Geek Girls Don't Date Dukes (28 page)

himself frozen with an emotion he could not name. Not

fear, or anxiety either. More the sense that the world

around him was changing at a lightning pace, and there

was not a thing he could do to stop it.

If he wanted to stop it.

“Are you okay?” She looked over her shoulder at

him. “Avery?”

He shook off the thoughts and moved close to her.

“All is well.” His fingers moved sure and strong, deftly

loosing the buttons that flowed down the back of her

dress. He concentrated on the task, doing his damnedest

to ignore the throbbing ache in his groin that needed to

be sated.

He pushed the gown from her shoulders, and it

pooled around her torso. His moan of frustration at the

numerous layers of underthings that lay beneath the

gown wrenched a giggle from her.

“I know. It’s a crazy amount of underwear. We’ll get

through it together, though, right?”

He pressed a kiss on her shoulder. “I cannot wait.”

He pulled her to her feet, and together they removed

layer after layer of frilly, womanly undergarments. He’d

not thought he could grow so hard at such a simple act

of undressing her, but she was irresistible. She teased

and kissed by turns, stoking his fires by touching him

whenever and however she could. By the time she stood

barefoot wearing only her shift, he was ready to toss her

onto her back and plunge into her. Control. He must

retain control.

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“Well,” she said, running her fingers beneath the waist

of his breeches. “I think we’re even here. What do you say

we get rid of the last of these clothes on the count of three?”

“I don’t think I can wait that long,” he said, gripping

her shift and lifting it over her head. His breath caught

deep in his throat.

“Good Lord.”

She stood naked in front of him, her arms at her sides,

not bothering to hide her exquisite nudity. He did not

know whether to stumble backward to look his fill or to

press her full against him.

She was so lovely. Her full, high breasts pouted and

teased him with their erect nipples. Her waist sloped

delicately, flaring out to beautifully shaped hips. He

could happily stare at her all evening, but she clearly had

other notions.

“It’s your turn,” she said, stepping close and unbut-

toning his breeches. “I want to see you too.”

He didn’t move as she bent to lower his breeches. He

couldn’t. He was transfixed by the sight of her delectable

bottom as she bent over in front of him. It was too much

pleasure for a man, it truly was.

“Oh, Avery,” she whispered, kneeling in front of him.

“You’re beautiful.”

Before he could ask to what she was referring, her soft

hands had wrapped around his manhood. She pressed

a kiss to the weeping tip, and he fisted his hands at his

sides. Control.

“Can I suck you?”

The image of her sweet mouth wrapped around his

rod nearly drove him beyond the brink. He shook his

head, his hair tickling his shoulders.

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“I would not last if you did.”

“Later then” she whispered, and pressed another kiss to

the swollen head. He titled his head back, throat working.

Her hands ran up his body, from his groin to his

abdomen to his chest, winding at the last round his back.

Her nipples dragged across his chest, her belly pressed

against his erection.

“Touch me,” she groaned against his throat. He was

more than happy to comply.

Starting at her hips, he indulged his fingers in the

direction they wanted to travel, upward toward her

breasts. His hands closed over the sweet, soft mounds,

lightly flicking over their erect tips. She pressed against

him, smiling as he touched her.

“Like that,” she whispered, rubbing her hips against his.

Something in his lust filled brain snapped, and he

stopped thinking. He acted.

“Put your arms around my neck,” he directed.

Once she obeyed, he cupped her buttocks and lifted.

Obligingly, she wrapped her thighs around his waist. He

nearly wept when her slick mound made contact with

his erection.

He moved backward and sat on the bed, leaving her

straddling his lap. In this position, it was easy to lean forward and capture one of her beautiful nipples in his mouth.

She tangled her fingers in his hair as he sucked, his

tongue flicking against the bud, his teeth grazing it. Her

hips writhed against him, bathing his hardness in her

sweet slickness. It would be so easy to slip inside her

this way, to claim her as his. But he wanted to make

this last.

He moved to her other breast as her hands roamed

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his body. He forgot all his bruises, forgot all the reasons

why they should not be doing this. None of that

mattered when her hands wrapped around him again,

moving up and down in a rhythmic motion that drove

him mad.

“Leah,” he whispered after releasing her nipple from

his mouth with a soft pop, “I cannot last much longer if

you persist in that.”

“I can’t last much longer either.” She seemed winded,

her eyes dark and lips swollen. “Feel me, Avery. See

what you do to me.”

She slipped from his lap and stretched full- length on

the bed.

Could there be anything so beautiful on earth?

“Please touch me, Avery.” She’d fisted her hands into

his sheets, and her breath was coming much quicker.

“The way you’re looking at me is driving me crazy.”

“How am I looking at you?” He could not resist

asking the question, though he could empathize with

her desperation.

“Like you want to devour me.” Her breath came in

gasps as her eyes darkened.

He did. He wanted to taste her. Kneeling between

her legs, he parted her folds and lowered his head to

her. The scent was intoxicating, sweet and musky and

womanly. He could breathe her in forever, but if he did

that, he’d never know her taste. And that was a pleasure

he’d not forgo.

