The Irish Duke

by Virginia Henley

  “Senses?”

  “All five of them. Let me describe how. Looking at you fills me with delight. When I see you walk into a room, my heart skips a beat. When I watch you dance, I am mesmerized. Just a glimpse of your black lace petticoat makes me roll my eyes. When my gaze fastens on your mouth, my imagination fills my head with untold fantasies. Whenever you raise your black lashes and I see your emerald green eyes, I go weak. When I look at you wearing a pink satin nightgown, it takes my breath away.”

  Louisa smiled shyly.

  “Just hearing you has an effect on me. When I hear you sing, I want to applaud. If I hear you laugh, I want to join you. When I hear your undergarments rustle seductively, I become aroused. If I pass the bathing room and hear water trickle, I want to rush in, grab the sponge from your hand, and bathe you.”

  Louisa laughed softly.

  “My sense of smell plays merry hell with me. When I scent your jasmine perfume, it lures me to draw closer. When I inhale the fragrance of your hair, it makes me dizzy. When I detect the aroma of wine on your breath, it intoxicates me.” He drew in a heady breath. “Your woman’s scent fills me with lust.”

  Louisa blushed.

  “When I touch you, your skin feels like silk to my callused fingers. When I cup your shoulders, an urge to protect you overwhelms me. If our hands accidentally touch, I become instantly aroused. When I was holding you in the lake, teaching you to swim, I wanted to remove your ruffled drawers and fondle your naked flesh. When I take you before me in the saddle, the feel of your soft bum against my hard cock, makes my blood surge hot and wild.”

  “James, stop.” She lowered her lashes.

  “Not before I describe the sense of taste. When I kiss your hand, the taste of your warm skin makes my pulse race. When you feed me bacon and I lick your fingers, it makes me ravenous to taste every inch of you. When I taste the honeyed sweetness of your mouth, it drives me mad.”

  She raised her lashes. “You are mad.”

  “Not stark, raving mad. Just a little demented where you are concerned, Lady Lu. I find everything about you physically seductive.”

  “Everything?” Louisa craved to hear more sweet talk. It was deliciously addictive.

  “At least a dozen things, starting with your feet. They are extremely dainty, with little pink toes and a high instep.” He moved down in the bed and took one in his hand. He gazed at it, caressed it, inhaled its fragrance, and kissed it. Then he sucked her toes into his mouth and tickled them with his tongue.

  Louisa was beginning to enjoy the game he was playing. “That’s one; what is number two?”

  He reached beneath the hem of her nightgown until his fingers reached the soft place behind her knees. “Very seductive,” he murmured.

  Lu, finding it difficult to speak, held up three fingers.

  James moved up in the bed. “Your hair.” He threaded his fingers into the dark mass of curls, inhaled its scent, and drew a tendril through his lips. Then he lifted her above him so that it cascaded down onto his throat and his shoulders. “It makes me quiver.”

  She looked into his eyes. “Four?”

  He set his lips to the curve of her neck and left a trail of kisses. “More beautiful than the swans out on the lake.”

  She felt a shiver run down her back. “Five?” she whispered.

  He rolled her onto her back and came above her in the dominant position. He raised her arms above her head and dropped a kiss into each armpit. When she gasped, he murmured, “An extremely intimate and seductive place.”

  “Dare I ask what the sixth is?”

  He moved his hands down her body, sliding them over the slippery satin. “Your slim waist—I can almost span it with my fingers. And it has a swate spot in the middle.”

  “A sweet spot?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Your navel.” He circled it with his finger. “I can’t wait to dip in my tongue.”

  “James!”

  “That would be me.”

  “I lost count,” she lied.

  “Seven.” He slid his hands beneath her and caressed her bottom with the palms of his hands. He moved in circles over the slippery satin. “Seven rhymes with heaven.”

  Louisa felt a tiny frisson of desire ripple through her belly. Eight—I can’t wait.

