Must Love Dukes Read Online Free Page A

would hate to have to return to the tavern to kill him.” His finger traced back across the lace, almost touching her skin but not daring to do so.
    “Don’t leave.”
    She had only spoken two small words, yet they pounded in his ears with joy. She wanted him to stay. She wanted to be with him. It took every fiber of his control not to dive onto her right there, in the back of a hired carriage as it jostled down the street. But Lily deserved better than that. She had recently been mauled by a drunken ruffian, and he didn’t want to be the second in line for that honor this day. No, he would take his time with her. They had all evening to be together, after all.
    “I won’t leave. You’ve been through quite a trial. And I’m not inclined to leave you just now anyway.” Emboldened by her words, he trailed the backs of his fingers over one creamy mound and watched as it rose and fell with her quickened breaths.
    Lifting the pearl necklace from her throat, he ran a finger under it, gently pulling her closer. Her eyes blinked once, then twice, before fluttering shut as his lips met hers.
    It was a sweet kiss, the innocent kiss of someone who’d only read and heard of kisses but had never experienced one firsthand. He almost chuckled. Kissing her once more in the reverent manner she must have envisioned was appropriate, he allowed her to grow comfortable with his closeness.
    Sliding one hand around the back of her neck, he held her still while he increased the intensity, his lips searching hers, his quiet request becoming a demanding growl. She made a small squeak of alarm as his tongue slid past her teeth. Then she leaned into him in a blatant plea for more. Her citrus-flavored mouth was soft and willing under his lips. He felt her hand reach for his shoulder, landing light and shaky as if she was afraid to touch him.
    His arm slipped around her waist, wrapping around her, pulling her closer. The contact was not enough. He needed more. She must have felt the same, for she pushed closer to him, her breasts pressed against his chest. In that small motion, she seemed to let go of all pretense of ladylike behavior, because she then slid her hands into his hair and began to kiss him back, mimicking every flick of his tongue and press of his lips.
    He lifted her and set her on his lap. Breaking contact with her lips, he trailed kisses across her cheek to tug on her earlobe with his teeth, kissing his way down the slim column of her neck. Her hands wound around the back of his neck, twining his hair between her fingers.
    His lips paused at the base of her throat to suck on the point where her pulse pounded wildly. Her head fell back on a moan.
    He kissed his way down the expanse of exposed skin at her neck, wanting to feel her body, to taste her. The contact was not enough, but her large dress would not allow him the access he so desired. He pushed down the piles of fabric bunched between them to run his hands over her thin yet curved frame, only to have her skirts bounce back to block his path. He groaned in frustration only to hear her giggle over his difficulties with her dress.
    “You find this amusing, do you?”
    “Only a bit.” She offered him a dreamy smile as her eyes dropped to his lips and her smile faded. She kissed him again, the intensity growing with every passing second. The carriage hit a bump and their heads collided, breaking the moment that could have drawn out forever.
    He chuckled and set her back on the seat at his side, watching her rub her forehead with a frown. “The back of a carriage is no place to do this.”
    “Yes. I can see now the dangers involved,” she said with a crooked smile.
    “Lily, you have no idea the danger you are in at the moment.” He ran the backs of his fingers down the line of her jaw, watching as she tried to decipher his words of warning.
    “Am I?”
    “Only if you wish to be.”
    A silence fell between them as they gazed into each other’s eyes. All that could be