“No.” He pulled away slightly. “Christ, I need to be inside you.”
He tried to lean forward, but she pressed her hand against his chest, holding him back against the pillows. “Ah-ah, I intend to make you beg. Say please.”
He didn’t even hesitate.
“Please,” he said, low and seductive. His deep baritone traveled like warm honey through her veins. “I beg of you, Daphne.”
She licked her lips. His beseeching tone undid her ways she hadn’t expected. Her powerful duke had given himself over—had surrendered completely to her, and the sight of him so vulnerable made her heart clench.
Lifting his head, he captured her lips in a desperate, possessive kiss. As his tongue twined with hers, heat thundered through her veins, swirling, swirling like a gathering tempest. He stirred her in ways she’d never dared imagine, stoking her desire with strong, expert hands.
She broke the kiss abruptly and looked into his eyes, teasing. “Say you want me, Ashton. I must hear you say it,” she said.
For the flicker of an instant, she saw everything in his eyes—hope, joy, love, everything that was reflected in her own soul.
“I want you, Daphne. I want you more than anything. I would have gone to any lengths to make you mine.”
Biting her bottom lip, she lifted to her knees and straddled him—her entrance poised above him, nudging the hot, swollen head of his erection. Reaching up, he took hold of her hips and pulled his pelvis back slightly, putting a degree of distance between them. “You will drive me to a state of frenzy if you continue with that.”
“I should like to see you wild and unrestrained,” she said.
“Later.” With a low growl he flipped her onto her back and pulled the hem of her nightgown up over her head, then tossed it aside. His hands roved her body briefly before he gently cupped her breast with one hand, and squeezed.
She wore nothing but her white stockings now, tied just above the knee with blue silk ribbon. Cold air brushed over her exposed skin, sending chills up her spine.
“Right now, I’d like nothing more than to savor you…”
As he brushed his thumb over her nipple, his mouth descended on hers. She was completely lost in sensation, his hands gliding across her body, his lips doing wicked things to her soul.
This was the man she was meant to be with—always and forever. Fate had brought them together, but it was love that would unite them as one.
And then he slid a finger inside her, testing, before sliding another and another inside her slick channel. Sweet heaven! Three fingers and she was bucking beneath him, her hips moving with the rhythm to his slow, measured thrusts.
“Are you ready to take me?” he asked, voice strained.
She moaned, unable to speak past the building tension. Need flooded her…desperate, urgent, undeniable need that only he could fulfill.
Angling himself above her, the tip of his shaft pressed against her wet, aching center. In one powerful thrust, he pushed into her, taking her deep. She sucked in a sharp breath, balling the sheets in her fists as he drove into her. The pleasure was so immediate, so shockingly intense, she almost wept in relief. It was precisely what she needed. The feel of him filling her, claiming her in the most primal way, was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. It was powerful, soul gripping, and she never wanted it to end.
He paused, settled deep within her, his breath quick and shallow. “Am I hurting you?”
She shook her head sharply. “Please, Ashton. Don’t stop.”
Hooking her legs around his hips, she urged him closer, deeper. They were connected now, forever entwined, their hearts coalescing into one symphonious beat. They were meant to be like this, as one.
They belonged to each other—undeniably, unquestionably. Irrevocably.
He was hers, and she was his. Fate had seen to that.
With a growl, he pulled back, then rocked forward, taking her deeper and harder with each powerful thrust. Soon, that familiar tension began to build, threatening to cast her over the edge, into sweet, heavenly oblivion.
Finally with one last thrust, she erupted. Wave after wave of undulating heat washed over her, pulling her deeper into a swirling abyss of pleasure. Somewhere through the haze riotous sensation, she felt him pulse deep within her, and her channel clenched tight, claiming him.
It took several long minutes for the world to come back into focus. When it did, she slumped back against the pillows, exhausted. He rolled to the side and gathered her into his arms. “We were always meant to be,” he whispered into her hair, his voice filled with emotion. “I have never been happier than I am now, at this moment.”
She lifted up onto her elbow and kissed him warmly on the lips. “I love you, Ashton, more than you will ever know.” She traced his bottom lip with the tip of her finger. “And to prove it, I have a wedding gift for you.”