A hot ache grew in his throat. Reaching out, he gripped her shoulder gently and tugged her in even closer. His arms closed tightly around her. “I love you,” he said hoarsely. “So damn much.”
He slowly became aware that his heart was pounding beneath the palm she had placed on his chest.
“I’ll never doubt it again,” she whispered into his chest; then she tipped and brushed a soft kiss against his chin.
“Marry me,” he groaned. “Be my friend…be my wife…my duchess. I promise to love you with every breath in my body and every emotion in my heart until the end of my days, Katherine. I vow it.”
She stepped back and stared at him with eyes swirling with emotion. “You want to marry me even though you believe we might never make love or have children?”
“Yes.” And he braced himself against the pain the admission elicited.
Yet she smiled—and it was glorious.
She leaned in, and her kiss touched his lips like a whisper, one he greedily drank in the sweetness of. “I love you, Alexander, and it would be my honor to be your friend, your wife, your duchess…and your lover.”
Katherine stepped back and shrugged from the sheer peignoir as if such actions were everyday occurrences. The splendor of her naked form exercised a powerful effect upon him. Maybe too powerful, for Alexander was certain he’d forgotten how to breathe. “Miss Danvers,” he started. “I—”
“Ah, I’ve rattled you.”
He stumbled, dropping back onto the chaise longue, and stared up at her in aroused shock.
“Miss Danvers… Katherine… I… I…” Sweet Christ, he had no notion of what he wanted to say.
She dropped to her knees before him, and Alexander gripped the cushioned edges of the chaise. An ache pounded through his cock, and though there was a hot, urgent ache in his belly, his length had not hardened.
“Are you in pain, my love?”
“No.”
“Do not move. I will be in control…and you’ll follow my lead,” she said with a saucy wink.
She tugged off his boots, one after the other. Then she leaned up and loosened his cravat and pulled it off. His Katherine slowly undid his jacket, waistcoat, and shirt. When it came to his trousers, she merely opened his flap, darted her delicate hand insid
e, and withdrew his cock.
Alexander almost expired.
The feel of her hands on his flesh had him gripping the cushions even harder.
Her color heightened considerably. “I’ve learned this is your manroot…your manhood…your cock.”
“Christ,” he muttered hoarsely, shocked and intrigued at her carnal knowledge.
“I’ve learned I can…kiss you here…and the pleasure for you would be immense…as it would be for me to know I have roused you so. Do you have knowledge of this?”
Unable to speak, he nodded, and she smiled. The sexual energy she exuded was palpable; the dance of her fingers over his cock provoked a response in him that was downright atrocious and beguiling. Alexander’s mouth went dry, his gut tightened, and pleasure speared down his cock in a wickedly painful rush, hardening his length in her hand.
“You respond to me,” she murmured, sounding awed.
“Always, my Katherine, always.”
She rose and came over to him, bracketing her thighs on each side of his, her straddled position opening her quim directly over his throbbing cock. He released the cushions and grasped her hips, his breathing harsh and ragged.
She gripped his shoulders. “I was obliged to face the necessity of learning about making love from a courtesan,” she murmured, kissing his lips softly. “It has taken so much courage to stand before you naked.”
“You are beautiful,” he assured her gruffly. “So brave and lovely, my darling.”
“You were making love with me in the conservatory…until you got hurt. I daresay we will be able to make love again…maybe not as often, but we can have normalcy.” She stared into his eyes. “Will you try with me?”