Castled: Duke Society Series

by Robinson, Gina

  "At least there's something virgin about this night." He tipped my chin up and looked me in the eye. "Look, Gray, there's no pressure. No rush. No one's going to stand around the bed and watch to make sure we do the deed. Or check the sheets in the morning. There's no way to prove whether we did or didn't. The marriage is legal."

  "Poor kings of old," I said. "Can you imagine having to prove that you can and you did?"

  "Sounds like a royal porno. People of old had a prurient nature."

  "Well, they didn't have movies."

  He slid a sideways glance at the tub. "Since I went to so much trouble to find a heart-shaped tub, let's take a bath. See if soaking in a heart is any better, or more spiritual, than bathing in a mere oval or rectangular tub."

  He was being so Noah.

  "The sound of the running water, the smell of your favorite bubble bath or bath oil, and the feel of the water on your naked skin is just the stress reliever you need." He ran his hands down my arms, raising chills of pleasure, and released me.

  "Playing doctor?" I raised an eyebrow. "Do you think we played it as kids?"

  "I think I would have remembered that."

  "From when we were two?"

  A basket of carefully collected sensual bath products sat on the edge of the tub. I picked the basket up and spun it around slowly, studying the contents. "Is this your doing?"

  "A gift for my bride," he said. "I heard from someone that it would be a romantic gesture for a groom to make."

  "Hmm. Is that so?" I pulled a beautiful rose quartz massage wand—very phallic—from the basket. Rose quartz supposedly opens you up to love. But pink is also my favorite color and one of the theme colors of the basket—pink, red, and white. And our wedding. So it was impossible to decipher Noah's true motive. "I remember mentioning to you wanting to try one of these."

  Since I could remember, Noah had always had a knack for giving me the perfect gift. And if not perfect, then very close. He listened to people and was born with the thoughtful gene.

  The candlelight lit his dark eyes, where something close to a desire smoldered. The light played off the wand, stirring something in me. It was exciting to think of sex for sex's sake with someone safe, someone I trusted and knew better than almost anyone. Someone as thoughtful in all ways as Noah. And Noah was far from unattractive. Quite the opposite. When we were out together, I got a kick out of the way women watched him. He was a head-turner. Most of my friends thought he was smoking hot—tall, dark, powerfully built. They flirted with him mercilessly and couldn't understand why Noah and I had never been more than friends. Maybe I'd forced myself not to see how attractive he was because there was a line I hadn't wanted to cross with him before.

  I slid the quartz wand provocatively through my fingers, feeling the cool, smooth surface, and desire rising in me. "It's lovely. But isn't that why I have you now?" I took a step into him. "Isn't that the benefit part of friends with benefits?"

  "You want me to wield that?"

  "I want you to wield something," I whispered. "So we're clear—I've never fantasized about masturbating by myself on my wedding night. This wand is just to get the magic flowing." I leaned down and turned the water on in the tub. "What else do we have in this basket?"

  He had been paying attention to what I said. The basket was filled aphrodisiac oils, lovely bubble baths, and edible massage oils, everything anybody needed to get it on.

  Noah squatted, rolled up his sleeves, tested the water temperature, and closed the stopper. Silhouetted against the backdrop of the city lights and lit softly in candlelight, he seemed almost like a stranger. Powerful and sensual in a way I hadn't seen him as before. Hot. I pulsed between my legs. If this were the first time I'd seen him, I had no doubt I wouldn't have missed his sex appeal.

  I browsed through the basket to distract myself. "Dissolvable rose petals," I read. I opened the jar and inhaled deeply. They were beautiful and wonderfully scented.

  "You always tell me that a sexy bath isn't sexy without rose petals. But who wants them stuck to you when you get out?"

  I laughed. That was Noah. I couldn't decide whether I liked him or the stranger better. I tossed a generous handful of petals into the water, watching them float. Then tossed in another handful.

