliment.
I quirk an eyebrow. Fine. For one night only I’ll pretend to be the goddess he wants me to believe I am.
I take hold of the sides of my thong, but I wait for his instruction.
“Drop them. I want to see how wet you are for me.”
I’m biting down on my lip as I bend forward and wriggle out of the thong. After untangling it from my feet, I start to unbuckle one of my shoe straps.
“No, Angel,” Duke says as his shadow looms over me. “That’s my job.”
As I straighten up, he takes hold of my hand.
He kisses my fingers, my wrist, my shoulder, my jaw, and finally, my mouth.
It’s all too brief because he gets down on his knees.
Ignoring my shoes for now, he parts my thighs to widen my stance.
He holds my gaze as his mouth moves closer to my center.
I watch in a daze as he pokes out his tongue and makes one long sweep along my slit.
“Oh, fuck,” I grunt out as a jolt of pleasure makes my body jerk violently.
Duke takes it as encouragement and does it again. And again. His chin glistens with my juices as he pulls back to savor my expression. “How long have you been dripping for me?”
I huff out an embarrassed laugh. “When you leant on the bar and said thoroughly, I’m pretty sure I was ready to dissolve into a puddle.”
“It took you that long?” he chides. “I’ve been dreaming of tasting you ever since I got close enough for you to elbow me.” He lathes me again with his tongue. “Step wider. I need to eat you.”
I don’t move immediately. “I’ve never had anyone…”
Duke’s eyes narrow. “Wider.”
When I shuffle my feet, Duke wraps his arms around my legs and slides his hands between my thighs to pull them apart.
His mouth is on me again and with each long, sweeping stroke of his tongue, tingles run up and down my spine.
He groans against me and the vibration turns my insides molten, but it’s when his mouth seals over my clit that I feel an intense charge of pleasure that has my hips bucking.
It’s a sensation that’s completely alien to me. And it’s glorious.
I hold onto Duke’s head to keep my balance as roiling waves of pleasure sweep over me. His hair is little more than bristles, but it’s surprisingly tactile. I drag my fingers over the contours of his scalp, my thumb brushing over uneven patches of puckered skin. How did he get those scars?
Duke pulls back and with a final swipe of his tongue, he moves his attention to my feet. He unbuckles one strap and holds my leg as he slips off my shoe. He rubs my foot before doing the same with the other.
“I never imagined someone rubbing my feet would feel so good,” I groan. Duke sits back on his heels and gives me a puzzled look, forcing me to explain. I shrug. “It’s just another thing a man’s never done for me.”
“Fuck. You’re making me regret not slamming your husband’s face into the bar,” Duke replies. “Now go lie on the bed, Grace. We have work to do.”
Duke stays on his knees as I slip past him and make my way to the bed. My legs tremble as much from what he’s already done as it is from what’s coming next. Shit. What’s coming next is me. Assuming I can…
Duke follows my every move as I crawl to the center of the mattress and draw my knees up to my chest. When I wrap my arms around my legs, I give him a curious look. “Don’t you think it’s time you got naked too?”
Duke gets to his feet and as he approaches the foot of the bed, he’s already unbuttoning his shirt.
He tugs it off his shoulders and my pupils blow.
His body is a landscape of hard planes and smooth valleys that ripple as his muscles clench and unclench.
My stomach clenches too when he unbuckles his belt and slides it slowly through the loops of his pants.
He undoes the button on his pants, but he leaves the zipper and digs his hand into a pocket.
A moment later, a handful of condoms scatter next to me across the comforter.
My mouth makes the perfect ‘O’ shape. I’d seen Duke put something in his pocket after he’d gone to answer the door. “Did Calder Moncrief give you those?” Because I can’t mention a Moncrief without giving them their full title.
“My b–” He huffs out a sigh like he can’t believe it either. “My boss likes to look out for my welfare,” he admits. “But enough talk about him. It’s just me and you in this room.”
He tugs down his zipper and pulls down his pants and his boxers in one quick movement.
He works fast, removing shoes and socks until he’s completely stripped.
