The Duke: A Standalone Royal Billionaire Novel

by Laurence, Selena

  “What exactly did you want to discuss?” I ask, my voice rough with need. I ought to leave now. Stop embarrassing myself with this woman like I’m a horny teen who can’t control himself.

  Her tongue darts out to lick her full top lip and I nearly groan as my slacks become intolerably tight.

  “Nevermi—”

  “Last night,” I interrupt her. Then I take a step into the room, my gaze pinned to hers, sparks flying between us. “When I tasted you.” Another step. “And slid inside you.” A third step. “When I stroked you until you were shaking with need.” A final step and I stand directly over her, seeing her whole form laid out beneath me like she’s an all I can eat buffet.

  She gasps, her eyes widening.

  “Is that what you’d like to discuss, Your Grace?”

  I watch her throat move as she swallows, her eyes sparkling with desire. She doesn’t seem able to answer me, and I don’t really want conversation right now. Whatever we’re supposed to be talking about, it can wait.

  “Bath time is over,” I instruct, holding out my hand. Without a word of protest, the most contrary woman I’ve ever met stands like Venus rising, and takes my hand, water sluicing off her golden skin. I let her step out of the tub, then wrap an arm around her waist and drag her into a kiss so deep I’m not sure either of us will ever come back out.

  A few minutes later, I’m on her bed, shirtless, my slacks unzipped as I gaze down at my naked bride.

  “We still haven’t talked,” she whispers, her hands roaming over my bare chest.

  “And we never will if you keep that up,” I tell her.

  She grins at me and pinches one of my nipples.

  “Kat,” I warn.

  “Maybe we can talk later,” she answers before levering up to kiss me deep and hard.

  I silently agree to that plan and plumb the depths of her warm mouth. Before I know it, she’s shoved my pants down my hips and her slender hand is wrapped around my shaft. I sigh with pleasure, electricity shooting up my spine.

  “No more of that, love,” I whisper, disengaging her from her explorations. “I want this to last.” Then, I stand and drop trou as she watches me with those wicked eyes. When I’m completely bare, I reach for my wallet on the floor, extract a condom and roll it on, then I surprise her by flipping her onto her stomach. Her little squeal makes me grin in delight.

  “So soft,” I murmur as I run my hands along her thighs and over the globes of her ass. My lips follow. I kiss up the gentle arch of her spine, until I reach her smooth shoulders. Her hair is damp and curls into perfect ringlets. I brush one aside and she releases a small sigh that slides down the core of my body, leaving a fiery trail in its wake.

  “Win,” she murmurs, lifting her head and turning so I can capture her lips. As my tongue delves into her mouth, the strangest pain lodges in my chest. It’s a hollow ache, and my eyes clench as I try to breathe through it. A voice in the back of my mind tells me I’m stepping off a ledge and the descent could be fatal. But then her hips flex against mine, pushing her beautiful behind against my rock-hard cock, and I forget anything other than the need to be inside her.

  I wrap an arm under her waist and lift her hips. On her elbows and knees, I spread her legs wider and marvel at the sight of her core—soft, pink, perfect. Then I grab on to her hips and slide into her in one motion. We both moan at the sensation. It’s as though she was constructed to cradle me, sheathe me in her heat and slick softness.

  “Oh God,” she whispers, rocking against me. I slide out then plunge back in, setting up a rhythm that she takes to instantly. Her breasts sway beneath her and I lean forward to cup one, pinching the nipple lightly as she gasps, her breath coming in short, harsh pants.

  I need more. I want to feel her on every inch of my skin, taste her in every swallow, smell her in every breath. I pull her up until we’re both on our knees, her back to my chest. Her head falls back against my shoulder and I bend my head to capture her lips, even as I continue the short, deep thrusts that are all this position will allow.

  She undulates against me with every motion, and I feel as though I’m going to crawl out of my skin I’m so aroused. I can’t get enough of her. I’ll never be able to get enough of her. It’s as though I’m an addict and she’s my custom-designed fix.

  “Come for me, baby,” I growl, cupping both of her breasts at the same time, my lips glued to her neck.