  "What else do we have in here? Oh. Rose caramel honey bath. Complete with a honey dipper." I sighed and opened the jar. Dispensing with the honey dipper, I poured a generous amount in the bath. Its sweet perfume began to mingle with the gentle, sensual rose, vanilla, and amber scent of the room.

  I kicked off my shoes. "I remember something about you." I grabbed the hem of my dress and pulled it off over my head. "You like your women confident and sure of themselves."

  I tossed the dress away and stood before him in my thong panties, garter, and see-through bra in front of the window, feeling freer than I had in months. How had I missed how much being with Christopher had weighed me down?

  Noah's gaze held mine as if he were daring me to go further, show him something he hadn't seen. Cross that unspoken line between us.

  I unhooked my bra and slipped it off, doing as much of a striptease as I was capable of, then dropped the bra on the floor. My nipples budded in the cool air, but also because of his bold stare. Noah liked breasts. I knew this about him. Once my bra was off, his gaze drifted to them. The smolder in his eyes became definite desire.

  I leaned forward and unhooked one garter, then the other, rolling my stockings down and pulling them off.

  Noah's gaze was fixed on me. His eyes were round and dark.

  I slid my panties off and snapped them at him. "Bold enough for you?"

  The tub was filling up. The air was filled with lovely, erotic scents. The tub was the most elegant heart-shaped tub I could have imagined—made of deep red tiles with a pair of stairs that doubled as a seat into it, and filled with bath pillows. The faucet put out a flowing wall of water. The point of the heart was in the corner of the glass walls. The two humps toward the room.

  Noah stood perfectly still, staring at me with statuelike quiet and power.

  "Oh, Noah, dear friend." I walked to him and began unbuttoning his shirt. "You're way behind me." I pulled his shirt loose from his pants.

  He slipped off his shoes while I stripped him of his shirt. I left him to take off his pants and stepped into the tub with my back to him, giving him a moment of privacy.

  I was already seated and submerged in the bubbling water when he turned the water off and joined me in my half of the heart with a bottle of massage oil in hand.

  He slid in behind me and poured a generous amount of oil into his hand. As I stared out at the city, he began massaging the tension out of my shoulders with firm, slick fingers. He'd given me backrubs hundreds of times before, but never like this.

  "You've never slept with a guy you didn't at least think you were in love with," Noah whispered in my ear. "Are you up for this? This is going to be a new experience for you."

  "You know I love you, Noah, in my own kind of way." I sighed as his fingers did their job on my shoulder. "And you, you've slept with women just for the fun of it. No strings. No commitment. But have you ever slept with a friend?"

  "I'm totally committed to you, Gray," he whispered, his breath hot in my ear. "Believe me." He ran his hands over my arms and kissed my neck, sucking in the most enticing way.

  My breath became shallow as he pulled me into his lap. I looped my legs over his and leaned back against him. "Play with my breasts, Noah. Show me what you can do. You surprised me with your kiss. Show me what other surprising skills you have."

  "You liked that kiss?"

  My breath caught as he lifted my breasts in his large hands. "It was artful."

  "Perfect," he whispered, playing with my nipples, tugging on them. Doing everything the way I liked.

  Over the years, I'd confided in him about my worst sexual encounters. I'd like to think I'd taught him something. I'd also confided in him what I liked. What I didn't. I'd never expect
ed him to put that knowledge to practice. He was, however, a master. My breathing became soft and shallow. He wasn't even touching me where I needed it and I was already weak in the knees and aching with need.

  He opened his legs, and mine with them, and reached for the magic wand. If he touched me with it now, I'd come too quickly. I wanted this to last. I wanted to climax with him inside me.

  I slid off his lap and straddled him. "How's this for confident?" I grabbed the wrist that held the wand, slid onto him, and began riding him slowly, one hand braced against his chest, my gaze locked with his. Staring down at him, I couldn't believe how perfectly built he was. Or how much the desire in his eyes could fuel mine.

  He grabbed my hips as the water sloshed around us and lapped at the edges of the tub. "You like it wet."

  "I think that's you. I like it deep. You like it slick."

