They didn’t talk as they walked, though butterflies knotted themselves in her stomach. A little of the heat ebbed as nerves and doubt replaced her clawing need. Those butterflies started a series of unwanted acrobatics, and Audrey swallowed hard against the doubt.
She was all confident and proud of her curves in bed with the random photographer or bartender from club whatever, but Duncan…
Audrey swallowed and snuck a glance at him. His fingers held hers no less tightly, and the harsh light of the streetlamps still showed the raw need on his face. When he turned to her, his eyes remained shadowed, but they caught hers with such intensity, such primal want, her breath caught.
He really did look like he wanted to take her against the closest tree.
Duncan was a billionaire earl. For the previous couple of days, she’d tried to convince herself this was a fantasy straight out of a romantic movie, one she could indulge in. Right at this moment, as they crossed a street, Audrey couldn’t help but feel she wasn’t quite what he’d been used to.
Was this him indulging in a novelty? A woman with curves instead of straight lines and a perfect smile?
Audrey took another deep breath to steady her nerves and scatter those annoying butterflies. They crossed another street and came up to one of the most breathtaking buildings she’d ever seen in London. In a city that prided itself on its historical architecture, this one stood out. One long block, at least a couple hundred years old, it looked like a museum or a government building. But Duncan waved at the guard and continued forward.
Those stupid butterflies returned. No. Audrey took a deep breath of the cold evening air and tossed her head back just a little, in defiance of her own thoughts. Mae wouldn’t be intimidated; neither would she. Enjoy your curves, Audrey, and so will Duncan.
He tapped in the code to the door and ushered her in. Her shoes echoed loudly on the marble floor, and when he flicked the lights on, Audrey’s breath caught.
“Wow.” It was pretty much all she could manage as she gazed at the expanse of marble flooring in the large foyer. Flushing a little at the obvious response to seeing a foyer that looked part museum, she cleared her throat and looked up at Duncan.
He closed the door carelessly behind him, not bothering to look at it. “Wow indeed,” he agreed. But he wasn’t looking at the foyer or at anything else in what she now believed to be his townhouse.
He looked directly at her.
Audrey swallowed hard and finally saw his brilliant blue eyes in the light. A storm blew through them, hot and arousing, as he looked at her.
“Why, Lord Thornhill,” she said in what she fervently hoped was a sassy tone. “I can see the indecency in your eyes.”
He stepped closer, his hands on her hips. “All the better to see you with.” His voice flowed over her like warm honey, and she couldn’t help the shiver.
“I can feel your hands on my hips.” Her throat tightened with need, but she continued their game.
His hand squeezed her hips slowly, slowly moving his hands up so his thumbs brushed the underside of her breasts. Audrey’s breath caught, and she tried not to sway into him.
“All the better to explore you with.” Duncan’s voice dropped lower, his thumbs teasing her, his eyes promising wicked, wicked things.
Audrey forgot how to breathe and wondered if it was possible to have an orgasm from the sound of Duncan’s seductive promises. She was willing to experiment to find out.
“I can feel your breath on my neck,” Audrey whispered. All willpower gone, she swayed against him.
He leaned closer, his breath hot against her cheek, lips brushing over her skin. “All the better to tease you with.”
His lips trailed over her cheek, along her jaw, down her throat. That needy whimper came from her, and Audrey didn’t care.
“All the better to taste you with,” Duncan said, his teeth scraping over her sensitive skin.
Audrey melted. She might have felt like Little Red Riding Hood if she hadn’t felt so wolfish herself.
Maybe it really was possible to climax from the sound of his voice. She’d love to find out, but really, really wanted to feel his skin against hers, his mouth on her, his fingers bringing her pleasure.
His teeth nipped at the base of her neck, his tongue gentle over it. She whimpered again, and the hands that had gripped his arms suddenly moved to tangle themselves in his hair. She wanted to taste him again, wanted to feel his lips against hers.
