The Scandalous Duke Takes a Bride

by Tiffany Clare

  As he kissed her full on the mouth their tongues tangled and her hands explored his arms and his shoulders. She rubbed her hands over the stubble covering his jaw as their kiss gentled.

  Kneeing her thighs apart, he situated himself between her legs, letting her feel just how hard he was for her by pressing himself against her core, rocking into her as their passions increased and they were both panting for more.

  They were in a position they’d been in before; only this time there wasn’t a force in all of nature that could make him pull away. Did she truly understand the depth of his feelings for her? The intensity of his desire that outweighed reason itself? That would be the one thing he’d show her before he left her at his estate tomorrow. God, that was the last thing he wanted to do. At least they had the night.

  * * *

  Had she ever truly understood just how fulfilling it was to be in Hayden’s arms she’d have encouraged and begged her husband to petition for divorce long ago. She’d never expected to desire any man as deeply as she did Hayden. He made her forget every harsh word used toward her, every hand raised against her, every violence brought upon her, by the weak man who had been married to her.

  Her only crime in marriage had been that she would not be stifled by a man filled with so much hatred.

  There was no hate in Hayden.

  There was only love.

  There was unending kindness toward her when half the time she didn’t believe she deserved it.

  She asked herself again how she could have been so blind as to not see what had always been right in front of her. There could be no regrets, though, of not knowing this truth sooner, because they belonged to each other now.

  What mattered was that she now knew what it was like to share the hopes of a better future with Hayden. She knew what it was like to be in his arms in the moment. And she wouldn’t trade this feeling for all the sorrow or misery she had suffered previously if it meant losing this precious, beautiful moment.

  Jessica wrapped her arms tight around Hayden’s shoulders, tracing the sinew of his back as he moved above her. His arms braced on either side of her to keep his weight from crushing her into the mattress.

  She wanted his clothes gone, so they were finally naked—with nothing left to hide from each other. She reached down between them and found the buttons fastening his trousers.

  She broke away from their kiss to whisper, “Take them off. I want to know what it feels like when we are flesh against flesh.”

  He nibbled at her bottom lip and with a groan tore away from her so he could shuck the last of his clothes. Standing from the bed, he released the ties she’d missed on his trousers and pushed the material below his hips. His cock sprang out, demanding her full attention.

  On seeing him bare, less debonair and all masculine with the absence of clothes, she had a sudden desire to learn his body much more intimately.

  She pressed one hand to her chest, finding it suddenly hard to breathe at the sight of him. His manhood was a great deal larger than what she’d seen on any man before: real, statue, or etched. She knew it fit perfectly well, so she wasn’t sure why the size was so shocking.

  There were butterflies in her stomach and her nerves were on edge. She was afraid to even speak as she traced every muscled line and protrusion of his body with hungry eyes. Taking in her fill, she crawled toward him, where he stood next to the bed, and perused his form more closely. She wanted to touch him, but she hesitated.

  Throat dry, she attempted to swallow, but all the saliva from her mouth was nonexistent. Nerves, this was all nerves. She didn’t know the first thing about seducing a man in the flesh. With words, yes, but she lacked for words at the moment.

  Fists clenching and unclenching at his sides, he stared back at her with a hooded gaze, his breathing ragged, his cock flexing in need in the triangle of dark blond hair at its root. The image he presented was so animalistic, so raw, that her body clenched in response. She did not think she’d get enough of this new side she was seeing of him in one evening. Maybe not ever.

  She reached for his arm, a neutral spot that wasn’t so new to her. The muscles flexed along his forearm as she slid her hand lower and grabbed his hand and led him back onto the bed with her.

  “I’m trying hard to take this slow when what I want most is to throw you on the bed and take you hard and fast.” His voice was hoarse, his body tense, as though he was holding himself back from doing just that.

  “Maybe I don’t want slow.” She rolled her hips suggestively where she knelt. Cool air touched the wetness that slicked her core. “The night is ours, and it’s without the chance of interruption.”

  When he joined her on the bed the tips of her breasts brushed over his chest so lightly that her nipples hardened further with the sensation of his heated touch. His chest surged against hers on a deep inhalation and his arms came around her waist to pull her right along the length of his torso and thighs.

  His cock pressed demandingly against her belly as he slid his arms up her back and beneath her hair to hold her head in his big hands as he devoured her mouth with renewed fervor now that he had ahold of her and they were flesh against flesh.

  Jessica didn’t remain idle. Her hands traced, molded, and squeezed parts of him she’d never dared dream of touching until now. He was solid muscle everywhere she explored. Lean lines of sinew formed and moved on his back; his buttocks were just as solid as his thighs when she skimmed over the backs of them before trailing her hands higher once again.

  Hayden lowered his hands and gave her the same treatment she’d given him. Only when he reached one cheek of her buttocks he slid his hand down and forward enough that the slickness at her center coated his fingers and made him groan in her mouth where their tongues were entwined.

  He hitched up her thigh as he tipped her back on the bed. Her hair fanned out around her shoulders. One knee bent, her legs spread around his, Hayden pulled away from their kiss to look down at the image she must make. She was sure she blushed in places she’d never blushed before, but she couldn’t blame him for taking his time. She’d studied him in much the same manner.