  James cupped her breasts and weighed them on his palms. His thumbs stroked over her nipples until they became erect and ruched like hard little diamonds. As he played with her lush titties, Lu felt burning threads of fire spiral down from her breasts into her belly and threaten to go lower. She licked lips gone suddenly dry as he slid the nightgown from her shoulders and exposed her bare breasts to his kisses.

  “James . . . I want . . . I want . . .”

  “Nine. I want it too.” He captured her mouth with his in a lingering kiss that went on and on. He lifted his lips from hers. “Your mouth is one of the most wickedly tempting things about you, Lu. I’ll never have enough of it.” His lips took possession of hers firmly, parting them so he could slide in his tongue to capture all her sweetness.

  With his mouth still against hers, he murmured, “Are you curious about ten?”

  “Mmm.”

  James slid his hand down her body and raised the hem of her nightgown to expose her legs. “Your inner thighs are especially seductive.” He traced his fingers down one thigh and up the other.

  Louisa shivered at his touch.

  He stroked and caressed her soft flesh with his callused palms and knew she was becoming aroused. “Eleven is even more intimate.”

  Louisa’s breath caught in her throat as her thighs began to tingle.

  His hands slipped beneath her to capture her bare bum. Then his fingers slid into the deep crevice between her bottom cheeks.

  Louisa arched up from the bed as his hands evoked ever more sensitive sensations that were all new and deliciously wicked.

  His hands pushed the pink satin up to her waist. “Twelve is Mons Venus, which guards your hidden jewel.” His fingers threaded through the dark curls that sat upon her high mons. Then his fingertips dipped into her honey pot to toy and tantalize.

  “No!”

  “Enjoy the sensation . . . feel the pleasure, sweetheart.” He stroked the private place, allowing her to get used to the intimacy. He knew when she began to thrill to his touch, and he pressed the pads of his fingertips against the sensitive spot hidden inside her scented flesh.

  The tiny moan in her throat told him she was experiencing her own female sexuality for the first time. He dipped his head and took possession of her lips with his mouth. He thrust his tongue in a rhythm that matched the pulsations produced by his fingers. He felt her become dewy and moved in delicate circles around her bud, enticing her to feel passion. He stroked slowly to prolong her pleasure.

  Louisa felt a hot ache start in her woman’s core, then threads of flame raced up into her belly, spiraling upward into her breasts, making them hard and tingling. She cried out as she peaked and shattered into a million delicious shards of ecstasy.

  James withdrew his fingers and cupped her mons with his strong hand as she pulsated and quivered until her last tiny spasm was spent. He carefully drew the satin nightgown to cover her nakedness. Then enfolded her in his arms and held her securely so she could savor the enchantment of what had just happened to her.

  When he felt her body soften in his arms he said huskily, “There . . . I have violated nothing. I gave you pleasure without consummating our marriage. Everything about you is exactly the same as it was before.”

  “Before the twelve steps?” I am still intact but nothing about me is the same . . . I will never be the same again.

  James was amazed that he had been able to hold himself in check. He had lusted to mount her and bury himself in her silken sheath, unleashing the fierce desire that rode him whenever he was in her presence. Somehow he had been able to put her enjoyment first, and his need to bring her pleasure had overridden his dark, primal urges. He realized that he must lure her gent
ly. She had resisted him for so long, he knew that if he allowed his ravenous hunger to become savage, she might withdraw from him and erect a defensive barrier that he would have to scale like a castle wall.

  James turned her over and curved his long body about hers in spoon fashion.

  Lu wriggled against his powerful body until she found a comfortable spot. She smiled as she felt his arm slip about her and cup her breast. It made her feel cherished.

  Before she drifted off to sleep, she thought about her husband’s body. I would love to stroke the contoured muscles of his chest and thread my fingers through its black pelt. Then she thought of his inner thighs and his cock that thrust out in rampant splendor.

  A frisson of desire spiraled through her and she shuddered at the thought of exploring his powerful male body.

