He sensed her hesitation, but with a gentle pinching of her nipple and the movement of his own fingers over hers, she released her final inhibitions and began to stroke herself, using him for guidance.
Colin closed his eyes to relish the feel of her arousing herself as he held her against him, urging her ever deeper into the moist recesses of her femininity. Her wetness coated them both as she began to make small circles over the tiny nub of her pleasure. He followed her lead, then backed up enough to allow his engorged erection to fall into the crease of her bottom before pressing into her again and resting his lips on her neck.
Her breathing grew rapid, as did his, and when she finally began to moan and gently move her hips in rhythm, when she stopped caressing his knuckles at her breast to concentrate on the feel of their fingers intermingled between her legs, he sensed her impending release. Taking her hand again, he slowly pulled her away, easing the pleasure building at the center of her, making her whimper in blissful agony.
He felt her tremble as he lifted her hand, turned it over her shoulder, and brought two of her wet fingers to his mouth, drawing them in, sucking as his own moan escaped him.
Her breath caught in her chest; she tightened her grip on the hand he still held at her breast, and an urgency he hadn’t felt before ripped through him as he suddenly neared his own climax from only her scent, her taste, her arousal, and endless desire to please him.
That thought in mind, he could no longer stand the wait to take her. In one swift action, he let her go, moved around her and yanked the coverlet and sheets down to the foot of the bed. Then, placing his hands on her hips, he silently urged her face down onto the mattress. She complied, spreading her legs a little, resting her cheek against the sheet, her eyes closed, face flushed as her beautiful hair splayed out behind her over the pillow.
He marveled at the graceful splendor of her backside, her delicate, perfect curves and smooth, glowing skin, the slightly defined muscles of her legs and arms. Then he briefly knelt at the edge of the bed and placed his face between her thighs, inhaling her scent, then drawing his tongue once, very slowly, up her cleft.
She gasped and he felt her tense. Quickly, he climbed onto the bed and gingerly turned her over to face him at last.
She kept her eyes closed, licking her lips as she stretched out beneath him across the sheet.
“Look at me,” he murmured, his voice low and tight.
Her lashes flickered up and she gazed at him with longing, with need and acceptance and tenderness. Then she reached up and covered his jaw with her palm. “Colin…”
He inhaled a shaky breath, mesmerized by her willingness to give him everything he wanted, his eyes roving over her face to take in every feature before capturing her gaze with his once more.
“Lottie, my beautiful duchess,” he whispered, placing a hand on her breast and stroking her nipple.
She blinked quickly, the depth of her unspoken feelings for him radiating from her to envelop them both, and at that split second in time, he knew that everything between them hadn’t only changed, it had changed forever. He knew exactly what was missing, and that instantaneous burst of realization struck him profoundly.
Swallowing harshly, he clenched his jaw, holding her vivid gaze, caressing her marvelous body. Then he took her hand from his face and placed it at the center of his chest.
“Give your soul to me, Lottie,” he breathed, “and I will give you the world.”
For seconds she just stared at him. Then her eyes filled with tears and before he could begin to unravel his own confounding emotions, he leaned over to take her mouth with his.
He kissed her with a passion spent in years of pent-up longing, caressing her lips with his own, then plunging deep to invade her with his tongue.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing her fingers lightly through his hair, holding him close. He draped one leg over hers, pressing his erection into her hip, feeling a sudden urgency to enter her and stay there always.
She moaned softly against his mouth when his hand found her breast, kneading it, stroking her nipple with his fingers. Desire raged anew, for both of them, and the time had come to end the stay of exquisite release.
Pulling his lips from hers, he reached down and hooked his hand under her knee, raising it a little, then finding her hot, wet center with his fingers as he began to stroke her, moving deeper, closer to heaven with each tingling caress.
She moaned again and closed her eyes to the rising need, biting her bottom lip as she instinctively lifted her hips to meet his rhythmic touch.
Colin sensed the nearness of her climax and quickly moved his fingers from the hidden treasure that awaited him and centered himself between her parted legs. He lowered his head and kissed a nipple, then glided his tongue across the waiting peak before pulling it into his mouth to gently suck.
She squirmed beneath him, her breathing erratic and fast. Lifting her leg by the crook in her knee once more, he raised himself up on his free hand, and placed his erection at the center of her.
She felt it, and opened her eyes to gaze into his.
Colin clenched his jaw tightly, and with one smooth action, pushed himself deeply into her tight, hot sheath. She tensed from the pressure, then gradually relaxed as he held himself very still, watching her.
She clutched his shoulders with tight fingers, then whispered, “You feel wonderful…”
Colin groaned from her honesty, marveling in her beauty, her surrendered desire for him. It was a defining moment for them, he knew, connecting in the most intimate way possible, relishing a newfound sense of fulfillment.
He moved his hand from her knee and placed his fingers between their bodies, lifting himself just enough to allow him to stroke her, bringing her once more to the edge of bliss.
He watched her as the urgency built inside, holding himself steady, his thoughts centered on her alone with the concern that he might lose himself first.