Pulling her to him, Audrey took. In the middle of the marbled foyer of a museum, she didn’t care and kissed him. She nibbled on his lower lip and licked along said lip to taste him, to savor him for just a heartbeat.
Duncan growled, a low primal sound that made her stomach clench in need, every thought but taking him deep inside her flew right from her head. His hands combed through her wind-blown hair, trapping her against him. He angled the kiss deeper, sweeping his tongue against hers and backing her up.
Audrey’s heel hit something, and she broke the kiss. Looking behind her, she saw the stairs, where Duncan obviously led her. She shook her head, struggling for words. The stairs no doubt led to his bedroom, but it would take entirely too long to get there.
“Too far,” she muttered and looked to the left where a door led to what had to be a parlor or living room, or a room equally convenient and close. “I want you now.”
Duncan said something that sounded very much like an agreement. Before she could find her senses, scattered as they were along the floor, Duncan had maneuvered them into the front parlor. Two lamps lit the room, casting fingers of light across the sofa.
Audrey was certain the room was a beautiful display of antiques and money but couldn’t quite care enough to stop tasting Duncan and look. She didn’t care about his money, didn’t care about the house he lived in, and at the moment she didn’t care he was an earl.
He was a man who kissed her like she was the only woman in the world he ever wanted to kiss, and she took that.
Took it and savored it, shoving his coat off his shoulders, unbuttoning the pair of buttons that held his suit jacket together, uncaring where his clothes fell so long as they revealed more of his delectable body to her touch.
Her blood raced through her, hot with arousal. Her entire body clenched in need as Duncan’s fingers slipped beneath her sweater and caressed up her sides and over her lace-covered breasts. Her nipples hard and aching for his mouth, Audrey moaned his name and arched into his touch.
Before she could blink, Duncan tugged her sweater over her head and tossed it behind him. Then he stared at her—no. He didn’t just stare. He drank her in as if she was his sole source of water and he’d been too thirsty for too long.
She moved to cover herself. Suddenly self-conscious in the light of the parlor as he watched so intently, as if he’d never stop, she tried to take a step back. Out of the light, away from his hungry gaze.
So much for embracing her curves.
This time she knew the flush on her face had more to do with embarrassment and less to do with arousal. When had she last been so insecure?
Before she could answer her own question, a flash of anger crossed Duncan’s face. His lips thinned, and the storm in his eyes nearly broke.
“Don’t.” One word, a command.
But his hands were gentle as he wrapped his fingers around her wrists and tugged her arms away from her. Feeling unbearably foolish, Audrey sucked in a deep breath and wondered if pushing Duncan to the floor and having her way with him would make him forget her momentary awkwardness.
He wasn’t having any of that. As gently as his fingers held her wrists, his mouth pressed to hers. He retraced his path down her neck, nipping at the same spot between shoulder and neck that made her knees week.
“Don’t hide yourself,” he said against her skin. Audrey shuddered at the sound of his voice, the honeyed promise.
His fingers brushed her bra strap aside, lips following its path. He kissed along her shoulder, his teeth nib
bling as his tongue tasted her skin. His fingers skimmed over her shoulders and down her back, unhooking her bra, only to toss it aside. He cupped her breasts, his thumbs brushing over her already hard nipples.
Audrey forgot how to breathe, let alone why she should be embarrassed.
His fingers were gentle, but she felt the suppressed passion with every touch, in the way he captured her nipples between finger and thumb, in the way his teeth tugged one aching nipple into his warm mouth.
She gasped his name and with that, all thoughts of insecurity, of shutting out the lights or of tugging off her panties but keeping her clothes on, fled from her mind.
Her fingers found the buttons on his shirt and she quickly undid them, pushing the material off his shoulders, only to have it caught on his wrists. She had a brief thought of using that shirt to tie him up so she could have her way with him, but then his hands were on the waistband of her skirt and he was kneeling before her, peeling the material away from her skin.
His fingers brushed her bare skin, his mouth kissing down her inner thigh as he slowly undressed her. Audrey blinked and watched him, one hand automatically resting on the top of his head as he kissed back up her inner thigh. She shuddered, unable to find the words but so desperate to feel him inside her.