  Manhood trailing over her belly and the thatch of hair at her center, Hayden kissed his way down her body. His lips pressed lightly over her neck, breasts, and rib cage—and bypassed the most sensitive part at the tips of her breasts. She tangled her hands in his hair, grasped tightly, and pulled him up enough that she could see the smile playing on his lips.

  He knew perfectly well what she wanted, and he was going to make her beg for it. She was tempted to give in but stopped herself and released her hold on his hair so she could push him off her instead.

  She’d not remain still for his ministrations; she wanted the same opportunity to explore him as he had with her.

  “I don’t think that’s fair,” she said, finger pushing at the center of his chest as she drove him off her and knelt once again on her knees to face him. “I want to play, too.” She pouted out her bottom lip, trailing her finger down his sternum, between the strong cords of his abdominal muscles, until finally she reached his jutting manhood.

  She didn’t cup it, just rubbed her hand back and forth over the formidable length. She saw that Hayden had to restrain himself from tossing her back on the bed and finishing this once and for all. With his fists clenching at his sides again, she watched his jaw grind as she increased her tempo and pressure to the sensitive underside.

  “What do you want, Hayden?” Her question came out a seductive purr.

  She waited for him to tell her to suck him, because she wanted to and would without hesitation if that was what he wanted. Instead of saying anything, the tic in his jaw grew more prominent the longer he stared at her.

  As she grazed her finger over and around the tip of his cock a bead of fluid emitted from the tip. She rubbed her finger over it, swirled it around the head of his sex, testing his restraint. She wanted to be the one person who could push him past the last threads of his control.…<
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  It didn’t take too much to accomplish just that. When Hayden reached for her this time his hold was strong, determined. She couldn’t tease him a moment longer. She knew he wanted her to submit. It was evident in the way he stared at her, a hungry man who wanted nothing more than her surrender. And she could give him nothing less than what he desired.

  This time, when he laid her back on the bed she went eagerly. He pushed out her thighs with his, settling his body between her spread legs.

  Her breath hitched in her lungs as he grasped her by the hips and lifted her lower body completely off the bed so that he could tongue at her core.

  Deep, needy moans slipped past her throat with the ministrations of his tongue against those sensitive parts. It was almost too much to bear. But bear it she did, for she wasn’t sure she ever wanted the delicious assault to end.

  His tongue swept around the folds of her sex, intermittently thrusting hard into her sheath. And all she could do was hold herself up on her elbows as he ate at her like a man starved of the one thing he’d always been denied.

  Her eyes slipped closed as she absorbed every sensation, every feel of his tongue. She wanted to hold him in her arms, wrap her body around him till there was no knowing where she started and he ended. His tongue flicked around the little bud of her sex, over and over again, relentlessly, deliciously. She ached so deep inside that something foreign unfurled as he continued to suck and tease at the most private part of her body.

  “Hayden,” she said, her voice husky. Needy.

  Falling back on her shoulders, she grasped his forearms and held on for dear life. “Oh, God, I can’t.” She shook her head, her breathing beyond ragged. “Oh, God. Oh, God. Hayden.”

  That elusive something more was at the precipice and ready to fly free. Her nails dug into his arms. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to stop or to continue, to suck and lick harder or gentle his touch. A tempest of emotions and unfamiliar feelings ran rampant in her head and her body until the dam finally broke and she cried out his name again and again, coming completely undone in his arms.

  He lowered her hips gently to the bed, came over her, clasping her head with his hands, and kissed her deeply. She could taste herself on his tongue, and while she should be embarrassed by the intimate act, she could do no more than squeeze her thighs around his hips and tangle her hands through his hair, sucking his tongue deep into her mouth as he finally entered her body in one hard thrust.

  Her breath caught in her throat and his body stilled, but he continued kissing her. She explored and stroked his shoulders, arms, and back, this time with less tentative touches. Her body flexed around his and finally … finally he moved deep inside her at a steady, breathtaking pace.

  He broke their kiss so that he could gaze into her eyes as he made love to her as though they had all the time in the world. He didn’t say anything, just traced the side of her face with his thumbs, the motion rhythmic, and matched the timing of his body moving inside her.

  That fluttering sensation deep in her womb, her body, radiated out again, and she felt herself close to tipping over that edge into a complete free fall of sensation once again.

  “I never want it to stop,” she said.

  A boyish grin tilted Hayden’s lips before he kissed her again, his pace increasing. Before she could comprehend what was happening he reversed their positions, propping himself up on the pillows as she sat astride his thighs, unsure what exactly she should do.

  While she was no shy virgin, she had only known intercourse one way.

  “Ride me, Jess.” His demand was guttural, raw.

  How could she deny him anything when he was showing her a gambit of feelings in his expression she’d never seen before? She lifted herself up slowly, liking the way he felt inside her when she was on top.

  His hands grabbed her hips and guided the slide of her body atop his. The bounce of her breasts proved too much for him to look at and he sat up and sucked one deep into his mouth, biting playfully and licking the nipple and undersides in tandem. The thrust of her pelvis increased with the encouragement of his hands, and he started to plunge up into her as she rode him harder and harder till their bodies were slick with sweat and sliding over each other.

