The Duke's Revenge (16 page)

She turned her gaze to the door, staring at
it but not seeing it.

It was her fault. Why was she such a coward
and not owning up to her action? Donald and Mrs. Price had lost
their important jobs because of her.

Nay, she told herself, she would not be a
coward and let others fall victims because of her own stupidity for
some small happiness.

She took a deep breath and quickly, before
she had the chance to change her mind, she rushed off the bed and
limped toward the door. She opened it and slipped outside.

Shutting the door behind
her, she leaned against it and closed her eyes to summon her
strength. A fleeting second later, she fluttered her eyes open and
stared across the corridor. She stared at
that
door so hard she thought her
eyes would probably pop out of her being if she stared much
longer.

She forced her right foot to step forward.
It did as she commanded though reluctantly, and with such a force
of shivering, she thought it would collapse on her. Again, she
swallowed and forced her other foot forward. This one was not any
eager either. After a few steps, she gained her confidence and
started walking a bit faster.

After what seemed like an eternity, she
reached the door. She put her hand on the handle. Biting her lower
lip, she commanded herself to stop trembling as though she was
going to her own execution.

She turned the handle slowly.

Quietly, the door opened wider as though
welcoming her into the mouth of a lion.

Stop it!
She told herself. You are not going into your own
execution. You are doing this to save the people you care
about.

The moment she stepped into the dark
threshold, she wanted to run back so badly. However, she stubbornly
held root to the spot, refusing to be a coward.

She took a deep breath and limped a few more
steps into the room.

It was large, as she had always remembered
it. She looked around her surrounding and felt the warmth of her
father embracing her. Her fear dissipated and she felt a calmness
settling within her. It was always like this every time she stepped
into her father’s bedroom. Knowing that he was there would put her
fear away. Now was no different. She was lost in thought of her
childhood for a moment. Then she was jolted back to reality.

She turned to her left and gasped. There,
standing in the shadow of the dimly lit room was the Duke of
Lynwood. He was dressed in a dark Banyan. His face was hard and his
eyes were sharp as he stared down at her. His hands were clasped
behind his back. His stance indicated power and strength. She felt
like a little rabbit hopping into a wolf’s den ready to be ripped
to pieces and devoured.

“
I...I...” She was lost
for words. When she couldn’t find what else she should say, she
frowned, starting to hate the man for seeing her in such an awkward
position.

He didn’t say anything, just walked to his
very large, elegant bed and stood beside it.

She commanded herself to stay calm and told
herself that everything was going to be all right.

“
Your grace...” she said
and paused. Her voice, she noticed, was still shaking and she hated
that very much. She hated the fear she heard in her own voice and
knew that it radiated her fear inside.

“
Your grace, I am here,
will...willingly and, and freely,” she choked out, tears beginning
to brew in her eyes.

“
Your own free will, Ivy?”
he mocked. “I wonder.”

“
Aye, your grace, my own
free will. I am here. Take me. Give the servants back their jobs,”
she stammered.

“
Is this what you really
want?” he asked with his brows raised.

“
Aye, your grace, this is
what I want,” she replied.

“
By your own free will?”
he asked as he cocked his head to one side and studied her. He
could tell she was shaking from head to toe.

“
Aye, your grace,” she
said, clutching her midsection.

He was quiet, staring at her, searching
through her eyes deep into her soul. Then he bombed out into the
quietness, his voice rough and deep. “Come here!”

She sucked in her breath and nearly fainted.
She bit her lip to control her fear. She told herself to calm down
though her beating heart refused to listen to her logical
reason.

After a moment of hesitation, she stepped
forward. She lowered her gaze to the floor as she slowly advanced
toward him. Once she was near him, which was about two arm-lengths
away, she stopped.

“
Come closer.”

She bit her lip, furrowing her brows with
concern.

“
You call that your own
free will when you don’t have the guts to stand two inches away
from me?”

She bolted her gaze to him, and blushing,
she walked five more steps and stopped only when she thought that
she was only two inches exactly away from him.

He smiled though his eyes were still sharp.
He lowered his lips to her ear and said, “Show me, sweet Ivy, how
you come to me by your own free will.”

She stared up at him with her eyes wide. How
could she show him when she didn’t even know anything about
lovemaking and seducing? What was she to do?

“
I...I,” she
stammered.

He raised his brows, doubting her
ability.

“
I...I don’t know how,”
she blurted out quickly.

She heard him sigh as he walked toward the
armchair near the brightly lit hearth. He sank his large body into
the comfortable seat, bent his head slightly as he watched her, and
said, “I’m not a very patient man, Ivy, but since you are young and
quite inexperience, I’m willing to be patient and see what you can
do.”

She absorbed his comment quietly and
nervously. Her hands were clutching her nightshirt. She knew she
was shaking from head to toe but she couldn’t seem to help
herself.

He was quiet for a long moment, and she
thought he was waiting for her to reply. She tried to think of what
she should say when he said, “Would you like me to guide you?”

His voice, she thought,
was in such a commanding tone that she wanted to break down and
weep until she has no more tears.
He
guiding her in this?
She didn’t know
whether to thank him or curse him for his heartless consideration,
but she nodded anyway. Somehow she felt relief, and instantly, she
hated herself for that.

“
Very well,” he said,
nodding his head at her and then he lifted his hand up. “Come
here.”

She stood rooted to her spot.

He stared at her.

Hesitantly, she started walking toward him
and stopped in front of him.

“
Take off that girlish
nightshirt.”

She closed her eyes and wished with all her
heart that the floor would open up and swallow her in.