  “God, yes. Yes!” She cries as her entire body stiffens and I feel her throb and squeeze around me in luscious waves of heat.

  That’s all it takes for me to follow right behind her, my balls drawing up so hard I make a choking sound before everything I am explodes in a cascade of light and pleasure.

  When I regain my senses, I’m curved over Kat’s form, her ass in my lap, both of our hands resting on the bed beneath us as we pant for oxygen.

  “My God,” she manages to murmur, eventually.

  “Bloody hell,” I croak as I wrap my arms around her waist before melting onto my side on the bed. I nearly weep as I slowly slide out of her. I make quick work of removing the condom and knotting it before tossing it somewhere on the floor. I’ll gather a search party for it later. There’s no way I’m leaving this bed as long as Kat’s here.

  “That was…” She pauses as if searching for an adequate word. I know for a fact there isn’t one.

  “Indescribable?” I offer.

  She chuckles. “Yeah. That’ll do.”

  I bite her shoulder lightly and she giggles. The sound is like champagne bubbles dancing over my tongue.

  It’s in this moment, as I lay with this soft, warm woman in my arms, that some sort of madness takes over me. I know we shouldn’t be doing this. It’s a risk, it’s not what we agreed to, and it’s going to end up with someone’s heart in pieces. But I’m suddenly filled with things I have the urge to say. Promises I want to fulfill. Ledges I want to leap from.

  “Well, not as awkward as the last time,” she says before rolling in my arms and gazing up at me.

  “It was awkward last time?” I ask, feigning ignorance. It was bloody awkward and I’m mostly what made it that way.

  She snorts in derision. Never one to sugarcoat things, that’s my Kat. No, not mine, but that’s the Kat I’m coming to know, in any case. “Please,” she says, giving me a look that says, don’t act like an arse.

  I can’t keep the smile from my face. “Ok, yes. It was a bit awkward.”

  “I guess we can’t pretend it was momentary madness, now that we’ve done it twice?”

  “Oh, it’s still madness,” I tell her. “Just not momentary.”

  She chuckles. “I’ve always thought you were hot, but—”

  I interrupt her. “No, don’t say it. I really don’t think my ego can take what else you thought about me. Let’s just leave it at hot.”

  She laughs, and I grin in response.

  “You didn’t like me, either,” she says a little self-consciously a moment later.

  I breathe deep, my eyes turned to the ceiling as if I’ll find the words there to explain.

  “You’re…different.”

  She snorts in derision and begins to pull away from me, but I won’t let go of her, pulling her closer, burying my nose in all that glorious hair.

  “Stop,” I demand softly. “Let me finish. You’re different than any woman I’ve ever met, and my reaction to that was…poor. I was raised here—in the midst of all these rules and expectations. My entire life, my grandfather has kept me hobbled by his demands and requirements. My mother kept me on the defense with her alternating neglect and manipulations.”

  I shake my head, because I can’t believe I’m saying these things to her. I don’t say these things to anyone.

  “It’s okay,” she tells me. “I get it. No one’s been very generous to you, so you’re not very generous with others.”

  I try not to let that sink in. “You’re a better person than I am,” I tell her in response.

  She smiles u
p at me, and her hand slides softly over my chest and abs. Soothing. Arousing. It’s like she knows some ancient magic that can make a man her slave. I’d do almost anything as long as she keeps touching me.

  “I am,” she agrees with a wicked smile. “But you should feel free to corrupt me as often as you’d like.”

  “Oh, I like,” I murmur as I roll with her and begin to lick my way toward her breasts. “I definitely like.”

  35

  Kat

  “Girl. What is that?” Darnell waves his finger around in a circle on the screen. I’m cross-legged in my bed, where a mere twelve hours ago Winston ravished me. Yes, I’m even talking like an English royal romance novel now. But ravished is the perfect description. He was insatiable, and bossy, and oh my God did he ever know what he was doing.

  I stifle a sigh and unhook Wallis’ claws from my leg before answering Darnell. “What is what?” I don’t why I’m even bothering to deny it. He always knows everything. I’m not exactly an accomplished liar.

