Chapter Nine
Later that night
Evangeline sighed in her sleep.
In the place somewhere between slumber and being fully conscious, vestiges of the most delicious dream still held her in its embrace. She’d been naked and her new husband was doing very naughty things to her. It was so realistic her body, even now, responded as if it were truly happening.
When the cooler, ambient temperature wafted over her skin and a sensation of wetness made itself known between her thighs, she came fully awake with a gasp.
As the realization that she was truly naked instead of dreaming about it—well, almost naked, for her pale blue nightdress had been torn down the middle—she popped her eyes open only to meet the tawny gaze of the duke, who peered back with a wicked expression as he knelt between her splayed legs, bent at the knees.
Why can’t I move my arms?
While her heartbeat accelerated and knots of worry tugged in her belly, she moved her head to find that her wrists had been secured to one of the bed posts by a length of cravat silk. Gooseflesh rippled over her skin, for she’d been restrained and her body was more or less bared for his perusal.
“What are you doing?” Clearly, he’d had his face buried between her thighs, for throbbing need still circled through her passage from her interruption.
Honestly, she should feel at least fear from this latest episode of high-handedness or at the very least annoyance for invading her privacy like this when she’d been asleep and vulnerable, but a shiver of anticipation went through her body, and the knowledge of what he was doing spiked her arousal.
“I am in the process of pleasuring my wife.” Clad only in his evening breeches, Evangeline wished there were candles lit in the room, for she wanted to study his bare chest, shoulders, and back. She suspected there was a wealth of stories in the scars and his sculpted form.
“While I wasn’t conscious?” She tugged at her restraints, but the duke had done his job far too well. They didn’t slip and they weren’t loose.
“It was an opportune time, for I’d come into your suite when the clock struck eleven, and you proved such a great temptation, I couldn’t help myself.”
“So you thought to consummate our union even though you did that earlier today?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
He gave her a half grin that didn’t reach his eyes, and she certainly couldn’t read his expression in the dark bedchamber. “Because I can.”
“But…” Another knot tugged in her belly when he brought another length of silk toward him from where it rested on the bed. “What do you mean to do with that?”
“Blindfold you. It will heighten your other senses.” The dratted man drew the silk down her body, and the glide of the cool fabric over her taut nipples was indescribable. “Did Marklesfield ever restrain you?”
“He did not. When we coupled, he never gave thought to my pleasure.”
“Arse.” The duke shook his head. His eyes glittered. “If at any time our play grows too intense, if you feel uncomfortable or aren’t enjoying what I do to you, tell me and I’ll immediately leave off.”
She nodded. This was all very mysterious and concerning. Had she made a mistake in marrying him now that she was discovering those rumors were true? “You won’t hurt me?”
“No, I won’t hurt you, but there will be copious amounts of play before I claim your body.”
“All right.” Evangeline’s breathing quickened.
“Though I’m curious, I am a bit fearful.
Marklesfield’s favorite thing to do after coupling was to beat me…
” Fear twisted down her spine. Would he prove a monster as well?
Already, he’d shown the power he wielded.
“I need to know we didn’t make a mistake in wedding. ”
“Ah, Evvie, put that thought from your mind, but I won’t hurt you.”
“What should I do?” Again, she tested the restraints. They didn’t give.
“Guide me with your voice and reactions. Whatever you need from me, I shall endeavor to give it to you.”
The caring attitude was much different than what she’d previously had from him. Flutters scudded through her lower belly as rain drummed against the windows. “What now?” Already, her nipples were hard from arousal and anticipation.
“Everything I do tonight is for your pleasure. I won’t stop until you tell me.”
Wouldn’t stop what? “Different from what you have already done to me?” Truly, she didn’t understand the world he inhabited, but she was willing to learn if only to understand him better. The large bulge at the front of his breeches served as a testament to his anticipation as well.
“Very different, and hopefully, you’ll enjoy it, perhaps even crave it.” When she tugged at her wrist restraints, he chuckled. “You are all too delicious with your body on display.”
Heat filled her cheeks. “Too old for the likes of the ton, I’ll wager.”
“Society is full of dreck. If I didn’t want you, I wouldn’t have married you.” The dratted man drifted a knuckle over a turgid tip, chuckled when she gasped.