She wanted to taste him, wanted to undress him as he’d done her and lick her way down that incredible body of his. But then his mouth kissed her wet heat, and Audrey swore she saw stars.
When she opened her eyes again and looked down, his gaze held hers. She’d never seen such need, such naked lust in another’s gaze, and it made her want to feel every single inch of that against her.
“Duncan,” she breathed.
Whatever he heard in her voice, the storm in his blue eyes broke. He growled again, and the sound shot straight through her. He’d moved his mouth from her core, and his fingers no longer teased her entrance but now brushed over her hips.
Before she could moan at the loss, he’d shucked his shoes and socks and pulled her against him. Audrey ran her hands over his naked chest, wondered when he’d gotten rid of the shirt, and leaned over to taste him. His taste exploded over her tongue and straight through her. Her hands went to his belt and button on his pants, desperate to feel him against her.
Once free, she took a deep breath, tried desperately to find some measure of control, and looked at him. Muscles she’d only dreamed about begged for her touch. Her fingers ached to feel his skin, run over his hips, caress his cock.
She licked her lips, but before she could kneel before him and assuage her curiosity about what he felt like, what he tasted like, Duncan laid her on the floor. His hands were rough on her hips—just the right kind of rough to make her cry out. His mouth bit down her belly, and Audrey forgot why she’d wanted to make love to him in the dark.
She’d never have been able to see his dark head between her legs if she’d somehow managed to get those lamps out.
Duncan teased her, kissed her hips, stroked her inner thighs, his fingers brushing and teasing over her nub. Audrey cried out, her hands tangled in his hair, and swore she begged.
She didn’t care. Not even when she heard his chuckle, a low, erotic sound that curled around her with such pleasure she knew she’d climax right there. And wanted to.
But he teased her, his fingers driving her higher and higher, only to pull back and tease her breasts and pinch her nipples until she did beg.
“Duncan,” she moaned, wanting to feel him inside her, wanting to straddle him and ride him until her orgasm exploded over her.
Audrey felt him leave her, and she rose up on her elbows to see what the hell he was doing. He muttered to himself, words she couldn’t make out, then came back with a condom and a triumphant look on his face.
Before she could be glad one of them was thinking clearly, he’d entered her. Audrey screamed his name as her orgasm finally, finally broke. He moved, not giving her a chance to recover, with hard, deep thrusts that filled her. She bent her knees, her nails digging into his shoulders and her hips meeting every hard movement.
“More,” she moaned. She kissed down his neck, her tongue licking his scent off his skin as he continued to move deep within her.
Her orgasm built again, spiraling up and out of control so fast that Audrey couldn’t contain it. Then it shattered over, around, through her. Her mouth clamped down on Duncan’s shoulder as she rode out the pleasure, the unbearable bliss.
She felt more than heard his own shout of release, her name as it tumbled off his tongue, and she opened her eyes. He watched her, as he had since last night, his attention focused only on her.
Breathing heavily, her brain foggy with her orgasm and the taste of Duncan on her tongue, Audrey lifted a hand to brush his cheek.
Chapter Five
The rug was soft and plush beneath Audrey. She moved slightly, trying to feel her limbs. No use—her body continued to hum with pleasure; she could still taste Duncan’s kiss on her lips, and even as sated and boneless as she felt, she wanted him again.
Swallowing, she licked her lips and wondered at that last thought.
This was her vacation, her English holiday, and she hadn’t exactly planned on sleeping with anyone, let alone doing it again. When they’d kissed in the park, Audrey had thought this would be a one-off, a one-night stand.
Duncan’s eyes were closed in the dimness of the parlor and his breath even, but she knew he wasn’t asleep. Her head rested on his chest, the slow rise and fall of him lulling her eyes closed and keeping her body pliant and boneless still. He wasn’t bulked up with muscles but well-toned beneath her, solid and delectable.