  “That face, of course. What is that face, Miss Thing?”

  “Last time I looked, it’s the same face I’ve always had,” I mutter, desperately searching the room for inspiration to change the subject. I see a painting of one of Win’s crotchety old relatives on the wall. “Oh! Did you know that the sixth Duke of Surrey—”

  “Uh-uh, girlfriend. You can just stop that nonsense right there,” he warns. “You are not going to Skype me wearing the ‘I’ve just been laid real good’ face and then start talking about some old white man in a wig.” Darnell plants a hand on his hip, and stick a fork in me because I’m done. The game is up, and now I have to admit what I’ve been doing with my new husband.

  But no matter how hard he presses, I won’t admit to Darnell how I feel. I won’t admit that even to myself. That strange little pain that erupts in my chest every time I’m near Winston or even hear his voice. That insane anger that overtook me when I saw him in Jessa’s arms. Nope. Not gonna’ go there. Not at all.

  I sigh. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

  “Every last detail, girl. Every single one,” Darnell replies, grabbing a pretend carton of popcorn from his desk and beginning to toss invisible kernels into his mouth. “Proceed,” he instructs.

  “I might have…consummated my marriage,” I say quickly.

  The shriek from my laptop may have woken the old Duke’s ancient, half-deaf spaniels.

  “I knew it! I knew it!” Darnell shouts, forgetting about his pretend popcorn and jumping up from his chair to do a spastic pelvis-thrusting dance around the room. His crazy floppy-sleeved top sways every which way, but his skinny, hipster jeans stretch with him, and the suede half-boots on his feet glide across the wood floors of his office like he’s on ice.

  When he finally settles back down into his chair, I roll my eyes. “You done?”

  He smirks. “For now. But stop stalling and tell me all about Mr. tall, dark, and royal. Is that ass really as perfect as it looks in those dark suits of his?”

  My mind is instantly transported back to last night, and the feel of his firm, round ass in my hands as he pumped into me.

  “Um, yeah.” I clear my throat. “It’s all pretty exceptional.” I know I’m blushing now. Because I might be outrageous about some things, but I honestly don’t date all that often, so we usually talk about Darnell’s sex life, not mine.

  I go on to tell him about the funeral and the reception afterwards, Win’s dick of a cousin David, and how we sort of ended up in bed—a couple of times.

  Darnell’s eyes are big and round when I finish. “That’s one evil cousin,” he says sternly.

  “Right?” I nibble on one of my fingernails. “So, Darnell?”

  “Yes, babydoll?”

  “Winston asked me to stay. For a while longer, so he can get this stuff with his cousin’s challenge to the will resolved. If David takes it to court, it would be helpful to have me here as proof that I’m a real live wife, and not just in name only.”

  “Well, I’d say you’re about as real as it gets, now.” He raises an eyebrow and I feel myself blush again.

  “Um, yeah, I guess, if the definition includes, you know, sex.”

  Darnell looks concerned. “Are you wondering if that’s why he slept with you?”

  I don’t want to admit it’s a possibility, but the fact is, Winston needs me right now. There’s a lot of money riding on this marriage, and it could be very useful if David and all the lawyers heard that Winston was spending his nights in the same bed as the Duchess.

  “Maybe?” I say softly.

  “Oh, babydoll.” Darnell makes a pouty face. “Are you kidding?” His voice rises. “Have you looked at yourself in a mirror lately? You are sex, girl! You have it going on in all those places the straights love. You are fire! And all that hate between you two? It was so obvs you had the hots for each other. The sexual tension was enough to send someone into seizures. If he hadn’t put your fine ass in a bed, he might have done some serious damage to his extraordinary equipment.”

  Oh my God. I start to laugh, and before I know it, I’m rolling on the bed while Darnell goes into a lengthy description of Win’s dick swelling to painful extremes and how the Queen would need to declare a state of emergency because one of the royal family couldn’t get rid of his hard-on. I’m laughing so hard I’m crying, my eyes squeezed shut while my normally outrageous bestie outdoes himself. Then, suddenly, he makes a little yelping sound and says, “Catch you later, Kat.” I sit up just in time to see the screen go blank.