She never moved her gaze. Eyes dark and glazed with passion, she began to whimper and push her hips against him as she neared her crest. He increased the pace of his fingers, his eagerness to feel her come almost overwhelming him.
Then her nails dug into his skin and her eyes widened. Colin held himself still, mesmerized by the sight of her at the brink of climax. And then she jerked into him once, twice, her head falling back as she squeezed her lids shut, moaning over and over in sweet agony.
He didn’t move. Just watching her come, feeling her shatter with pleasure beneath him as the muscles inside of her stroked him over and over, made him lose the battle, took him to the point of no return.
He grasped her chin and brought his mouth down hard on hers, stifling the low grown of satisfaction that poured forth from deep in his chest. She kissed him back wildly as he pulled himself out once, then plunged deeply inside again as his climax struck him hard, as wave after wave of an incredible, intense taste of heaven coursed through him and he spilled himself inside of her.
Charlotte stirred and stretched out beneath the sheets, her mind a blur for a minute or two until the events of the last few hours came rushing back when her leg brushed against his and she felt him beside her.
Smiling, she snuggled down deeper into the covers.
She would remember this night forever—the way he aroused her, the way he looked at her with utter longing, and especially the emotions he exuded from feelings for her that went far deeper than he’d ever before shown, and no doubt experienced. Of course his feelings were conjecture on her part; he hadn’t actually expressed them verbally. But she wasn’t stupid, either. It was fairly obvious that if he wasn’t in love with her yet, his feelings strayed very, very close to the emotion. At least she preferred to think so, even with his own doubts about their relationship. For now, at least, she remained content and remarkably happy.
She felt him stir beside her in the darkness and she turned on her side, draping one leg over his.
He reached out and pulled her close to hi
m, tucking her into his chest.
“You snore,” he said sleepily.
She suppressed a giggle. “I know.”
He grunted. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“Why would I tell you such a thing, your grace?” She nuzzled her nose into his neck. “You might not have married me.”
He adjusted his head on the pillow, gazing down at her, though in shadow, she felt more than saw him looking at her.
“Would you like to know a secret, my darling wife?” he asked, sounding amused.
“Hmmm…Of course. You keep the best secrets.”
He started drawing the fingers of his free hand up and down her thigh. “I’d decided to marry you as soon as you left my study the day you came to me with your incredible and rather uh…brazen offer.”
She grinned and left a light kiss on his jaw. “That’s not much of a secret, Colin. I think you would have kicked puppies for the chance to marry Lottie English.”
He chuckled, and the low sound reverberated through his chest.
“Not true. Bedding Lottie would have been easy. Marriage, on the other hand, is a trickier prospect, but I knew the moment you so unconventionally proposed, I would accept. I just needed a bit of convincing.” He nuzzled the top of her head. “And just so you’re aware of the goodness of my character, I’ve never kicked a puppy.”
She grinned, teasing the smattering of hair on his chest with her fingers. “That’s not how it seemed to me. You were quite irritated to be put in such a position. I realized that when you finally came to my brother’s home to offer for me.”
He groaned. “That’s because a gentleman prefers to do the proposing. You put me in a very unmanly position.”
She thought about that for a moment, then asked, “So why on earth did you accept such an…unrefined proposal if not for the chance to bed Lottie? I guarantee you, sir, I would not have been easy to seduce.”
He turned a little so that he could look into her eyes in the darkness. “Oh, no? I believe you would have been marvelously easy to seduce, sweetheart,” he teased. “But I chose marriage because, dear Charlotte, you are remarkable in every respect.”
He moved his arm out from under her so they could lie side by side, facing each other with their heads on the pillow.
“Why didn’t you marry before?” she asked softly, a question that hadn’t, until now, crossed her mind. “It’s not as if you didn’t have prospects, I’m sure.”
He sighed and reached down under the covers to lift her leg at the knee, pulling it over his hip so that his thigh caressed her between her legs.
“You’re certainly full of questions,” he said softly.
Without light on his face, she couldn’t be sure if he was amused or intentionally trying to be vague.
“So it’s a secret you’re not willing to share?” she prodded.
“Lottie, Lottie, Lottie…” he said through a sigh. “Do you really want to know?”
Now he had her completely intrigued. “Of course,” she answered, probably too eagerly. “You know how much I adore your secrets.”
“You really are quite enchanting when you want something,” he mused, reaching up to brush stray hair from her cheeks.
“Thank you for the compliment, my handsome duke.” She took his hand and kissed his fingers. “Now tell me why a man of your station, who finds it so easy to charm the ladies, has been reluctant to marry all these years?”
“I was waiting for you,” he answered, amusement lacing his words.
Somehow she knew he’d say that and it warmed her even as her intrigue grew. “Naturally I’m flattered, your grace, but that answer is just too simple and convenient.”
He was quiet for a long moment, studying her in near-blackness. She waited, grazing his shin with her toes.
Finally, he inhaled a deep breath and murmured, “The truth is, my father married my mother at the age of twenty-two. She loved him deeply, but by the age of twenty-five, he’d had enough of her, and chose to bed anything wearing a skirt. I just…didn’t want to be like him.”