  Waves of pleasure continued to bombard and fill her until she felt herself letting go again. Hayden stole her screams this time with a kiss and let her ream out every bit of pleasure she could, before he flipped her around on hands and knees and took her hard from behind.

  Her arms stretched out in front of her as he wrung out even more pleasure from her. She was panting hard, unable to form one tangible word. Not that she cared to say anything.

  Hands firmly holding her hips, Hayden kept her close as their bodies slapped together in some primal dance she wished she’d experienced sooner. The pace picked up and then Hayden was pulling out of her with a curse. His arms were shaking where he knelt on the bed, his fist pumping his cock as his semen spilled out between the tight grasp of his fingers. The sight was new to her and so erotic that she felt her sheath clench tight inside, her body missing the pulse of his cock pumping hard inside her.

  She rolled to her side and stared up at him with sleepy eyes. That had taken the last bit of life out of her today, though her body wasn’t ready for rest just yet.

  “Why did you pull out?”

  He leaned forward, kissed her brow, and stood from the bed. “Do you want me to ring for a bath?”

  “You’re not even going to answer my question?” Why it bothered her she couldn’t say. But it did. Especially considering he hadn’t done so earlier in the day.

  “Jess, we’re not married. We can’t take a chance like that and risk censure should you find yourself pregnant and having that baby before we’ve been married a year. I will not have society thinking either of us cuckolded Fallon.”

  While his reasoning was sound, it still upset her more than she wanted to admit.

  “What about this morning, then?” she reminded him.

  “That was the last thing I expected to happen, and should my actions have consequences … We’ll have to worry about it then.”

  He headed toward the washbasin.

  His backside was just as impressive as his front, and Jessica enjoyed the view of his bare buttocks as he stood with his back to her. As his hands moved so did the muscles in his shoulders and arms. She wanted to feel those lines moving under her tongue. Her heart beat heavily in her chest, and her breaths came faster. He’d made a wanton of her and she doubted she’d ever get enough of him now that she’d tasted of the forbidden fruit, so to speak.

  As he wiped his hands off on a fresh towel he turned to her with an amused expression. Had he noticed her riveted gaze? She was sure she was blushing, which was nothing new; she’d been doing that a lot lately.

  “I’m exhausted, which I think has something to do with you. It’s been a long day and I’ve never traveled well.” She stretched out her arms like a lazy cat sunbathing. “Come to bed. Sleep awhile with me, though I’m not sure we’ll sleep much.”

  Hayden wrung out the towel without answering and brought it over to the bed. “We do have an early start.”

  When he leaned over the bed and pushed her knee out she tried to take the towel from him. He pulled it away from her with a “tsk” and one cocked eyebrow that dared her to argue.

  The cool cloth brushed over her womanhood. Jessica closed her eyes, feeling suddenly shy about their intimacies, embarrassed that she was without a stitch of clothing to hide behind as he stared at very private areas of her for reasons other than intercourse.

  Warmth brushed over her lips a second before he kissed her long and deep. Her arms snaked around his shoulders as the wet slap of the cloth met the floor. Hayden came over her again, their mouths never breaking. One big hand cupped her hip as he lay down on his side, turning her so they faced each other on the bed.

  She kissed him back but had to pull away to ask, “Don’t you think we should at least get under t
he covers?”

  With a quick exhale, Hayden lifted her up, practically tossing her to the middle of the bed, and yanked the bedding down. Then he climbed into the bed with her and pulled the covers up, him between her spread thighs. “Is that better?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Yes, but you really must stop tossing me about as though I were no more than a rag doll.” She laughed, making the request less serious than she’d meant.

  “Can’t promise that.”

  “And why is that?”

  “If I told you, you’d box my ears.”

  “You can’t possibly know that unless you tell me your reasoning,” she countered.

  “You always have the last word, Jess.” Which was very true and would probably never change. “I’ll always have strength over you, but I’ll never hurt you.”

  She pulled away from him, turning to give him her back as she sat on the edge of the bed. She wished then that she’d brought a robe that she could slip into and escape him for a short while. Why had he brought that up?

  His legs came around her hips, his manhood semi-hard and pressed along her spine. Hayden pushed her hair over one shoulder and kissed her exposed nape. “I don’t think I relayed that quite how I was thinking it in my head.”

  “You have to understand that I will never allow another man to use force on me again. Men may often be stronger than women, but we don’t need to be reminded of that fact.”

  “You’re everything to me, Jess. You always have been. And I’d never hurt you.”

  “Yet you just let me know that you have the strength to overpower me if you so wish it.”

  His hand brushed over her arm as he continued to plant kisses over her nape and her shoulder. Moments ago, before his admission, she’d have melted into the intimacy. Now she couldn’t. Not till he took back his words and admitted the stupidity of them.

  “I would never raise a hand or fist in anger against you, Jess. Has our friendship not taught you that? Do you not feel as if you know the real me after nearly ten years of friendship? I have strength; you have a will stronger than anyone I know. I have to bring something to the table in our marriage.”