  “Darnell?” I say, even though he’s long gone. “What the hell?”

  “That might have been my fault,” Win’s voice says from the doorway behind me, where Darnell would have been able to see him clearly.

  I don’t even turn, burying my head in my hands. “How much did you hear?” I mumble in shame.

  His low chuckle rolls over me and I turn my head to peek at him through my fingers.

  “Enough to know that it would have been a very painful fate.” He’s leaning against the doorjamb with his arms crossed over his wonderful chest.

  I’m not sure what to say because, well, it’s clear I was talking to Darnell about sleeping with Win, which is pretty tacky, I have to admit.

  He pushes off the doorframe and begins walking toward me. I might actually call it stalking. It’s more threatening than walking, and I swallow a frisson of fear that rolls through me. Even Wallis senses the danger as he scrambles up my t-shirt to wrap around my neck. If I’m being honest, though, that fear is sort of a turn-on, as is the dark look in Win’s eyes when he reaches me where I’m sitting in the middle of the bed.

  “Katherine?” he says in a low voice. More of that delicious fear shivers over my skin.

  “Yes?” I cringe. He’s going to explode, I just know it. I seem to have a knack for inciting the wrath of Winston.

  He wiggles a finger at me, brows raised in a commanding gesture that I’d bet money he learned from his grandfather.

  I move to my knees and scoot closer to him, removing Wallis from my neck and setting him on the bed. Win wiggles his finger again. Closer. I comply. When I’m finally at the edge of the bed, gazing up into his enigmatic eyes, he reaches out and cups my face in one of his big hands.

  “The Queen won’t declare it an emergency, but I do have a constant hard-on for you.”

  He grins, and I close my eyes for a moment as a hot flush works its way across my face.

  He leans in and whispers in my ear, his hot breath sending chills down my spine. “You’re incredibly sexy, and I really like spending time in your bed.” He pulls back and looks at me with a smirk.

  I grin.

  He brushes a curl out of my eyes. “I hope you know I wouldn’t sleep with you just to get my inheritance. This isn’t the Middle Ages, we don’t have to prove consummation.” He chuckles. “I slept with you because you’re incredibly sexy, and I apparently don’t have much self-control.”

  I lift up on my
knees so I’m almost eye-level with him. “It took two of us,” I say as I wrap my arms around his neck and shoulders. “As obnoxious as you are, you’re extra hot, too.”

  He throws his head back and laughs. It’s abandon and joy, and I realize I’ve never seen him this relaxed. The stuffy, uptight guy seems to have taken a day off, and I’m sort of proud that I might have had something to do with that.

  “So, do you think you can stay in London and spend some more time with an extra hot man while he gets his arsehole cousin to back off the family funds?”

  I pretend to think about it for a moment, and he growls as his arms wind around my waist.

  “I suppose so. But I want a real vacation now. I may never get a chance to see England again, I need the full tour, Your Grace.”

  “Then that’s exactly what you’ll have,” he answers, bringing his lips to mine softly. His hand moves lower and cups my ass. “But I might require some encouragement to leave the house, there’s this dead sexy woman who makes me want to stay in bed all day.”

  I giggle as he topples us over and begins frantically tugging at my clothes. “Your Grace!” are the last words I squeal as he takes charge of my lips and my heart.

  * * *

  I’ve discovered that the kitchens of the Duke’s London residence are stocked with some of the best food I’ve ever seen. While I doubt Win’s mother has ever set foot in a kitchen anywhere, I really don’t see the point in calling Deena all the way upstairs just because I’m hungry for something that I haven’t yet identified.

  Win is still showering after our latest round of freaking hot sex, so I figure it’s a good time to scarf something before we go out for an afternoon of sightseeing. He’s promised to take me up in the London Eye, and show me where the crown jewels are stored at the Tower of London. I have to admit, I was sort of disappointed when he said he doesn’t have any kind of special access to them. I’ll have to stand in line and stare at them through bulletproof glass or whatever, just like all the people who aren’t the Duchess of Surrey.