Page 37 of The Odyssean Duke

He stopped before her, so near that she could reach out and touch him. Evelina tried to look away, but instead, she found herself appreciatively gazing at his body. Her eyes roamed over his strong neck down to his sculpted chest; even through his finely tailored jacket, the definition of his muscles was clear. He was unquestionably a handsome man, and that heat curled between her legs, so persistently that she hurt.

“Perhaps, I should show you something that your husband did not,” he said in a sonorous voice. “Maybe just a little of the pleasure I might offer you.”

“Pleasure? I do not need pleasure,” she said. “I have made it clear what I want.”

His brow furrowed, and the Duke of Rothbury looked at her as if Evelina was a puzzle he could not solve. “But you would prefer the deed to be pleasant,” he said. “Wouldn’t you?”

Another step. His powerful thighs brushed against her own, and a lump rose in Evelina’s throat. “I—I do not know.”

He grasped her around the waist and lifted her up, depositing her neatly on the desk. Evelina gasped, marveling at how easily he had done it. She remained seated as he stepped forward, placing himself between her legs. Evelina stared at him with wide eyes. “What are you going to do?”

“You are a brazen woman,” he said, “one who prides herself on defying conventions. I am going to teach you something that defiesallconventions for what a proper lady should do.”

His Grace took a handful of her skirts and drew them up over her calves. Evelina curled her fingers around the edge of the desk and let him. He brought them up past her thighs, and a ragged moan tore from her throat as the cool air in the study brushed across her bare legs. She had the sensation of being wonderfully exposed, and when he looked at her, his eyes alight with appreciation, Evelina shivered. “Please,” she whispered.

Evelina did not even know what she wanted, what action ought to follow her desperate plea, and His Grace only smirked. “In time,” he said.

The Duke of Rothbury slowly sank to his knees. He grasped her ankles and coaxed her legs apart. Her slipper-clad feet dangled in the air, her heels brushing against the polished wood of the desk. “Look at you,” His Grace said.

Evelina swallowed hard. Her skirts were bunched up around her thighs, and with her legs spread as they were, she knew that he must be gazing at her damp and clenching sex. He stroked her thighs, and Evelina shifted on the desk. She did not know what to think about this. Anticipation twisted in her chest and her body. Evelina felt strangelyalive, as if she had been dreaming before and only just awakened to a world that was so full she could scarcely comprehend it.

His Grace dipped his head, and his warm breath ghosted over her thigh. Evelina gasped, her chest heaving. “Y-your Grace,” she rasped.

He chuckled and placed a gentle kiss against the inside of her thigh. Then, he paid the same to the other. Evelina shifted on the desk, her hips jolting forward. “Impatient,” he teased.

She searched for some witty retort, determined not to let him win so easily, but every remark fell away as he kissed and stroked her thighs. Her inner walls clenched, and her core ached. Evelina grasped the edge of the desk so hard that her knuckles hurt, the pain a steady point that kept her tethered to a tenuous reality. Her body was warm all over, sweat pooling at the small of her back and gooseflesh raising on her arms.

“I—I need…” she trailed off, words escaping her.

“Release?” he asked, chuckling against her thigh. “Your husband treated you poorly, indeed.”

Her husband had never even touched her like he was. He had never lifted up her skirts and touched her thighs with his fingers or his lips. A little whimper escaped Evelina’s lips as His Grace’s thumb gently traced through the red-gold curls of hair between her legs.

“You have been neglected for so longer,” he said.

He had no idea how long. Her muscles grew taut as he kissed right over her core. An undignified cry tore from her, and Evelina’s hips bucked reflexively forward. His Grace tilted his head back, so he was no longer obscured by her voluminous skirts. “I want to watch you come undone,” he said.

Evelina let out a small, breathless laugh. “I do not think you will find me very lovely when I do!”

She imagined how she must look to him with her flushed face, heaving chest, and disheveled skirts. It must be an uncomely vision, indeed! The situation would be worsened only if someone entered and saw her in such a disgraceful state.

“I think you are exquisite,” he said. “Psyche herself would be envious.”

She laughed. “Liar.”

His Grace grinned shamelessly, his thumb stroking between her folds. Evelina squeezed her eyes shut, gasping as his every touch soothed the ache between her legs, while igniting something elseentirely. Her core pulsed, and she rocked against her hand. A tightness grew inside her, and tears sprang to her eyes as she fought to contain it.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Ensuring that you leave this room fully satisfied,” he said. “Look at me, my lady.”

Her eyes snapped open, and she met his gaze. The sensation in her grew tighter and tighter, and she shifted against the desk and against his hand. Evelina was in an agony that she had no words for, and tiny broken sounds fell from her throat. “Wh—what are you doing?” she asked again. “What does thatmean?”

Her thighs quivered, and he quickened his movements. Evelina rubbed her core against his hand, twisting and turning upon the desk without any conscious thought. Some deep-seated instinct seemed to have taken over her body, and she cared for nothing except for how she might satisfy that need, that tension curling inside her stomach.

Suddenly—

Her body shuddered, and a warm sensation swept over her. White lights obscured her vision as a wave of pleasure overcame her. Evelina gasped for air. She fell forward and instinctively seized His Grace’s hair, keeping herself steady as her body basked in this new state of ecstatic and divine feeling.