  He thrust up. I gasped. He pulled me to him and stood suddenly. I wrapped my legs around him and continued to move with him, arching my neck and letting my hair, with its wet ends, fall down my back.

  I closed my eyes. This is Noah. Noah. And I was mad with desire for him.

  He walked out of the tub and laid me on my back on a chaise longue in front of the windows. There was something exciting about feeling exposed. And Noah was exposing everything in me.

  The chaise was soft and padded on my back. Noah was hard and insistent as he drove into me. I felt my body open itself to him. I imagined myself blooming for him—slick and swollen. I bit his shoulder and tasted the warm, bath honey on his skin. He was delectable, totally lickable. I wanted to suck him and run my tongue over him, but was already too far gone for that.

  "Deeper," I whispered through a ragged breath as he drove against the spot that always stimulated me. "Oh. Oh. Oh." My whole body shuddered with the sudden force of my orgasm.

  "Gray."

  The waves and aftershocks kept coming and coming as Noah came with me. Sex had been good for me with the guys I'd slept with. But I had never felt anything like this before.

  When we finished, we were both breathing hard.

  "So that's what benefits feel like," I finally managed to whisper. "Why did we wait so long to try it?"

  "Let's not make the mistake of waiting to try it again." He pulled out, scooped me up, and carried me to the bed, dripping rose petals as we went. I guessed I was the only thing melting. And it was all because of Noah.

  Chapter 8

  Grace

  When I woke in the morning, Noah was sitting next to me, staring at me, watching me as I opened my eyes. Whatever he was thinking, he quickly hid from me. He was Noah again. Or a version of him, anyway. The hot, desperately sensual stranger was gone. I wanted the stranger back. But I didn't want to beg. This version of him was familiar, and yet not. Some of the soft comfort of friendship had been replaced by what had happened, repeatedly, between us last night. I was still sore and raw from the physicality and physical attraction between us.

  I didn't know where we stood now. And maybe he didn't, either. Friends or lovers?

  Noah played it aloof. Back to friend. Benefits were off the table and lay unspoken between us.

  I'd had boyfriends who liked to brag about their prowess and talk about the sex between us after. Noah didn't mention the sex. Or the way our bodies had responded to each other. Our sexual chemistry had come as a surprise to me. But maybe it was unremarkable to him.

  He plucked a rose petal off my cheek. "I thought these were supposed to dissolve. They're everywhere." He tossed it on the floor, which was strewn with them.

  "Ask for your money back." I rubbed my face, wondering where else I had roses clinging to me.

  Noah smiled.

  "They were everywhere when we arrived. I don't think the petals in the bed were the soluble kind." I still had my makeup on. My hair was a mess. I was tangled, somewhat modestly, but naked, in the sheets. Noah had seen me look worse, but never as completely vulnerable.

  Noah's hair stood on end. He had a shadow of a beard. He was unabashedly naked. His back was taut and muscled. Perfectly proportioned. I would have liked the opportunity to simply stare at him. And explore his body again. But…

  Whatever we'd unleashed last night was penned up again this morning.

  "Damn. I was trying not to wake you." He took my hand and kissed it. "Go back to sleep, Gray. You have plenty of time. Checkout isn't until noon. I have to shower and leave for my flight. I slept too late already."

  I drowsily watched him get up and walk away, his backside toward me the entire way. If he was aroused, he wasn't going to show me. He closed the door without giving me even a peek.

  I fell asleep to the sound of running water in the shower. When I woke again, Noah's suitcase was gone. Noah was gone. There was a wrapped present on his pillow next to me, and a card with my name.

  I opened the card.

  In case I laid an egg. See you at Hardison Castle, duchess.

  Love, Noah

  I frowned, puzzled. Laid an egg? After last night, how could he think that?

  I pulled the wrapping off the gift and lifted the lid off the box. Nestled inside a velvet bed were three yoni eggs in three different sizes— all beautiful pink quartz—and three velvet pouches.