He licked the lower part of her folds and moved

his way up as her hips writhed against him. When his

lips closed around that swollen nub at the apex of her

mound, she gave a mewling cry.

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“There! Oh my God, right there Avery.” The sheets

twisted in her grip.

“As you wish,” he breathed against her hot, wet flesh,

and then complied.

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Twenty- Two

Avery seemed determined to coax her to heaven

with his mouth alone. But she wanted much more than

his mouth.

She got a portion of her wish when he his finger slid

inside her. Her muscles spasmed around it involuntarily,

and she let out a long, low moan.

“Are you trying to drive me crazy?” she panted.

He gave her a wicked smile as he inserted another

finger. “Perhaps.”

“Please, Avery,” she whispered as she pinched her

own nipples, wishing he was close enough to kiss.

“Don’t make me wait.”

She lifted her arms to him and he stretched full-

length atop her. Their mouths and hands were suddenly

everywhere. They rolled and tangled, tasting, touching,

licking, and sucking. Leah wrapped her legs around his

hips and bit his shoulder.

“Now,” she said, tangling her hands in his long hair.

“I need you inside me.”

He lifted himself above her, a fine sheen of sweat

coating them both in the candlelight. “Are you sure?”

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She gripped him and guided him to her entrance.

“Yes, Avery.”

They moaned together as he slid slowly, inexorably

home. Leah’s eyes flew open as he began a rhythm that

tapped the deepest places within her.

She dug her nails into his hips as he drove into her.

His deep breaths, mingled with almost animalistic growls,

filled her with a deep sense of pride, want, and something

else she couldn’t name.

He looked down at her for a moment, then their

mouths connected. Leah took his tongue into her

mouth, sucking it in time with his thrusts. His hands

cupped her ass, bringing her higher and tighter, forcing

his thrusts deeper into her.

“Avery,” she gasped against his mouth.

He buried his head beside hers and continued the

rhythm that would either make her come or kill her with

desire, and at this point, Leah didn’t really care which.

He’d made her feel like a goddess, and now his thick heat

lay hard in her channel, so deep she thought he touched

her womb.

He reached between them and pressed against her clit.

She bit back her scream as her world exploded. Her

inner walls gripped him as she kissed him, hard, trying

like hell to make the moment last forever.

This was her man.

This was the one she’d been sent to find.

i

His body felt light, almost as if he could float away with

no cares at all.

He was still sheathed within her heat. She held him

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so tightly, arms and legs wrapped around him as if she’d

never let him go.

He held her tightly, bracing himself on his forearms so

as not to crush her. He never wanted to let her go either.

“As much as I hate to make you move, I think maybe

you’d better.” Her voice was thick, slurred against his

chest. She pressed a kiss there before he lifted free.

“My apologies,” he said, running a hand down her

leg. She was softer than linen, warmer than summertime.

And she’d shared herself with him.

Before he could voice any of this, she reached out and

traced a particularly deep bruise on his ribs.

“I don’t want to kill the mood, but I need to know.”

She looked into his eyes, concern threading her words.

“How did you get all these bruises?”

He looked down at his hands, knuckles scarred and

calloused. She’d shared her all with him. Could he

deny her similar intimate knowledge of his own life?

He slammed his eyes shut. Even now, after what they’d

shared, he could spare her the pain of association with

him. If she loved the duke, she’d be safe.

“Before I tell you, I must know.” He gripped her

hands fervently. “What are your feelings for the duke?”

Her jaw went slack, her eyes wide.

“I cannot believe those words just came out of

your mouth!”

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood,

a flag of golden hair trailing behind her as she went.

“Well, I have a right to know,” he said, rising from

the bed as he tried to tamp his anger. “Do you still intend

to let him court you?”

She stilled, holding her petticoat in front of her like a

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shield. “You don’t really know me at all, Avery Russell.”

She resumed her dressing, furious.

He had to stop her. He had to tell her. But would she

spurn him?

In the end, it would not matter. He could no more

have her than he could have the throne of England.

His words hurtled free like a bird escaping a cage.

“I fight.”

Her movement ceased again. “What?”

“Pugilistic tournaments. Boxing, if you’d rather.” His

palms were suddenly drenched with sweat. It was only

when he tried to dry them on his breeches that he real-

ized he was wearing none.

“But why?” She crossed to him, pressing her palm

against his chest. “Don’t valets make enough money? Is

it for kicks, like a hobby?”

He looked down into her wide blue eyes. Despite her

bravado and knowledge of a world so foreign to him, she

was really quite innocent of the harsh realities of his life.

“The medicine for my aunt,” he began, but a sharp

rap on the door interrupted him.

Leah’s face lit with alarm.

“Behind the bureau,” he mouthed at her, motioning

as he grabbed his breeches. “Quickly.”

She flew on silent feet, disappearing as a voice called

out with another knock. “Russell?”

He lowered his brows as he opened the door.

“Henrietta? Whatever are you doing here?”

She looked past him into the room, greedy eyes

searching for something. “I was going to the kitchens

for a light. Our fire had gone out.” She turned to him, a

knowing smile on her face. “But I heard voices coming

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