The anticipation of it buzzed at the base of her spine, left gooseflesh on her skin while Darkemore removed the remainder of his clothing.
As his breeches fell to the floor, his engorged member bobbed in front of him.
“I want you needy and desperate, and I want to hear you scream.” Then he joined her on the bed, kneeling to one side of her legs.
With her mind tumbling over possibilities, Evangeline tugged at her bonds.
The fact he’d done his job all too well had excitement dancing down her spine.
She shivered as a gust of cool air blew into the room.
When had he pushed the window glass slightly opened?
“I must ask that you remain faithful to me, regardless of how our union began.” Would he go on to break their marriage bonds before they were ever tested?
“Before you, there hasn’t been a woman in my bed for a good year, but why would I stray when you are fitted up like this for me with anticipation in your eyes?” As he spoke, he caressed his fingertips along her flesh. “I want you gasping, hovering on the edge before I allow you release.”
“You have already done that.”
“Perhaps, but I’m selfish and want more.” While he spoke, he leaned over her, fitted the cravat silk about her head, and tied it behind. “Can you see me?”
“No.” That one word answer was breathless. Knowing that she wouldn’t see what he was about to do left her trembling.
“Good.” The duke gave her legs the lightest of caresses, as if the tips of his fingers weren’t quite touching her skin. “Why did Marklesfield squander his time with you?”
“Who can say? He was selfish and a horror.” She didn’t wish to remember.
“Mmm.” Over and over, he drew the fingers of both hands up and down her legs. First the outside then the inside. As her thighs trembled, he repeated the circuit. “How did he make his income?”
“The usual ways, I suppose. He never shared anything financial or business related with me.” Evangeline tugged at her bonds, for every trail of his fingers ignited tiny fires in her blood.
“Why do you insist on teasing?” And why was he so curious about her first husband?
Breathless, her heartbeat accelerated the more his fingers explored as he traced them along the inside of her thighs.
Higher and higher he went, his knuckles brushing the curls shrouding her sex.
Dear heavens, she needed him to touch her throbbing flesh!
“That is part of the fun, and anticipation will ensure your release is spectacular.” His voice was soft and soothing yet worked to heighten her awareness. “What of Marklesfield’s friends? Were they as horrid as he?”
“I would imagine they shared his tastes, but he never allowed me near them.”
The duke made a sound that was reminiscent of a low growl. “In this, I quite agree, but you are mine now. He is in your past.”
“I hope he remains there.”
“How long was he friends with Echerson?”
Why did he want to know, and now? She tugged on the restraints. “A few years. They met at a club, I think.”
“Did your husband ever give him coin or funding for various endeavors?”
“I couldn’t say.”
For long moments, he continued to caress her skin. Then, “Where do you want me to touch you, Evvie?”
Where didn’t she? “Everywhere.” At least it wasn’t a lie. If it made her desperate, so be it, but he was already so different than Marklesfield. It was almost drugging.
When he leaned over her, his hardened length brushed her belly. “Tonight, we will not force anything. I merely wish to discover what you like, and how I can exploit that to send you flying.” Those talented fingers of his trailed along her torso, and she gasped, tugged on her restraints.
Around and around the globes of her breasts he drew his fingers. No centimeter of skin was overlooked. Closer and closer those circles grew to her straining nipples, but he never once touched him. “Michael…”
“Since we are just beginning, you will need to summon patience.” When he leaned further over her, the sprinkling of coarse hair on his chest brushed her nipples but only provided a modicum of relief.
He kissed her, claimed her lips, and all the while, the tip of his engorged length trailed along her belly.
Imagining that appendage moving within her was enough to see her undone.
Her breathing quickened. “I need your hands on me.”
“Oh, I’m well aware of that, but do not think to order me. I am in control of this seduction.”
“Why do you wish for such control?” He was a man of so many secrets she didn’t know where to start.
“Suffice it to say, there are many aspects of my life that are beyond my control, so I’ll take it wherever I can.
” Then he lifted off her form, and she uttered a protest. “Using restraints isn’t to get you off immediately, but to draw out the teasing and enhance it until you can no longer stand it. ”
“Why?”