I only get a good look at his cock as he’s crawling towards me, and my god, it’s big in both girth and length.
It’s also rock hard and the crown glistens with precum. I swear it’s winking at me.
“Stop gawking and open those fucking legs,” Duke growls.
I unravel myself and Duke grabs my legs and pulls me to him. When I fall back onto the bed, he takes hold of my knees and spreads me wide. I lift my head from the mattress to find him staring at my throbbing pussy. He glances up. “Are you ready to come for me, Angel?”
“I’ll try.”
Duke tips his head to the side, brow furrowed. “You’ll try?”
“Yeah.” I bite my lip. “I don’t know if I can. I’ve never–”
One blink and his eyes grow cold, immediately silencing me.
“Damn it, Grace,” he says, surprisingly softly.
“It’s a fucking crime that no man has ever treated you the way you deserve.
We’re going to have to draw up a list of all the ways I’m going to make you scream my name.
And top of that list is me worshipping your sweet pussy with my tongue until you come so hard you’ll never settle for faking an orgasm again.
” To deliver the message home, he drags the flat of his tongue slowly from my entrance to my clit.
His breath is warm on my sensitive skin when he adds. “Ready?”
No. Not at all. I flatten my lips and manage a nod.
“Eyes on me,” he says as he rests my legs on his broad shoulders.
I make a keening sound as his lips seal around my clit and he draws figures of eight with his tongue. Flutters travel up from my swollen bundle of nerves and coil at my center, pulling so tight that my back bows.
With his mouth still on me, Duke slides a finger inside me, quickly followed by another. The combination of sucking and pumping has me grinding against his face. And all the while, he watches me pant through the pleasure.
The pressure comes in waves, taking me higher each time Duke thrusts into me. His fingers curl, his hand moves faster, and his tongue works my clit.
“Oh, god, Duke,” I whisper as my hips buck and I chase my orgasm.
I’m almost there. Almost. Squeezing my eyes shut, I concentrate harder.
I chase it and chase it, but my release remains stubbornly out of reach.
It’s like I’ve been dropped into one of those nightmares where the faster I run, the further I am from the exit.
The tension coiling inside me is unbearable but relief won’t come. I won’t come.
I take a deep breath and swallow back a sob. “I can’t… I can’t get there.”
Duke slows his movements and he withdraws his fingers. He doesn’t say anything until he’s lying on the mattress next to me. He cups my cheek and strokes my face with his thumb. He keeps stroking until I open my eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” I say, my vision blurred with tears. “Maybe it’s been a me problem all along. I guess my body’s too used to my fingers and my trusty vibrator.”
“And being alone,” he suggests as his jaw feathers.
“Yeah, that too,” I agree. “But it doesn’t mean we can’t carry on. If you still want to. I just don’t want to fake it with you.”
My stomach drops when Duke rolls away from me and climbs off the bed. He notices my falling expression. “I’m not finished with you yet, Angel,” he says reading my mind. “I’m just formulating a plan.”
My heart stutters. “What kind of plan?” I ask as he lifts a freestanding mirror in a heavy mahogany frame. He carries it to the foot of the bed as if it weighs nothing.
“Have you ever tried reverse cowgirl?” he says as he sits on the bed facing the mirror. He’s looking at me in the reflection when he adds, “Or is that something else we need to add to your list?”
“Me on top facing away from you,” I say as I crawl around him. “I know the theory.”
He chuckles as he stretches back across the mattress to reach a condom. I press my hand to his chest and he follows my cue and drops back onto his elbows. He watches as I wrap my fist around his cock and circle the crown with my tongue, spreading the salty precum over the tip.
“I’d hazard a guess that sucking a guy off is something you have done before,” Duke says gruffly. When I nod, he slips his hand under my chin and lifts my head before my lips can wrap around his cock. “Then it doesn’t make the list tonight.”
I try to quell my nerves as I wait for Duke to roll on the condom. He’s determined to make me come and I don’t want to disappoint him. It takes a moment before I realize he’s watching me.
“Come here and fuck me, Grace,” he says softly. “Use me.”