Chapter 5
Bailey tried not to squeeze Duke’s hand as he led the way to his home.
He released her to open the front door. He held the overnight bag she’d nervously packed.
When he’d picked her up for her date earlier, he’d spotted her holding the bag but hadn’t made any mention of it.
Instead, he took it, kissed her in greeting then guided her to his truck.
They’d just made it back from the diner having dinner.
Another major step in their relationship.
It was the first date that they’d had in town.
Before now, her fear had been other people scrutinizing her and putting her under the microscope that they had for as long as she could remember.
So they’d always gone a town or three over for their dates.
But after he’d shared his story with her last week it gave her the comfort level to be seen with him in a town that was well aware of the fact that they were dating.
Duke had seemed to know just how important of a step this was for her because he’d huddled close to her. But there hadn’t been any rude comments or uncomfortable stares. Halfway during dinner she’d finally relaxed.
But it hadn’t been until they’d been walking down the main street hand-in-hand while they enjoyed ice cream cones that she realized things had changed and she was ready for the next step in their relationship.
Still, as she stepped over the threshold to enter his home, it didn’t mean that she wasn’t anxious. Duke seemed to notice it.
After he closed the door, he turned to face her.
“I’m going to put your bag in the guest bedroom. My invite for you to stay the night was not meant to pressure you for sex. It was so I wouldn’t worry about you being on a country road late at night by yourself.”
She placed a hand on his chest. Right on top of the spot where she knew the scar was.
“I’m ready,” she stated softly.
He studied her silently for several minutes before grabbing her hand. She followed him silently down the hallway not stopping until they stepped inside his room. It was apparent that it was his because it had a masculine feel and it smelled like it.
There was more space than she’d expected, even with the large bed dominating it. She tried not to stare at it for too long, instead, taking in the rest of the items in the room.
“Do you need anything from your bag?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. Not right now.”
He carried it over to an oversized chair sitting near a large window. The blinds were closed but she knew that in the daytime, it was probably a perfect spot to sit and read or to just sit and relax.
“Are you sure about this?” Duke asked as he moved closer to her.
“Yes,” she replied and she stepped toward him.
Hoping that despite her nervousness it would be a sign that she didn’t plan to change her mind. She wanted this even as blood pounded in her ears and her heart thudded heavily against her ribs.
“I didn’t realize how much I was looking forward to this moment until now,” Duke continued. His scorching gaze travelled over her leisurely and she quivered in response.
“You are perfect in so many ways,” he mumbled and reached out to brush a strand of hair out of her face. “The wicked things you make me want to do you don’t matter.”
“There are things that I want to do to you, too,” she admitted, gasping as his fingertips stroked her cheek. Lightning bolts of heat raced through her body. “Lots,” she murmured.
“I can’t wait to see what they are,” he stated quietly.
“Taking our time.” She tilted her head back to keep her gaze up at him. “Right?”
“Yes. We go as slow as you need to.”
She inhaled deeply, shakily, dragging his masculine scent into her lungs.
“Duke,” she mumbled, “I don’t want to go slow.”
“Then we won’t,” he responded as he lowered his mouth to hers.
She placed her hands on his shoulders, pulling him closer. Her lips parted for him and her tongue met his in a passionate duel. In an untamed, frantic joining, their mouth mated, breath merging, tongues delving, stroking.
Bailey pressed into him, rubbing her stiff nipples across his firm chest. She inhaled sharply as one of Duke’s hands deftly undid the clasp on her jeans before sliding the zipper down.
He slid underneath the waistband of her jeans.
His fingertips lifted the band of her panties and his hand slipped lower, to rub her bare bottom.
She arched into him and felt his body, already rigid and ready.
Eagerly, ravenously, his tongue moved in and out of her mouth, tasting, touching.
This wasn’t a gentle, loving kiss. This was feral.
An unfathomable, inherent need that required completion.
He sealed his mouth to hers as if attempting to steal her breath for his own.
She met his insistence with an untamed, overpowering hunger that promised to leave her curled up on the floor.
When he finally pulled his mouth away from hers, Bailey almost whimpered at the loss.
But a heartbeat later, he was pulling her shirt up and over her head and she was helping him.
It hadn’t touched the ground before he also removed her bra.
His hands cupped her breasts and his thumbs softly caressed the firm, sensitive tips of her nipples.
She moaned in the back of her throat and began fumbling with the buttons on his shirt, tugging it free of his jeans.
In as desperate a state as she was, Duke let her go long enough to unbutton a few of the top buttons then pulled the shirt over his head and toss it to the floor.
Then he reached for her again and drew her tight against him.
Skin to skin, heat to heat, the intensity already running so rampant between them that it exploded into a firestorm of desire.
She lowered her face into the crook of his neck and licked the skin there.
In response, he swept her up into his arms, took the rest of the steps toward the bed, and placed her onto it.
Then he lowered himself to the bed, taking her with him, all the while caressing and touching every inch of her body.
She clutched his shoulder, basking in the feel of his firm flesh beneath her hands. Hot, sturdy, his tanned chest had a definition she wanted to trace with her tongue.
“Bailey,” he murmured before bending his head to take one of her nipples into his mouth. His lips and teeth nibbled at the tender skin until she was twisting beneath him, powerlessly caught in the next of passion they had unseeingly fallen headfirst into.
Bailey clasped the back of his head, her fingers clutching strands of his hair. She felt his hand slide down her body to tug her jeans and panties off and she raised her hips to assist him.
“Please, Duke,” she begged in a tormented tone.
“Now. I need you inside me, Duke. I want...” Her voice trailed off.
How could she begin to tell him what she wanted when she barely comprehended it herself?
This was more than lust. More than untamed passion.
Something deep inside of her was aching to be with him.
To feel the sensation of his body sliding into hers.
She had never known such need, such mindless hunger before.
It both frightened and thrilled her.
“Soon, sweetheart,” he promised and moved away from her, despite the moan of protest she emitted.
Before she could find the words to explain her disappointment, he had rid not only her of her clothes but his as well.
Then he was back over her, kneeling between her thighs, stroking the flesh of her bottom with his masculine hands.
She writhed within his hold, reaching for him.
“Duke,” she murmured. “Please Duke, now.”
“Your wish is my command,” he stated in a low tone. “But first...”
She bit back words of protest as his mouth covered her breast and suckled her tender nipple. She grasped his torso with her thighs, urging him on. She wanted him so much. Too much.
His lips grazed her belly, sending tremors of delight along her skin. She arched her hips and moaned when his mouth rested against her already pulsing center.
Honeyed and hot, Duke tasted her desire.
She bucked wildly, thrusting her sex against his mouth.
He flicked his tongue over her clit until it budded and Bailey raised her hips high, demanding release.
Closing his lips over her, he suckled, drawing on her needy clit.
She tensed beneath his lips, her legs trembled as she came.
Duke eased his tongue between her quivering folds to taste the hot nectar of her climax.
Her thighs relaxed and Duke lapped one last time at her sweetness as she lowered her hips.
“Now,” he rasped, “I’ll give you what you want.”