The Beast's Bride (16 page)

The words of love rose in her throat but she bit them back. That would just be rubbing salt into the wound. She snuggled close to him and simply enjoyed his embrace, letting her touch say everything that her throat would not.

Duncan leaned in, and then his arm went around the back of her knees, and he hefted Pippa into the air, carrying her as if she weighed nothing. She gasped and clung to his shoulders, surprised at his strength as he strode through the gardens. "I can walk," she protested.

"Aye, but this way you cannot change your mind," he said, and she caught amusement in his voice.

Pippa laughed and tucked her head against his shoulder as he carried her up the stairs and back into the keep. They moved through the winding halls, and Duncan's steps led to his bedroom chamber. He set Pippa down at the doorway and hesitated.

"If you wish to return to your chamber tonight…I will understand," he told her, yellow eyes watching her face.

She shook her head. "There's nowhere I'd rather be tonight than with you," she told him, and it was the truth. She needed this night with him.

Duncan opened his door and led her inside. His room had been redecorated, she noticed.

Fine, embroidered banners hung from the walls. The couches had been reupholstered in a new fabric, and the bed was covered in soft new linens. She looked at him in surprise.

"It was to be a wedding present to you," he said in that gruff voice that told her he was feeling shy. "I was going to cover the bed with rose petals and lay your naked body upon it."

"You can still do that," she said in a soft voice, her throat aching with tenderness. "Just save it for tomorrow."

10"I will." He looked over at her and uncertainty rippled across his lion's face. "Would you…like the lights out? I know this form is not pleasing to look upon."

She shook her head, stepping closer to him. "You're handsome and desirable to me," she told him, and it was the truth. She could see him as nothing besides but this proud, lion-headed creature who stared at her with such longing and such passion. Her fingers went to the tie at the neck of her chemise and she pulled the bow free, letting the neck gape and slide about her shoulders, baring them. She wore nothing under the chemise, and already she could feel her sex dampening with excitement. She wanted this—wanted him—so badly.

His gaze moved up and down her body, the look in his eyes akin to wonder. One paw

reached for her, and then he hesitated, staring down at his own hand. "I wish I was a regular man…for you."

"You're perfect for me," Pippa told him, and tugged the nightgown off her shoulders. It fell to a pool on the floor. She stepped out of it, toward him.

Duncan groaned at the sight of her. "You're so beautiful." When she stepped closer, he held her away from him. "Let me look my fill at you."

She paused and waited for him, feeling a bit self-conscious. She didn't have the best figure in the world—as Belle liked to remind her, her breasts weren't large and her hips were probably rounder than she liked. But in his eyes, she was gorgeous, and she preened under the shining appreciation she saw in them. Her hand went to her hair and she pulled the tie free, letting the dark length of it sweep over her shoulder. "What do you think?"

"I think you are magnificent," he murmured in a husky voice, and reached for her again.

Then, his gaze went to her face. "May I touch you?"

"Touch me anywhere you like," she told him, stepping closer. "I am yours to play with."

"You should not say such things to a man starving with love," Duncan told her, his paw moving to her bare shoulder and brushing her hair aside. The touch was incredibly chaste, and she suspected he was testing her reaction to his touch more than anything else.

"I mean it," Pippa told him. "Touch me anywhere. Taste me anywhere. Tonight, I am yours."

And she took the paw resting on her shoulder and placed it on the swell of her breast.

He groaned.

10Her nipple immediately hardened under the touch, and she made a small sound of pleasure in the back of her throat. Though his hand looked like a paw, it felt like a warm male touch to her, the fingers strong, the palm wide. He stroked the curve of her breast. "Your skin is so soft."

She arched into his hand, moving forward a bit more until her hands went to his belt. "I like it when you touch me, Duncan."

"Aye?"

"Yeah," she breathed. "Your fingers on my skin feel incredible. Like you've never seen anything better."

"I haven't." His fingers circled her breast lightly again, then traced the outline of her nipple.

She moaned.