She opened her eyes, knowing that he was
watching her. With hands that tremble, she started to untie the
strings at the base of her throat. Once she had done that, she
pushed the material down one of her shoulder and slipped her arm
out. With her eyes downcast, she did the same and slipped her other
arm out. She clutched the material of the nightshirt to her breasts
as she turned her gaze to him.

“
Must...must I take...it
off?” she asked.

“
Must I repeat myself?” he
said.

She bit her lip. She took a few deep breaths
and reluctantly let go of the material. It slid down her body and
lay like silk in a heap of pile around her ankles. She did not dare
look at his face, for she feared what she might see there. She
didn’t know what she feared specifically, however.

He stared at the beautiful young woman
standing in front of him. Her skin was petal white and her raven
tresses rest like silk behind her back. She was exquisite, and damn
if he didn’t stare at her a bit too long. Not to mention that his
breath was caught at the back of his throat the moment her
nightgown dropped.

“
Come, sit on my lap,” he
said and knew his voice was growing thick with desire.

She hesitated, her gaze stubbornly fixed at
her feet.

“
If you are giving up,
that’s fine,” he said calmly though he damn well knew that if she
wanted to walk out on him he wouldn’t let her. Ravish her he would.
What ever she decided, he would still get her in the end though he
would prefer that she come to him with her own free
will.

Without looking at him, Ivy approached him
and sat on his hard, muscular legs. Was she a whore, she wondered
sickly.

“
You’re as stiff as a
rock,” his voice echoed in her head.

Still not looking at him, she moved her arms
to wrap around his thick neck. As she did so, her bare breasts were
squeezed up against his brick wall of hard chest.

Max felt her soften and knew he would
succumb to the desire building up inside him eventually. He knew
that if he did not control himself and let this little nymph do her
seducing, he would turn the table around and seduce her
instead.

He supposed she didn’t know that every
little action she did thrilled him uncontrollably; like the way she
bit her lower lip, the way she was frowning, and the way her cheeks
turned scarlet.

“
What do I do now?” she
asked, her gaze on his chin.

“
Look at me!” he
commanded.

Slowly and reluctantly, she turned to look
at him.

“
That’s better. Now kiss
me.”

She looked into his eyes with horror.

He stared back at her with a challenge.

Frowning and then lowering her eyes, she
stared at his lips. They were firm and quite beautiful, she
thought.

She summoned her inner strength and moved
her face toward him. Slowly, she kissed him by simply putting her
lips upon his. She stayed there for a few seconds and then moved
her head back. She glanced at him and saw that he was still looking
at her. Casting her eyes downward, she moved her lips to his
cheekbone. She gave him a little kiss there and then moved to his
chin. She did the same there and then moved to kiss the side of his
mouth.

“
I’m sure you could do
better than that.”

Her heart shattered.

What more did he expect
from her?
She didn’t know what to do. She
so desperately wanted to run away and hide within the safety of her
bedroom. She wanted to cry her heart out. But she couldn’t, could
she? What to do?

Suddenly, a picture of her
mother flashed into her mind. That day when she saw them in the
parlour, her mother was doing things to him. At the time she had
felt sick to the stomach at the very sight but now she realized
that her mother had actually been seducing the duke.
Was that how it was done?
Throwing your body at the man, rubbing yourself against
him?
Would it work?

She turned her gaze to look up at him
worriedly. She knew she was getting nowhere, kissing him like a
little girl kissing her father.

“
This is very hard for
you, isn’t it?” he said, soothing her cheek with the back of his
fingers.

She nodded without looking at him.

“
You heart is not in it,
Ivy. I have business to attend in the morrow morning,” he said,
shifting his body in the seat.

She knew he was giving up on her. Nay, she
couldn’t possibly let the people she cared about lose their jobs
just because her heart wasn’t into seducing him.

He shifted and prepared to get up.

She tightened her arms around his neck and
thrust her body even closer to him. He turned his gaze to her and
relaxed back against the chair.

She moved and kissed him on his lips. Then
she moved her trembling fingers to his robe and undid that. Once
she got the front of his Banyan undone, she spread her palms out
and touched his bare chest. She moved her legs in such a way that
she sat saddling him. She moved her lips down to kiss his chest
while she rubbed her naked body against him.

Max tried so hard to contain himself from
throwing her on her back. But damn, she was doing such a fine job
seducing him even though he knew she didn’t even know what she was
doing. He was hot everywhere and his member was throbbing for
actions.

Ivy stopped her kissing and wondered why she
was feeling so warm everywhere. Not to mention that there was a
very tight feeling in between her thighs. The tingling sensations
she felt confused her as well as the wonderful hollowed feeling in
her stomach. Though confused, and she wish she could stop this
seducing and take time to consider the possibilities, she keep on
going, kissing him from his hard, muscular chest to his
stomach.

She moved her lips back up to his throat.
She stayed there, breathing deeply, inhaling his manly scent.

She was at a lost as to what to do next.
What more could she do to seduce him apart from kissing him?
Feeling lost for a moment, she whimpered.

He touched the back of her head like a
father would to his crying child. She hugged him, sobbing with her
face buried against his neck. “I...I don’t know what to do next. My
heart is truly in this, it truly is but...I...just don’t know how,
your grace, please...” Her body shook as she cried.

“
Just say the word, sweet
Ivy,” he said roughly.

“
Word?” She turned her
face to look at him.

“
Say it and I’ll do the
rest.”

As she stared at him, her stomach went
hollow. She blinked as this new thrilling excitement presented
itself within her being.