something to think about, my lady. Please follow Sanders. We will speak tomorrow.”
He walked away, out the door and past his servant. Ava stared at the place where he had stood and all but made love to her with his mouth. Then she somehow gathered her composure and made her way to the waiting Sanders. But as she followed him up the stairs, she was keenly aware that her body was different now. The Duke of Rothcastle had awakened something in her with his searing kiss. And that something she feared, but also welcomed.
Christian lay back in the steaming tub of water, scrubbing his road-weary body with a cloth. His hip and leg ached, but the steaming water, laden with herbs, helped a great deal, as would the poultice he would apply once he was dry. But he would not be riding a horse again for a long time. It was obviously too soon.
Riding a horse was one of many things he had not attempted since the accident. Another had to do with women.
He’d never been a libertine, but he had taken his share of women to his bed. Discreet widows, high-end courtesans, even a willing barmaid if he was deep enough in his cups. But since the accident, he’d had no desire for those frivolities.
Until tonight.
Tonight, standing in his parlor with Ava, the twinges of desire he’d felt for her and suppressed had come rushing forward, wild and out of control. When he kissed her, it had been overpowering—in fact he might have laid her out on the floor and taken her then and there if it weren’t for Sanders’s intrusion.
Even now, thinking of the way Ava’s body had softened beneath his touch, the long and needy sound of her moan, the taste of her sweet mouth, and his long-neglected cock stiffened beneath the bathwater.
It had been so long since desire had overtaken him like this that he had to clench the side of the tub to keep from slipping under the water. This intensity of want, need, would do him no service when he met with Ava a second time. It only clouded his mind, altered his judgment and pushed his sense of revenge and justice far back in the recesses of his mind where they could not influence him as much as they should.
But if he relieved his passions tonight, then tomorrow he could face Ava with a clear head. After all, his desire for her must only be influenced by how long it had been since he touched a woman.
He dipped a hand beneath the water and slid his fingers along the length of his hard cock. Immediately, sensation jolted through his body, mitigating his pain and focusing all attention on the strumming heat of his need.
He captured the hard thrust in his palm and stroked once, twice. Wild desire took over, and he arched his back as he pounded over the head of his cock and down the aching shaft. Already release bubbled in his loins, embarrassing in its swiftness and yet understandable after so many months of self-imposed celibacy.
And yet, despite the urgent need to come, he couldn’t quite seem to find the right stroke to give him what he needed. Until a sudden image of Ava filled his mind. Ava, stepping away from his kiss in the parlor and lowering her gown. Ava reaching for him, that moan she had let loose echoing around him.
He made a garbled sound of pleasure and his essence spurted from his body. He lay in the sloshing waves of the cooling tub water for a few moments after the explosion, staring up at his ceiling as he pondered what he had done. And what he had suggested to Ava in the parlor.
To take her innocence, to use her body as an act of revenge against her brother, elevated their war to a whole new level. Now that he had released some of his pent-up desire, he could see how far-reaching the ramifications of such a thing could be.
Not to mention that revenge was hardly the only thing on his mind when he touched her, when he pictured her in his fantasy. If he was going to continue with this new course of action, he would have to steel himself to any emotion associated with it.
Otherwise, he
He walked away, out the door and past his servant. Ava stared at the place where he had stood and all but made love to her with his mouth. Then she somehow gathered her composure and made her way to the waiting Sanders. But as she followed him up the stairs, she was keenly aware that her body was different now. The Duke of Rothcastle had awakened something in her with his searing kiss. And that something she feared, but also welcomed.
Christian lay back in the steaming tub of water, scrubbing his road-weary body with a cloth. His hip and leg ached, but the steaming water, laden with herbs, helped a great deal, as would the poultice he would apply once he was dry. But he would not be riding a horse again for a long time. It was obviously too soon.
Riding a horse was one of many things he had not attempted since the accident. Another had to do with women.
He’d never been a libertine, but he had taken his share of women to his bed. Discreet widows, high-end courtesans, even a willing barmaid if he was deep enough in his cups. But since the accident, he’d had no desire for those frivolities.
Until tonight.
Tonight, standing in his parlor with Ava, the twinges of desire he’d felt for her and suppressed had come rushing forward, wild and out of control. When he kissed her, it had been overpowering—in fact he might have laid her out on the floor and taken her then and there if it weren’t for Sanders’s intrusion.
Even now, thinking of the way Ava’s body had softened beneath his touch, the long and needy sound of her moan, the taste of her sweet mouth, and his long-neglected cock stiffened beneath the bathwater.
It had been so long since desire had overtaken him like this that he had to clench the side of the tub to keep from slipping under the water. This intensity of want, need, would do him no service when he met with Ava a second time. It only clouded his mind, altered his judgment and pushed his sense of revenge and justice far back in the recesses of his mind where they could not influence him as much as they should.
But if he relieved his passions tonight, then tomorrow he could face Ava with a clear head. After all, his desire for her must only be influenced by how long it had been since he touched a woman.
He dipped a hand beneath the water and slid his fingers along the length of his hard cock. Immediately, sensation jolted through his body, mitigating his pain and focusing all attention on the strumming heat of his need.
He captured the hard thrust in his palm and stroked once, twice. Wild desire took over, and he arched his back as he pounded over the head of his cock and down the aching shaft. Already release bubbled in his loins, embarrassing in its swiftness and yet understandable after so many months of self-imposed celibacy.
And yet, despite the urgent need to come, he couldn’t quite seem to find the right stroke to give him what he needed. Until a sudden image of Ava filled his mind. Ava, stepping away from his kiss in the parlor and lowering her gown. Ava reaching for him, that moan she had let loose echoing around him.
He made a garbled sound of pleasure and his essence spurted from his body. He lay in the sloshing waves of the cooling tub water for a few moments after the explosion, staring up at his ceiling as he pondered what he had done. And what he had suggested to Ava in the parlor.
To take her innocence, to use her body as an act of revenge against her brother, elevated their war to a whole new level. Now that he had released some of his pent-up desire, he could see how far-reaching the ramifications of such a thing could be.
Not to mention that revenge was hardly the only thing on his mind when he touched her, when he pictured her in his fantasy. If he was going to continue with this new course of action, he would have to steel himself to any emotion associated with it.
Otherwise, he
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