‘The overwhelming desire to reproduce is prevalent in all species.’ Nick trailed a finger lazily down her back. ‘What else have you learned?’
‘I know it is important for the stallion to be rampant.’
Nick chuckled. ‘Essential,’ he replied softly.
She looked up at him, frowning. ‘Why are you laughing at me?’
‘I am not laughing at you, my sweet. Quite the opposite, in fact. I am enchanted by your analytical approach to what we are about to do. The fundamental difference between animals and humans is that the former act purely on instinct with no emotion invested in the act. Humans on the other hand—’
‘But surely we will be acting on instinct as well?’ She frowned, making it clear to Nick that the understanding of that particular point was important to her. ‘We don’t love one another and simply want to satisfy our carnal desires.’
‘Ah, perhaps that is so. But for the duration of our coupling we will, I assure you, invest every shred of emotion we possess into pleasing one another.’
‘Oh, I see.’ She paused. ‘At least, I think I do.’
Intent upon proving his point with actions rather than words, Nick’s hand moved to the outside of her breast, tracing its contour with a gossamer-light touch. Alive to her every nuance, when she shivered he knew it wasn’t because she was cold. ‘And the first thing you must learn to do is to address me less formally.’
‘I couldn’t possibly do that!’ She seemed scandalised by the suggestion. ‘You are a duke.’
‘A duke who is about to experience the rare privilege of being the first man to enjoy your—’
‘Only when you are feeling rampant, presumably.’
Nick threw back his head and laughed aloud. ‘Oh, yes, only then.’ He brought himself under control and tilted her chin until she was compelled to look into his eyes. ‘Now then, my name is Nicholas. Say it, if you please.’
She shook her head decisively and Nick was obliged to quell the desire to laugh for the second time in as many minutes. She had brazenly offering herself to him but couldn’t bring herself to use his name.
‘Nicholas,’ he insisted. ‘Say it.’
‘Nicholas.’ She spoke with patent reluctance, dropping her head and staring at her hands as she did so.
‘Good girl! There, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?’
‘What happens now?’ She lifted her eyes to his face. ‘I am nervous and impatient to learn more.’
‘That is your first mistake. In such situations haste is unpardonable. We intend to give one another pleasure, Alicia, and it is sinful to rush pleasure.’
‘But the horses do. For them it’s over in seconds.’
‘That is where we differ from our equine companions.’
‘Oh, I see.’ She furrowed her brow. ‘Well, actually, I don’t see, not yet. You have talked a great deal,’ she added on a note of censure, ‘but nothing more.’
He took the end of her sash and pulled until the bow untied. ‘You will not be needing this.’ He slid the robe from her shoulders.
‘W-will I not?’
‘It will only get in the way. Besides, I want to feel your naked flesh against mine.’ Nick observed her face. She looked vulnerable now, sitting beside him wearing nothing but a thin nightgown. Perhaps the enormity of her actions had struck home and she was undergoing a change of heart. He gently agitated her nipple. It was already rock hard, and as pleasure gripped her he could sense her doubts rapidly draining away. ‘We require no impediments to our passion.’
Nick stood and pulled the shirt over his head in one swift movement. Her eyes, brimming with curiosity, drank in the sight of his naked torso. He pulled her to her feet and closed his arms around her.
‘Touch me, Alicia.’ He guided her hand to his chest and held it there. ‘It is very important for a man and woman to have no barriers between them at the height of their passion. Feel my heart.’ He moved her hand until it covered that organ. ‘Can you feel it beating?’
‘Yes.’ Her voice was a husky whisper. ‘But the beat is exceedingly fast. Are you unwell?’
He chuckled. ‘I am suffering from a malady which only you are in a position to cure. You see, my heart is misbehaving due to the passion that you have engendered in me.’
‘It is!’ She opened her eyes very wide.
Nick swallowed the spontaneous laugh that sprang to his lips in case it stopped her from voicing more of her enchantingly naïve thoughts. ‘Indeed it is.’