  This was so Noah. I clearly remembered our discussion about them and couldn't help smiling. Yoni eggs, or love eggs, are smooth, semiprecious stone eggs that were used by royal concubines in China to access sexual power and awaken sensual pleasure. They're worn in the vagina and are rumored to increase libido, lubrication, and the power of an orgasm. Traditionally jade, but pink quartz is supposed to open the heart. Noah had said that if he was going to give a woman jewels, these were the perfect gift—a secret token, worn in the most private place, to improve intimate moments. It was the gift of pleasure. And was there any better gift than that?

  "Loyalty," I'd told him. "Fidelity. And love."

  I pulled the medium egg out of the box and held it in the palm of my hand. It was lovely and cool, like the wand. I had two weeks to practice with this before I went to the castle. But how would we ever improve on last night?

  "I hope you're up to the challenge, my pretty," I whispered.

  Part II

  Hardison Castle

  Chapter 9

  Grace

  I came off the plane at Heathrow eager to see Noah, and equally nervous—almost breathless at the thought of night after night of passion with him, but nervous about where our friendship and relationship stood now. I hadn't been able to get our wedding night out of my mind since he left. Every time I thought about it, I went weak in the knees. How could we have such powerful sexual chemistry together? Had it only been a fluke? In truth, I'd taken my share of bubble baths that included my rose quartz wand, and thinking about Noah.

  I'd been practicing with my beautiful yoni eggs since he left. I was damned good with them now, even managing to work my way to the smallest egg, which required the most skill. Look out ancient, royal Chinese court concubines—you have nothing on a modern-day American duchess. I was eager to see just how much more powerful a sexual experience would be with Noah now. And I missed his easy companionship. Noah and I had shared everything once, all our innermost thoughts, deepest insecurities, and darkest secrets. Before the blip that was Christopher. I was eager to reestablish emotional intimacy with Noah.

  The weeks since we'd parted had been busy, stressful, full of research, packing, closing up, planning, and threats from Christopher. He'd gone from penitent and hurt to angry and vile. He sent me a flurry of toxic texts nearly every day.

  How could you betray me with Noah?

  Have you been sleeping with him behind my back all along?

  You married someone else two weeks after you were supposed to marry me? How long were you planning this humiliation? I'll get even, bitch. Watch your backside.

  Those were the tame ones without the vile language and more explicit threats. I blocked him. I didn't know how to take them or how much to fear them, if at
all. The Christopher I believed I'd known would never hurt me. But then I hadn't known the real Christopher at all. I slept with a softball bat beside my bed and carried my small pink pistol concealed. Whatever Christopher's intention, I found myself looking over my shoulder and eager to be out of his reach until he cooled down. If he calmed down.

  Noah was worried, too. He urged me to talk to my building manager and explain the situation to him. To make sure he knew not to let Christopher in the building. Which I did. Noah also wanted me to get a restraining order. Which I did not. I reasoned and argued that I wouldn't be in the country, let alone the city, long enough for it to make a difference.

  I gave my notice and quit my job at Seattle's most upscale and popular cidery with only a tinge of regret. They'd been good to me. I'd cut my professional teeth there and earned a reputation for being creative and having a nose and mouth for tasting.

  My boss ribbed me for calling in rich and noble. And abandoning him for England's apple country. He teased that there was no better apple country in the world than Washington. And while I agreed, I was determined to give Hardison Castle a premium, world-renowned reputation for hard cider.

  I told my boss to expect a cry or two for help while I got my new castle cidery up and running. He was as much mentor and friend as boss. I was excited about being my own boss and getting full credit for my creations. But there was also the responsibility that I'd own any failure tempering my excitement.

  Brewing handcrafted cider was as much magic, talent, intuition, and luck as craft and science. And creating new drinks that went unicorn on us also took a deft touch and even more luck. Noah was counting on me to do my part. As I was counting on him to do his. If everything went as planned, Noah and I would be successful, wealthy, castle-owning entrepreneurs. And girlish dreams of being a princess aside, all that was more exciting to me than being a duchess.