His fingers absently ran down her side and over her hip, not enough to arouse, just enough to make her want to turn and discover how much more those talented fingers of his could do. Audrey wanted to straddle him and taste every hard inch of him. Her eyes drifted close and her mouth curved against his chest at the thought.
He’d tugged his suit jacket over them, and looked to be in no hurry whatsoever to move. Her right leg curled over his, bare and naked in the lamplight, and her stomach was pressed to his side. Looking down his body to where hers pressed against Duncan, Audrey felt exposed and naked—and not merely in a no-clothing way.
Chubby and exposed, she decided as she tried to figure out how to pull her sweater over from wherever it had landed so she could cover herself. Yes, she felt exposed and chubby. Duncan’s fingers continued to trace her hip, down to the top of her thigh, then back up. With each movement of his fingers, Audrey’s desperation to find her sweater increased.
If she moved, then he’d open his eyes and see her. Look at her and really study her. Not that he hadn’t already when his mouth had tasted her, and his fingers had explored her rather generous curves. But that had been in the height of passion and hot, really hot, and totally worth it sex.
Now it was after. And after never worked out so well for her.
So she stayed where she was, caught between wanting to run back to her hotel, chalk today up to a great memory and wait out the rest of the days of her vacation, and staying here, curled into Duncan’s side and licking her way down his body until she’d memorized it.
Audrey looked down his body again, the lean hips and strong thighs. No, not a bulked-up Vin Diesel, not that there was anything wrong with Vin Diesel, but nice and firm. She ran her fingers over his chest, felt the strength there, and wondered why he’d done this.
She knew why she had—it wasn’t hard not to want Duncan Collins. He was smart, funny, understood a good innuendo, and made her toes curl with only a kiss, and her heart skipped a beat with his sexy smile. No, he wasn’t like any of her previous lovers who were more along the less muscled, more rounded side.
So why her?
She wasn’t his normal type, not if what she knew about the previous women he’d had on his arm was true. Why her? Something a little different? He hadn’t moved or rolled off her, given her a quick grin or knowing wink, and pretended none of
today had ever happened. No, he lay beneath her, his body warm against hers, his hand caressing her side.
She wanted to ask but couldn’t bring herself to. For all her Mae West quoting and sassy winking self, Audrey didn’t have the confidence to ask serious questions. “Why sleep with a fat woman?” was never leaving her lips.
“I’m sure there are a bevy of sassy broads here in London,” Audrey started, lifting herself up a little to see him better. See him better and put a little, just a little, distance between their bodies. “What made you want this sassy American?”
Duncan opened his eyes and looked up at her. She couldn’t read his gaze; his thoughts were quite expertly hidden behind the mask he presented the world. But his mouth curved into a slow smile that made her skin tingle. “I was smitten by your red lips,” he said softly, the pad of his thumb running over her bottom lip.
Audrey’s breath caught, and she tried to remember the thread of the conversation. “Then any girl with a tube of crimson can snag you,” she said with a smile. But her voice caught, and his fingers went from simply grazing her skin to erotically caressing her.
One of his eyebrows raised and his tone changed, more serious though he didn’t look angry or upset. “Not any girl,” he said slowly, thumb still on her lips. “Just you.”
She returned his smile, skin tingling from his touch, mouth throbbing for his kiss. Audrey swallowed hard and fought herself for serious, not sassy.
“So what do you do when you’re not romancing sassy Americans?” she wondered. It was only then she realized her nails flicked over his nipple and her leg shifted further over his thighs.
His fingers moved from her lips to her cheek, a brush over her skin before tangling in her hair. He held her still as if afraid she’d jump up and run.
“I work,” he said quietly. “Spend a little time in the country then work some more.” He pulled her closer, her body more firmly over his. “What about you?” he wondered, thumb still brushing lightly over her cheek.
The jacket slid off them, exposing her to his gaze. His hungry gaze never left hers and she felt his arousal against her. Audrey swallowed and wanted to move over him, but held still. His words, his gaze, captured her.
Countess Curvy: A Curvy Girl's Earl Page 4