‘And do I also make you feel rampant?’
This time the laugh wouldn’t be silenced. ‘You certainly do. Just feel.’ Nick guided her hand to the appropriate place and watched her eyes grow larger still. ‘Would you like to see the extent of my rampancy?’
She gulped but to her credit did not lower her gaze. ‘I rather think I would.’
His breeches went the same way as his shirt. He stood before her, as naked as the day he was born, his hand gently massaging a throbbing erection.
‘Oh, my! You are very rampant indeed.’
‘Would you like to touch it?’
‘Yes, I th-think so.’
She sounded anything but certain but curiosity still sparkled bright in her eyes. Nick took her hand and closed it about his shaft. It immediately jumped against her fingers and with a little shriek of alarm she released it.
‘It’s so very large.’ Her eyes were as wide as saucers. ‘Do you mean to put all of it inside me? Is that necessary or can we make do with just a little of it?’
‘Most assuredly you must take it all.’ Nick bit the inside of his lip to prevent himself from laughing aloud.
‘But what if it doesn’t fit?’
‘If there’s one thing I can assure you with absolute certainty, it is that it will fit.’
‘Oh, well, if you’re sure.’ She looked up at him and moistened her lips. ‘I think I’m feeling receptive now.’
‘Perhaps, but there is much you still have to learn before you receive the benefit of my rampancy.’
Alicia felt dazed. It was as though she watched proceedings unfold from a great height, and the woman so boldly enticing the duke into her bed was someone else. But the touch of his fingers as they lazily explored the contours of her breasts gave her an exquisite reminder that she was the one who had so daringly initiated this tryst. She had convinced herself that he would have left her unmolested if she had not insisted upon his remaining, and that would have been a most shocking waste of an opportunity that might never come her way again.
Pleasure spangled through her entire body as he agitated her passions. She threw her head back as unknown sensual delights sent dizzying shock waves spiralling through her. They hit her so rapidly, creating a feeling of such inexorable need in her, that she was incapable of fighting against them. She emptied her mind and gave herself up to the hedonistic pleasure.
The tie at the neck of her nightgown had come undone. Or, more to the point, the duke—Nicholas—had untied it.
‘Can you raise your injured arm?’ he asked her.
Alicia, still in a daze, discovered that she could. She blushed as she stood in front of him naked and, for the first time, afraid. Afraid that she would disappoint him. He must have dallied with women a thousand times more attractive than she was. Which made it very important that she not be found wanting. Not when he was so truly magnificent. His torso, a solid mass of taut muscles, fascinated her. Impulsively she reached forward to touch him, tangling her fingers in the curly mass of hair which adorned his chest. He groaned and covered her hand with his own.
‘Come,’ he said with something approaching urgency.
He led her to the bed and they sat side by side on its edge. Only then did Alicia realise that Nick held the sash from her night rail in his hand.
‘What are you doing?’ she asked when he reached behind her.
‘You must learn to trust me.’
‘I already do.’
‘Not entirely, but all that is about to change
. I am going to take you on a journey of discovery, Alicia, and teach you to trust your senses. They are so much a part of what we are about to do. If you can rely on them to guide you, then the pleasure you receive will be greatly enhanced.’
Alicia gulped. As far as she was concerned her senses were on high alert already. She didn’t want to wait any longer to find out what came next. ‘I am acutely aware of you already, Nicholas.’
‘Are you? Let’s put that theory to the test.’ Before she could protest he tied the sash round her eyes and helped her to lie down, her head cushioned by several pillows. ‘You will receive no advance warning from your eyes of my intentions. You must rely on your sense of feel alone to guide you. You are completely at my mercy and must place your entire trust in me. Will you do that?’
‘Yes, oh, yes!’
‘Good girl. You will have no idea where I intend to touch you, or with what. Does that not excite you, Alicia?’