His fingertips played with her nipple, teasing the small peak into a hard, aching point. His thumb brushed over it, and then he circled it again, the movements teasing. His other paw went to her other breast, and then they were both cupped in loving, warm hands and pleasure rippled through her body.

"May I…taste you?"

Just the fact that he asked sent an erotic ripple through her body. She nodded, feeling weak at the thought of his mouth on her skin.

He paused in front of her, and then leaned down, his shaggy mane dragging over her skin in an odd, yet arousing motion. His hand still cupping the one breast, he leaned in and took the tip of the other in his mouth. A sharp cry of pleasure escaped her, and her fingers went to his mane, tangling in the coarse strands there as he nuzzled and tested her skin. "So sweet," Duncan murmured in a husky voice. His mouth tongued her nipple and then lightly sucked at the tip. "So beautiful."

Her fingers plucked at his mane, and then dragged over his shoulders as he continued to work her small breasts, teasing one with his fingers and suckling on the other. After a moment, he switched, determined to give each breast the attention it deserved. When both peaks were throbbing and wet from his mouth, he looked up at her, catlike eyes glazed with passion.

"You're still dressed," she whispered. "I want to see you naked."

"Later," he told her. "I would taste all of you first." And he nuzzled at her breast again. "Kiss all of you."

She moaned at the thought and nodded. "Then I want to explore you."

10"I want you in my bed," he told her, and he lifted her into his arms again.

Pippa felt feather-light in his arms. She clung to him as he carried her over to his enormous bed and laid her down atop of the covers. She watched him, eyes full of longing and trust as he lay down next to her on the bed. His hand skimmed over her breast again; now that she was laid out before him, he could touch and explore at his leisure. He caressed her breasts again, coaxing the nipples and watching her as she moaned and writhed in response. His large hand slid to her stomach, gliding over the softly rounded curve of it. And then his hand moved lower, his gaze on her face.

"I remember touching you during that game," he murmured to her, hand caressing her mound. "I thought I would never experience anything better than that day, but it seems I am wrong."

She smiled at him. "I loved it too, but I'm sad we only had seven minutes."

"This time, we shall have all night," he promised her, and laid his big hand over her sex. She moaned in response, her legs automatically falling open at his touch. Duncan stroked her mound, his touch cautious at first, and then it grew more exploratory. Now that he had the time to touch her at his leisure, he was in no rush. His fingers carefully explored every fold of her petals, traced her opening, and slid along her slick channel until he rediscovered her clit. When her hands fisted in the blankets above her head at that touch, he gave a low groan of his own pleasure. "I remember how you moaned when I touched you here."

"Yes," she breathed.

"And I remember that you liked it when I did this," he told her, stroking two fingers over her clit and rolling the small bud between his fingers.

She whimpered in response, her hips arching up against his touch. She was wild with need, her head thrashing on the blankets. Her fingers dug against his sleeve, her need desperate.

"Please, Duncan—"

"Please what, my sweet Pippa? Tell me what you want."

"I want…more." Her hips slid and she bucked against him again, encouraging him. She felt so empty inside that she ached, positively ached. "Need you to fill me."

His finger slid over her clit again, stroking it with light gestures, coaxing her into a frenzy of need. When he slid down to the well of her sex and gently thrust one finger in, she sobbed. He felt so good, but she needed more. So much more.

10Duncan groaned, and then his mouth was on her neck, kissing her frantically even as his finger stroked in and out of her slick flesh. "You're so tight and wet around my finger."

"More," she whimpered, feverishly licking at his mouth. "Take me, Duncan. Please."

"Not yet," he murmured, and continued to stroke his finger in and out of her, driving her into a fever pitch. He added another finger, and she moaned at the feel of the hot slide of his big fingers inside her body, clinging to him.

"You want to make me come, first?" Pippa asked.

"I do," he told her in a rough growl. "Want to see you shudder—want to feel it—with my fingers deep inside you."

She shuddered at the thought, her mind working over that mental image and arousing her even more. Her hips bucked against his fingers, and when he leaned in to kiss her neck again, she captured his mouth with hers, her lips frantically tasting him.