Charlotte felt her heart swell with tenderness, not from his disclosure, but by the gentleness in his voice, the honesty he conveyed about something that had obviously affected his childhood.
“Your father didn’t love your mother?” she asked softly.
He shrugged a shoulder negligibly and replied, “I don’t know, but I don’t think love had anything to do with his lust for other women.”
She didn’t know how to take that answer exactly. “My parents married by arrangement,” she revealed quietly. “I don’t think they were ever in love, but I don’t think either one was unfaithful.”
“Charlotte, I don’t think that’s something you could ever be sure of,” he replied, his voice subdued. “Most people are discreet with their affairs. My father flaunted his.”
A shade of anger had seeped into his tone, and the last thing she wanted to do right now, while they remained centered on each other physically and emotionally, was bring up memories that would make him uncomfortable.
She turned on her back and stared at the ceiling. “Perhaps that’s the secret to a good marriage,” she maintained. “If you never expect too much, your heart can never be broken.”
She could feel him staring at her as a lingering silence followed. Then he raised up on his elbow and gazed down at her to get her attention, quiet until she looked into his eyes.
“There is no secret,” he whispered gruffly. “Some people are happy, some are not. I don’t think love has much to do with it.”
With a suddenly sinking heart, she replied, “So you don’t believe love in marriage matters?”
Even in near-blackness, she noticed a trace of a smile at the corners of his mouth.
“That’s not exactly what I said.” He lifted his hand and brushed the curls off her forehead with his fingers. “From my observance, there are people who marry for everything but love and remain faithful their entire lives. I don’t know why. Then there are those who marry for love who stray after only a short time together. Why that happens is anybody’s guess, though I don’t believe there is any guarantee of faithfulness just because two people have vowed before God to remain so.”
Although she understood, even believed, what he said, something in his cynical attitude still cut her deeply. For the first time since they’d married, Charlotte wanted desperately to know how he felt about her, if he would stray, remain faithful, love her. But she couldn’t ask him. Not now.
“So, what does all this have to do with you waiting to marry?” she asked hesitantly.
He watched her for a moment or two, then ran the back of his hand across her cheek.
“I don’t think this is the best time to discuss it,” he said gently.
She refused to let him end the conversation there. “Tell me, Colin,” she insisted, her tone hinting at the depth of her concern.
He exhaled a long breath as he placed his palm on her chest, just above her breasts, and began stroking her collarbone with his thumb.
“You know very well of my reputation for romancing the ladies,” he said rather than asked, his voice overflowing with reluctance.
She actually smiled in the darkness. “Yes, Colin, I know.”
He waited, gathering his thoughts, then revealed in a husky murmur, “Much of what is said through the chain of gossips is highly exaggerated. However, I think I just—I think I wanted to rid myself of as much desire for variety as I could before I settled down with one lady.” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “The truth is, I didn’t want to hurt my wife as my father had hurt my mother.”
Charlotte felt a wonderful peace settle inside her. He’d chosen his words carefully, she realized, in some chivalrous manner of protecting her from the vulgarities related to his bedding others before her. But she’d understood him completely. She worked in the theater day after day, where lust and indecencies were ever present and accepted as part of daily life. She fully recognized how passion could
dominate men.
Still, she couldn’t deny the tinge of jealousy that shot through her as he acknowledged his former indiscretions. But then, as even he had said, his reputation had always preceded him. More important to her, however, was his conveyance that he didn’t intend to cause the pain in their marriage that had so overshadowed his parents’.
She reached out to touch his face, unsure what she could possibly say.
He kissed her palm. “Just remember, my past has nothing to do with us, Charlotte.”
She smiled and countered softly, “It has everything to do with us. But you should know that with each revealing secret you share with me, I grow ever more thankful that you married me.”
He inhaled a shaky breath. Then with a quickness that defied the action, he hoisted her on top of him, one palm on her bare bottom, caressing her lightly, the other brushing her curly hair from her face.
“Beautiful Lottie,” he whispered, his eyes melding into hers. “There is no woman on earth more perfect for me than you.”
She wanted to cry, from his words, the sincerity flowing through his words. Instead, she leaned over and placed her lips on his, drowning out everything but the moment.
Chapter 21
Colin entered Charlotte’s dressing room unnoticed, then closed the door very softly behind him, his now-completed forgery tucked into the long sock covering his right leg. Quickly, he walked to the wardrobe closet and opened it, looking for one of the boxes of music that could be easily opened, leading to an easy discovery.
He selected the first of the four boxes he noticed at waist level and pulled it out. He then placed it on the floor, knelt beside it, and lifted the lid.
The contents revealed two rows of various kinds of vocal music, from sheets to books, all rather dusty, some old, though at first look, none of it appeared to be organized by any logical means.
After a fast glance over his shoulder to verify once more that he was alone, and hearing nothing beyond the closed door that might signal an interruption, he lifted his trouser leg to the knee, carefully lowered his sock, and pulled out all six pages of his first forged musical masterpiece. That done, he dropped the music on top of the others until he once again straightened his sock and trousers, then took the sheets and righted them, making sure they were placed in order.
The Duke’s Indiscretion Page 25