‘Yes, sir.’ She could hear the anticipatory tremble in her voice. ‘Very much indeed.’
Something gently tickled a spot just beneath her left ear and she squirmed.
‘Tell me what you are feeling.’
‘It’s most extraordinary. You are touching my ear and yet I feel the reaction somewhere else altogether.’
‘Where do you feel it?’
‘Well…I feel it…’ Her words faltered and she felt herself blushing.
‘Did I mention that there is to be no embarrassment between us?’
She shook her head.
‘Just remember that whatever we choose to do has been done by thousands of people before us. It’s the most natural process in the world.’
She was reassured by the smile she could hear in his voice.
‘Now, Alicia, try again and tell me where you feel it.’
‘I feel it in my tummy and…and in my spine, my arms, my legs—’
‘That’s good.’ He sounded like a teacher heaping praise on a recalcitrant student, which in a way she supposed he was. ‘Anywhere else?’
‘Yes, I feel it between my legs. I feel moist,’ she said, emboldened by the fact that she was blindfolded and didn’t have to look at him as she made the admission.
‘That is also a very encouraging sign.’
Whatever he was using to tickle her with—she thought it might be a feather—had now moved to her neck. It tantalised and teased until she shed the remnants of her embarrassment and squirmed impatiently. Desperate for that which she didn’t yet understand.
‘Patience,’ he said with a throaty chuckle. ‘I am in control here and intend to torture your glorious body for a lot longer yet before I satisfy your needs.’
Alicia felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. He thought her body was glorious. The instrument he used to tantalise moved to her breasts. So delicately that the touch was almost non-existent, it circled a nipple. Prurient noises spilled from her lips as she lifted her body toward him, anxious to experience the ambiguous pleasure at closer quarters.
‘You are not to move.’ He tapped her lightly on the thigh. ‘Keep still and let me do my work.’
‘But you are doing your work, Nicholas. A little too well. I feel the overwhelming need to…’ She paused. What did she feel the overwhelming need to do?
‘Yes, my love.’ There was laughter in his voice. Presumably she was behaving in a very provincial manner. ‘Perhaps it’s this that you require.’
She gasped. Something tugged and suckled at her nipple. The pleasure she had received from the feather was nothing by comparison. It was his lips, she realised with a jolt. She could feel his hair flopping onto the upper side of her breasts as he suckled. Was it seemly for a man to behave thus? She didn’t think so, but the blindfold meant that she had received no advance warning of his intentions until she was too caught up with her reaction to care. His fingers caressed her other breast, and she forgot all about objecting. The sensations he engendered were beyond anything she could ever have imagined. She cried out as a fire lanced through her body, fuelling a desperate need.
Nick’s teeth closed about her nipple and very gently nipped at it. She groaned as desire overwhelmed caution. Shivers of liquid excitement cascaded through her at a rate that made her head spin. Her fingers clawed at his back. Her head thrashed from side to side as he ruthlessly aroused her. So much pleasure rioted on the edge of such a deep, acute longing. Alicia truly thought she must be going out of her mind.
‘Please, Nicholas!’
‘Not yet. You are not ready.’
‘I am! Pleaasse!’
He withdrew his lips from her nipple and the disappointment was intense. Until she felt the return of the feather. This time it trailed delicately down her stomach in tight, taunting circles that brutally fired her nerve ends.
‘Does that pleasure you, Alicia?’ asked her tormentor.
‘Yes!’
‘And this?’
Quite without warning the feather appeared to have slipped between her legs. Its sudden appearance there made it feel as though her world was about to implode. Nothing could have prepared her for such a moment. Her body reacted with a vigorous enthusiasm that ought to have shocked her. She could hear the blood pounding in her ears. Incandescent desire dispelled all other thoughts from her head as she rode a wave of timeless pleasure of Nick’s creation. Regardless of his earlier dictate to remain passive, she couldn’t help lifting her hips to meet the feather. Immediately it was withdrawn.
