Page 46 of A Duchess Untouched

“It means I am done pretending I do not want you,” he whispered. “I am done running away from you, Selina.”

Before Selina could say anything, Matthew gripped her beneath her thighs. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing, then set her on the edge of the worktable. Before she could react, he caught her lips in a kiss, one hand cradling the back of her head while the other held her steady. When he finally pulled back, he pushed her skirts up to her waist and spread her thighs wide. Her breaths came shallowly as she felt the cold wood beneath her buttocks, and her husband’s hot hands on her at the same time.

“I will need you to be quiet for this one, wife,” he said against her thigh. “Unless you want the whole household to hear what I am doing to their duchess.”

Matthew spread her legs apart and knelt between her legs. He trailed kisses along her calf and up her thigh, stopping to nip at her skin until she trembled beneath his hot breath, still untouched where she needed him most. Selina whimpered and tried to push herself forward so that his mouth would touch her, but he pinned her on the counter with his hands and let his breath blow over her as he licked her inner thighs.

“So impatient for me, wife.”

“You have left me waiting far too long, husband.”

As if conceding to her words, his mouth finally licked her sex. Selina gasped, and her back arched off the table. He had touched her before, but this was different. It felt more wicked. It felt so good.

Then he used his tongue to lick her nub up and down. Selina squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on the pleasure. When she bit her lower lip to keep from screaming, she tasted blood.

“Keep quiet, Selina,” he said, then slowly dragged his tongue across her folds, savoring her as if she were the finest thing he had ever tasted.

He pushed her to the brink, his tongue flicking over her dripping sex until her thighs trembled around his head, and she felt she could not endure another second. Just as she was about to come, he withdrew and kissed her inner thigh again.

“Matthew,” she gasped, as her hips chased the loss of his mouth. “Please,” she sobbed. “Please, I cannot bear it any longer.”

“So soon? I am far from done with you, Selina.”

He trailed a finger over her entrance while his tongue sucked and licked her until her vision blurred and her inner muscles contracted. She wished there was something inside her, and as if sensing her need, he slid two fingers inside her and began to thrust, his tongue never leaving her sex.

Selina could almost see stars when he began thrusting his fingers in and out of her with a relentless pace, his mouth licking her with no mercy.

“Just like that,” he growled. “Take it like a good girl.”

Selina struggled to hold back her cries as her hips lifted and her thighs trembled. His fingers did not stop, wringing every last tremor from her body until she was sobbing his name and gripping the edge of the counter just to stay upright. Matthew worked her through every last tremor of her release until she lay on the counter, completely ruined.

She could hear his chuckle as he watched her with pride and whispered, “You are mine, Selina.”

Chapter 22

“Is His Grace still in his bedchambers?” Selina asked, keeping her voice low and discreet.

“No, Your Grace,” the footman replied after giving a respectful bow. “His Grace broke his fast early at dawn. He has now retreated to his study for the morning, and asked not to be disturbed by anyone.”

“I see,” she murmured, feeling as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped all over her body.

The footman gave another bow and left. She stood in the hallway, wondering whether to enter the breakfast room. Right before asking the footman, her mind had been stuck on the night before. Her mind was consumed with Matthew and what he had done to her on the counter. The memory of his hands and tongue on her would be seared into her skin, and the pleasure she had experienced still gave her shivers, even when she was alone.

This time, she would not avoid him. She wanted to see him. To feel him again. She wanted a real marriage, not one of convenience where everything revolved around a hollow title, wealth, and property. She had tasted warmth and pleasure, and she wanted more. Apparently, he was more than capable of it.

Only… Matthew had risen at dawn and eaten alone. What was she to make of this behavior? Selina had expected him to seek her after what happened. Did he not say he was done pretending that he did not want her?

Unless he was trying to keep his distance on purpose again. After he opened up his heart to her, she knew why he was probably doing that: he liked punishing himself. The difference was that it felt like he was punishing her, too, now.

Then again, he might have regretted the whole thing. Trying to swallow her disappointment and hide it, she smoothed her dress and entered the breakfast room. She had expected more of the same, but was shocked by the scene awaiting her. She had to halt her approach, her mouth agape in astonishment.

By the breakfast table, the Dowager Duchess and her father sat side by side. Instead of fighting this time, they seemed to be sharing gossip from the three different morning broadsheets laid out in front of them.

The Dowager had her spectacles perched on her nose as she perused the Morning Post. Her papa looked just as intent on reading the paper’s columns. Selina had never in her life seen her papa pick up a newspaper, let alone a scandal sheet.

“Oh, do read it aloud, Mr. Quinten!” the Dowager urged. “I cannot believe the audacity in some people, but I do enjoy hearing about them!”

Harleigh sounded delighted when he said, “Listen to this, Your Grace! Lord Ewing was found asleep in his marble fountain after his wife’s soiree. He was still clutching a leg of mutton!”