He seemed to sense that she was close, and his movements became faster, jerkier. His fingers thrust into her roughly, and she welcomed each hard movement of his hand, raising her own hips. She needed just a bit more to move her over the edge, to drive her wild—

And then his thumb brushed over her clit again. Just like that, she stiffened, the orgasm ripping through her and making her entire body coil and tense like a livewire. His name escaped her in a breathy scream, and she clung to him even as he continued to pump his fingers deep inside her.

"Yes," he growled. "I can feel you around my fingers, feel your body shuddering."

She moaned, holding on to him for dear life as he milked her orgasm, extending it with the rough thrusts of his fingers. Eventually, her body uncoiled and she gave him a languid, breathless kiss of appreciation. "Wow."

His eyes were glazed with desire, the need in them turning them to a dark, smoky gold that was fascinating to see. "You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

Pippa stroked a hand over his chest even as he slid his fingers from her sex and tasted them.

"You're still clothed."

"Aye, I am." He groaned as he licked his fingers. "And gods, you taste so sweet."

Okay, even though she'd just come, she was getting turned on again just at the sight of that.

Her fingers tugged at the front of his shirt and the laces there. "Now it's my turn to see you naked."

10He clasped her hand, stopping her.

"Duncan," she said gently. "I want to see you. You think that I am possibly going to be bothered by the way you look now? When you've had your fingers deep inside me as I come?"

He groaned and pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes closing. "I just…want this to be so good for you. So badly. Afraid I'll…scare you."

Like he scared everyone else. Her heart ached for him, and she leaned in and gave him a tender kiss on the mouth, even as she pulled at the laces of his shirt again. "Trust me," she whispered. "Let me love you."

He said nothing, but his hand fell away, her cue to do as she pleased.

Pippa tugged at the laces until they came free, and then his shirt was loosened. She studied the laces of his jerkin, next, as they seemed to be made of sturdier stuff. And frowned. "Actually, I'm not entirely sure how to take this off of you."

He chuckled, and that weird tension was broken. "Shall I stand for you?"

"Yes, please," she told him, and leaned in and kissed him again.

He rolled off the bed and she moved to the edge of it, legs dangling over the side. When he got to his feet, he began to pull at the clothing.

"Let me," she told him, and tugged on his sleeve, dragging him forward. "I'll undress you.

It'll be like unwrapping a present."

"A very large, ugly present."

"Stop it," she scolded, pulling at the laces of the jerkin. They bound all the way up the front, so they took some more time, but slowly, eventually, she had them loosened and he then pulled the leather garment over his head and tossed it to the side. The white shirt hung loose, concealing his body, and she tugged it over his head, revealing his torso.

Thick slabs of muscle made up his chest. Thick, furred slabs. His shoulders were impossibly broad, his nipples dark discs in the midst of all that dark fur. But he was still human, despite how he looked, and when she pressed her hand to him, expecting to feel fur, she encountered warm male flesh. The enchantment extended to this, then. She smiled at him and ran a hand down his hard abdomen. "I like seeing you all bare and nothing but muscles. You should go shirtless all the time."

He groaned as her hand strayed near the waistband of his pants, his eyes closing.

10Ah. He needed to be touched a little further south, she suspected, and smiled to herself. Pippa examined the waistband of his pants and determined that they worked somewhat like the jerkin -

the laces in the front needed to be loosened, and then the garment could be shucked.

She reached for the laces, and he practically bucked in response, his breathing growing heavy and harsh. "Your hands," he rasped.

"What, these old things?" she said with a purr, and gave his cock a stroke through the material of his trousers.

Duncan groaned as if he were a dying man. "Tease."

"I know," Pippa said playfully. And he was fun to tease. She enjoyed touching him so much.

She stroked him again, through the fabric. "This feels as big and powerful as the rest of you."

Beast, indeed
, she thought with an inward giggle, but didn't say it aloud lest he take it the wrong way. But he was definitely packing some heat. "You have nothing to be ashamed of in the slightest. Proud of, definitely."