Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97740 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
‘Yes, I do.’
‘Even if it will ruin you forever more?’
Ruined. ‘I do not care about ruining myself. I care only for ruining my father. My family.’ I will be more ruined without it, I think, my eyes dropping to his lips, the feeling of him pressed into me like nothing I have felt before. The throb. The heat. My God.
He growls and forces himself away. ‘My want is sending me stupid, it would seem,’ he says, dragging a hand through his hair and, leaving me propped breathlessly against the wall, he begins to pace again. ‘I cannot bring myself to tarnish you.’ Disappointment engulfs me, but I know it should not. He shakes his head and appears to be angry, but I cannot fathom whether he is angry with himself or with me. ‘You should return to the ballroom before we are spied together alone.’
‘No,’ I say, adamant, and he looks at me alarmed. ‘I will not permit you to reject me again, Your Grace.’ I hold a finger up and wave it in his surprised face. ‘You have done it one time too many already.’ I prod him in the shoulder, but still manage to wonder what the hell I am doing. ‘You will kiss me, I demand it.’
And like a lion pouncing, he’s on me, covering my mouth with his and plunging his tongue deeply. God save my soul, my breath is stolen, and I am lost in the illicitness of our moment, my hands grappling at his shoulders as he swirls his tongue wildly, groaning as he does, his body forcing me harder into the wall. He is out of control, and I am helpless against his power, but I decide in this moment, here in the arms of the Duke, helpless feels most pleasing. I should not have worried. My body seems to know exactly what it should do, my tongue following his naturally.
‘Damn it!’ he barks, wrenching himself away and panting, roughly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand while looking at me with wild eyes and a snarl. I am breathless and heaving, my hand on my chest, my tongue aching and my thighs wet with the desire dripping from me unstoppably. He stares at me as I, too, stare at him, thinking how fascinating this man is. How desirable. How complex and… broken. I have never experienced anything like that kiss, and, it pains me to think, I might not ever again.
I swallow, refusing to break eye contact with him, and he growls once more. ‘I must have you again,’ he barks, coming at me again, kissing me violently. ‘My God, Eliza, you are the sweetest thing I have ever tasted.’
I lose myself in the attention of his mouth and jolt with surprise when his palms cup my bottom, pushing me further into his hot body. I am overwhelmed by my need, my hands feeling at his cheeks, my whimpers of happiness falling freely, and I think how unfortunate it is that the Duke has given in to his wants in this moment, when we are far from privacy.
He slows our kiss and nibbles on my bottom lip before closing his eyes and resting his heavy forehead onto mine. ‘This is very unfortunate.’ On a sigh, he looks at me, and I see regret I am not sure I like lingering in his gaze.
I shrink. He didn’t enjoy our kiss. But of course he didn’t! I have never kissed a man, have no experience, and the Duke has taken many women on many nights. His smile is small and ironic, and I am unsure whether I like that either. He pities me?
I reluctantly move away and begin the quite impossible task of straightening out my flustered form, all the while keeping my eyes low so as to avoid his gaze. ‘I suppose I ought to return to the party.’ I take one step and am forced into stilling when he seizes my wrist.
‘Why can you not bring yourself to look at me, Eliza?’ he asks with a certain amount of irritation in his tone. ‘At least do me that honour before you leave.’
‘Why?’ What more could he want in this moment than my surrender, and I do believe I have given him that only to be rejected once he got what he wanted. ‘I would have thought that to be quite obvious, Your Grace.’
‘To whom?’
I clench my teeth and take another step but make it precisely nowhere. The Duke eases me up against the wall again, takes my jaw, and forces my face to his, therefore forcing me to look at him. Once again, I am breathless, and once again, riddled with those sensations that apparently turn my brain to complete mush. I am awed by him, even now. Enamoured.
‘You will come to me this eve,’ he says in a demanding voice. Go to him? Why ever would I do that? He’s stolen my first kiss. I will not allow him to steal any more from me. I have done enough damage as it is, but I can salvage the rest of my innocence. I will not only be one night.