‘Sorry,’ she said breathlessly.
‘You must learn to be submissive, Alicia, and allow me to give you pleasure.’
She hoped that her meek response would disguise the excitement and curiosity his threat engendered deep within her core. When he chuckled, she knew he wasn’t deceived. He followed his laughter with a searing kiss of such molten tenderness that her resolve to remain passive was immediately put to the test.
Nick broke the kiss, leaving her wondering what would happen next. Surely the time had come? When she felt something gently nudging her legs apart she dared to believe that it had. Not knowing quite what to expect, she was unprepared to feel something wet and warm lapping at her entrance. She gasped, dizzy with shock. Each action of Nick’s roused her passions to a higher level. They were now stirred to the point of madness as one piquant thrill after another threatened to destroy her.
‘What?’
When Nick made no response to her rather inane question it dawned on her that his tongue was responsible for the exquisite sensations that continued to cascade through her. Beyond feeling scandalised, she plunged her fingers into the thickness of his hair, which was now spread across her stomach. She surrendered to his touch without reservation as he stoked an inexorable need within her. Just yesterday she’d gone about her business, comfortable in her ignorance. But now? Well, she already knew that something inside her had changed, and she would never be that person again.
Nick raised his head and brought damp lips to rest upon hers.
‘Tell me,’ he commanded.
‘Some things are impossible to explain.’ Her voice sounded distant, different, more mature.
‘Nevertheless, I require you to tell me how that made you feel.’
She stretched and smiled simultaneously. ‘You make me feel like a desirable woman, Nicholas. No one’s ever done that before.’
He chortled. ‘I should hope not…well, not in the same fashion, anyway. But you are desirable, Alicia, never doubt it. Desirable, and lovely, and spirited and brave.’
‘I don’t see how you can say…oh!’
Nick’s fingers now delved where his lips had so recently feasted. Instinctively Alicia opened her legs to give him easier access and suddenly she could see again. Nick had unfastened the sash.
‘Is it time?’ she asked him.
‘I want you to see what happens next. And I want to gauge the expression in your eyes when I enter you.’
She twined her arms round his neck. His body swamped hers as he adopted a pos
ition above her, resting his weight on his elbows. With a tender smile that made her gasp, he gently guided his shaft to her entrance.
‘Sweet Alicia,’ he said in a faraway voice.
He eased into her, stroking her body the whole while. Her shoulder, her breast, her thigh. She let out a sigh of deep contentment as the connection was made with smooth fluidity. He spoke tender words of comfort, much as she soothed her injured animals. But Alicia wasn’t injured. She was strong. Robust. Eager to welcome him inside. She lifted her hips, too aroused to care about passivity, and cried out as a sharp pain gripped her.
Nick stroked her hair and she felt him slide further inside her.
‘No more pain, my sweet. Only pleasure from now on, I promise you.’
Nick was a man of his word. What followed was indescribably beautiful. Alicia was glad afterwards that she had persuaded him to tutor her on this one and only occasion when she would experience sexual fulfilment. She would have been hard-pressed to find a more patient, more experienced, unselfish tutor. He worked his way into her with steady thrusts and didn’t admonish her when she pushed her body up to meet him halfway. She knew when she had taken him all and looked up at him with a triumphant smile. It was just as he had predicted. Her body had accommodated his huge girth with ease. She felt empowered. Proud to have lived up to his expectations and capable of achieving anything she set her heart upon.
‘I did warn you,’ he said, smiling.
‘So you did.’ She lifted a hand to trace the contour of his cheek, committing each endearing feature to memory.
Nick gradually increased the pace of his thrusts. Alicia experienced no alarm, only a growing sense that she was on the brink of something earth-shatteringly beautiful. He brought her to a pinnacle of need, only to hold back when she felt a different sensation building deep within her core. It took her a while to realise he was teasing her.
Of Dukes and Deceptions: Dangerous Dukes Vol 4 Page 13