Only a Lady Will Do by Tamara Gill
Chapter 22
They returned to the house on Hanover Square in the early hours of the morning. The duchess had left them in the parlor downstairs after they had enjoyed a cup of tea before retiring for the night.
"I should let you rest," the duke said. He sat beside her, the dark shadows under his eyes telling Iris that he was as tired as they were. The Season was so busy, with endless late nights. It was not surprising that he would not be able to sneak into her room this morning.
"I understand. You should go and gain some yourself." Iris reached out, running her hand across his stubbled jaw. His beard tickled her palm. "I cannot wait until I have you beside me every night and morning. What fun we shall have then."
The duke chuckled, half-groaned before laying his head back against the settee. "I do not want to leave you. I would join you upstairs still, even with the house servants starting to go about their duties, but I will not have your reputation sullied. I will protect you at all costs. Even the cost to my ease since I want you so very much."
She leaned against him, laying her head upon his shoulder. "How much do you want me, Your Grace?" It could not be any more than she wanted him. The days stretched endlessly being without him. She wanted to be married to the duke and now. Not in three weeks.
He picked up her fingers and laid them against his falls. "I want you quite a lot. Do you not see?"
Iris stroked him through his satin knee-breeches. He hardened further in her hand, and heat spiked through her, circling down to her core. "When will I see you again?" she asked, not halting her teasing.
He covered her hand with his, increasing the tension. Iris crossed her legs, need pooling between her thighs. How she wanted him. This madness he had created in her was endless.
"Tonight. There is the Russell musical this evening. Cry off, say you have a headache, your courses, anything. I shall join you after eleven. My mother will be out by then and will not return for several hours."
Iris smiled, unable to count down the hours until she saw him again. She moved closer still and kissed him, touched and teased him as their mouths fused. His tongue tangled with hers, and she didn't want to wait until tonight. The man drove her to distraction.
He clasped her face, their kiss turning into a firestorm of need. Josh eased her back on the settee, coming over her. Their hands were everywhere, touching, petting, teasing until she could not take any more.
The cool morning air prickled against her legs as Josh slid her gown up about her waist, exposing her to him. He ripped his front falls open, his cock springing engorged and eager between them. Her face must have given away her thoughts.
"I will not take you here and now, but I will make you come." His thick, guttural voice made her insides clench, and she nodded, letting him do what he wished.
He could do anything to her right at this moment, and Iris did not think she'd say a word to stop him so long as he made her feel the pleasure she had last in his arms.
Josh glanced at the door, sitting slightly ajar. The servants could enter at any moment, or his mother if she were to do one final check on them before retiring.
None of that mattered. He had to have her. Well, as much as he could have her without actually taking her virginity. Josh pushed his cock against her wet, hot flesh. He moaned her name, running himself along her slick heat. Her eyes closed in pleasure, her legs lifting up about his hips and holding him against her.
He would spend on her. That was a certainty. The rioting, vigorous emotions, and the care he felt for the woman in his arms were new. She would be his soon, and they could do whatever they wanted whenever they pleased. No rules, no scandal could touch them then.
The word love reverberated about in his mind like a whistle.
He had never loved anyone. Not truly loved the way a man loved a woman. Something told Josh that what he felt for the woman in his arms was not common. It was not something that one dispensed with or took for granted.
She ground against him, pushing up and taking what she wanted. He lost his breath, his balls pulling tight. His release was imminent, and he bit the inside of his mouth, forcing himself to hold off, to wait until she shattered in his arms.
Iris clasped the lapels of his jacket, pulling him against her for a kiss, and he kissed away her scream as she climaxed against his cock, spiking his own pleasure.
He spent upon her mons and stomach with an orgasm that seemed to go on forever. If only that were so.
Being that they were in the parlor where anyone could come upon them, the morning light breaking through the heavy velvet blinds told him he was running out of time.
Josh untied his cravat and helped clean up Iris as best as he could. The little siren lay on the settee, watching him as he wiped away his seed, seemingly unfazed by the fact they were dancing with scandal.
He adored her all the more for her fortitude.
"Come, you had best leave for your room," he said, buttoning himself up and checking his attire before he left the parlor.
She sighed, but instead of leaving, draped her arms over his shoulders, her eyes sparkling with pleasure. "I shall see you this evening, Your Grace," she whispered, kissing him quickly before turning on her heel and leaving him watching after her.
He clasped his stomach, his body rejecting the fact she was leaving him and that it would be several hours before he saw her again. Damn the rules of etiquette and their antiquated expectations for men and women.
He waited a suitable amount of time and then left via the back door, walking past the mews so no one would see him going a considerable amount of time after he had delivered his mother and betrothed home.
As he walked the short distance to his bachelor rooms, his stomach churned at the reminder of the missive he had received just before last evening's ball. The veiled threat the copy of his bet at Whites all those years ago meant.
Who had sent him his words, copied down to appear the same as the original page in the betting book he did not know. He suspected Templedon, but to steal such a thing from Whites would mean suspension.
Would he do such a thing? Templedon enjoyed his club. Or was someone else behind the threat? That he supposed he ought to find out or tell Iris of his wrongdoing before she heard it from an individual not himself.
She would never forgive him if she knew the truth, his cowardice in not owning up to his wrong. Nor would she marry him.
All facts he could not bear the thought of. Not now that she was his in all but name, his heart, body, and soul. Now and forever.