  The next day, they swam again in the lake, but this time Lu was daring enough to take off her drawers and swim naked. They played in the water like lovers, splashing, and touching, and laughing, and kissing. When they were done, she allowed him to dry her with a thirsty towel, patting and rubbing every inch of her silken skin. Then they lay together in the sun while James described again their five delicious senses, and proceeded to show her the dozen physically seductive places that drove him wild.

  Lu has far more self-confidence today, both in and out of the water. James murmured, “Explore me, Lady Lu,” and she joined in the sensual game with gusto.

  On the ride home, Louisa spotted a bird sitting on the ground. She dismounted immediately and knelt beside it. The young raven tried to run away, but it couldn’t fly.

  James dismounted and bent down to have a look at it. “It has injured its wing.”

  “I’m going to take it and look after it until it can fly again, so the foxes don’t get it,” Lu said decisively.

  James corralled it and Lu picked it up. When the raven tried to peck her fingers, she laughed. “Are you a male or a female?”

  “I think it’s a young female.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “On a female, the beak starts to curve around the middle. The curve of a male’s beak is more pronounced.”

  “I’m very impressed. You know so much about creatures.”

  “Cratures.”

  “She’s black as tar. I’ll call her Tara. I’ll have to dig up worms from the garden.”

  She wrapped the bird in the towel and they remounted.

  “You needn’t. She’s a raptor—she’ll eat any kind of meat or flesh—preferably raw.”

  When they arrived at the stables, James unsaddled their mounts and turned them over to a groom. “Are you going to put her in one of the empty box stalls?”

  “Of course not. I shall keep her in my boudoir.” She glanced at him seductively. “Seeing as I’m not using it.”

  Louisa carried the young raven upstairs and entered her chamber. She looked about the room for a suitable place to put her patient. She carefully unwrapped the towel and set Tara down in one of the gold basins that had once belonged to Josephine Bonaparte.

  James smiled his approval. It showed that Louisa valued the bird more than the imperial treasure.

  She brought it a little pot of water and descended to the kitchens. She told the cook what she needed and asked for a knife. They went into the larder where a roebuck was hanging from a hook and Louisa carved off a small piece of flesh. She cut it up into tiny bits and took it back upstairs.

  The raven huddled in the gold basin, and its bright yellow eyes watched Louisa’s every move. “Hello, Tara. You are intimidated right now, but there is nothing here to be afraid of.” She put the tiny bits of raw venison in the gold basin and moved away.

  Louisa and James had just finished dinner, when Mrs. Connelly escorted one of the grooms to the dining room. When James saw him, he knew immediately that his Arabian mare must be showing signs of foaling. “Will you come with me, Lu?”

  She hesitated because birthing intimidated her. If something goes wrong, James will need me beside him. “Yes, I’ll come,” she said quickly.

  When they arrived at the stables, James hurried down to the box stall and Louisa followed. Jasmine was moving about restlessly, but she whickered when she saw him. He entered the stall and stroked his hand across the Arabian’s swollen belly.

  Louisa summoned her courage. “I warrant we are in for a long night of it.”

  “What makes you think that, sweetheart?”

  “Giving birth is a long, agonizing procedure.”

  “Not for a mare. There is pain, certainly, but once she starts in labor, if she doesn’t deliver within half an hour, the colt will be dead.” James removed his coat and stripped off his shirt. “Sit down in the straw—I think she’s started.” With his strong hands and soothing words he gentled and encouraged his treasured mare.

  In about quarter of an hour, which seemed far longer to Louisa, a birth sac slid onto the straw. James swiftly broke it open so the baby could breathe, and a pleasant aroma filled the air. Then he picked up his shirt and wiped the mucus from its coat. “It’s a male! I couldn’t be more pleased.”

  Lu watched Jasmine sniff and nudge the little colt. The touching affection between mother and baby brought a lump to her throat. “We just witnessed a miracle.”

  “What shall we call him? Prince something or other?”

  “Let’s call him Sultan, son of Jasmine.”

  “That’s perfect.” James wiped his hands on some clean straw and got up from his knees. After they watched the long- legged colt suckle, they returned to the house. While James went to bathe, Lu went into her boudoir to check on her raven.

  She found the bird perched on the edge of the gold basin. “Well, aren’t you the clever little crature?” Tara had eaten a few bits of venison and her water was half gone. The young bird cocked her head from side to side when Lu spoke to her.

  James came in wearing only a towel about his hips. “That’s a good sign. She knows it’s nighttime and she’s gone to roost.” He laughed as a few droppings fell onto the dressing table.

  Knowing he was naked beneath the towel made her pulse race. “Shyte!” Lu wiped up the bird’s droppings with a linen napkin. She poured water from her jug and washed her hands. “Shall we go to roost?”

  She’s actually asking to share my bed. Wipe that smug look off your bloody face before she sees it, Abercorn.

  James folded a small linen towel and tucked it beneath his pillow. With any luck I’ll need this before the night is over.

  He watched Lu come through the adjoining door into the master bedchamber. He experienced a flaring desire that threatened to consume him. It took him a moment to get it under control. He saw her begin to undo the buttons of her riding habit. “Let me undress you.”

  The corners of her mouth went up in a bewitching smile. “I have heard an Irish superstition that green gives a woman power over a man. Are you not afraid that I will drive you to your knees, Abercorn?”

  That’s exactly the position I’ll crave once I have you naked. “Show me no mercy.” He was beside her in two strides, and his fingers finished undoing her buttons and lifting off her riding dress. He turned her about and lifted her hair. “Here is another sensual place my lips cannot resist.” He dipped his head and touched his tongue to the back of her neck. “You taste and smell deliciously feminine.”

  A tiny frisson of desire ran down her spine.

  From behind, James wrapped one arm about her waist and raised her arm. His lips touched her wrist, and then he dropped a trail of kisses along her arm until he reached her shoulder. He set his mouth close to her ear and blew on the curly tendrils of her hair.

  He removed her busk and ruffled drawers then trailed his lips down along the curve of her bare back. He felt her quiver when he kissed her tempting round bottom. When she was naked, save for her stockings and garters, he picked her up and carried her to their bed. He laid her down and spread her tantalizing hair across the pillow.

  “You are beautiful in your witcher
y.”

  She reached up and traced her fingers over the sleek contours of his chest muscles. “Aren’t you going to take off my stockings?”

  “Later. Green satin garters hold me in thrall.”

  She was beginning to realize that a woman’s power over a man had its own potent magic. Her feminine instincts were urging her to be more daring.

  His mouth curved into a smile. Lady Lu, you do possess great power, you just haven’t learned to brandish it. Once you do, it will be devastating. James allowed his smoldering glance to travel the length of her body. With the towel still about his hips, he knelt above her, straddling her soft thighs that were decorated with the garters. “I’m going to taste you.”

  She licked her lower lip and closed her eyes in anticipation of the kiss.

  “I’m going to taste you everywhere.”

  Her lashes flew up as she felt his lips kiss the tendrils on her mons. She saw his dark head dip low between her thighs. “You must not,” she whispered breathlessly.

  “Darling, I must.”

  She saw his face become taut and hungry with need. As his mouth moved closer to her secret center she feared he would devour her. She arched her body and in that moment his thumbs touched her cleft and opened her slightly. Then he covered her with his hot mouth and licked her bud delicately with his tongue. The sensations he aroused were so exquisitely pleasurable, she wanted to scream with excitement.

  He began to thrust his tongue in and out, longing to make her feel wild and wondrous. She was so small and tight, he could tell that she was still virgin, and he vowed to keep her that way for a while. Making love to her with his mouth aroused him to madness. He would never get enough of her.

  As all her senses heightened, she arched into his mouth and cried, “James . . . James!”

  James felt her climax as her sugared sheath tightened on his tongue; then he enjoyed her tiny pulsations as she shuddered with pleasure. Before he withdrew, he licked her swollen bud, relishing her cries of bliss.