Educating Elizabeth (22 page)

Elizabeth snorted, picked up her cards and fanned them out in front of her face. "You obviously take me for a flat. Are you ready to play now? Or are you too afraid to lose to a woman?"

His eyes narrowed and he picked up his cards. The first rubber passed quietly, the cards favoring neither player, as they each tested the others' skill. The duke won by a very small margin and Elizabeth watched him relax and begin to drink more freely from the bottle of brandy at his elbow. She hoped he believed her an overcautious player, an impression she worked hard to cultivate.

During the second rubber, she drew level with the duke's point tally and passed him by the time they began the third and decisive game. When the duke filled his brandy glass again and cursed a foolish discard he made, Elizabeth sat forward and allowed the thin lace strap of her chemise to fall down her arm.

To her surprise, she was enjoying herself. He was an extremely good player and had a disconcerting ability to sum up her hand with great accuracy, although she prided herself that her calculation of the odds made her the better player. Still, as she surreptitiously wiggled her shoulder to push the strap lower, she decided that she would use any tactic to distract the duke from the cards that she could.

Gervase almost choked on his brandy as Elizabeth's half-naked breast hovered in his vision just above the line of his cards. He cast her a suspicious glance, but, intent on her own hand, she seemed unaware of her dishabille. A lock of her brown hair spilled over her shoulder and lay like an inverted question mark against the barely concealed swell of her breast. Gervase forced his eyes back to his cards as she made a soft humming sound in her throat. He was hard in an instant and shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

The game was too damned close to call. His next discard would probably decide the match. For the first time in his life, he hesitated.

"Are you not going to play, Gervase?"

Her soft voice recalled him from his deliberations and he made the mistake of looking up at her. His throat constricted as he registered that both straps of her bed gown had now slipped to her elbows and that the fine bodice of the thin silk and lace construction was held aloft only by the presence of her nipples.

Blindly, he threw out a card without even looking at it. Elizabeth gave a soft cry of annoyance and slid the straps back up her arms. "This wretched garment will have to be returned to Madame Isabelle's." She plucked at the straps. "These ribbons are far too long."

Gervase licked his dry lips. By the time he ripped the silken garment from her body and plunged himself inside her, he doubted the gown would be in any fit state to be returned. He shook the lustful thoughts from his head and looked down at the card he had discarded.

"A club." He groaned inwardly at his foolish choice and threw down the rest of his hand in disgust.

She smiled at him and revealed the last card she held to be the diamond he had anticipated before sheer lust had overtaken him. Had he wanted to lose? Had he wanted an excuse to have her in his bed after all?

"I've won, Gervase. Now you are honor bound to pay your debts."

He stared at her and his hand flexed amongst the scattered playing cards. He slowly stood up and made her an elegant bow. "I always pay my debts, Elizabeth. I'm yours to command."

*** *** ***

Elizabeth rose and the ten of diamonds slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor. With fingers that shook, she raised her hand and trailed it down his cheek toward his knotted cravat. She studied his tall frame, thankful that Jacques had already helped him out of his tight-fitting coat and boots or her seduction would have stalled at the first fence.

She concentrated on unraveling the yards of starched fabric, her knuckles occasionally brushing his throat, the rasp of the fabric the only sound in the room apart from the crackling fire.

His shirt fell open, revealing the taut muscles of his chest, and she slid her hand inside and smoothed her fingers over his skin. She murmured in appreciation as she nuzzled his skin and his unique scent warmed her senses. A pulse beat at the side of his throat and she rested her mouth against it.

He stood still, allowing her attentions but not helping her at all. His breathing remained calm as she reached up to kiss his mouth. When he resisted the gentle seduction of her tongue she nipped his lower lip and tugged until he opened his mouth and allowed her to sample the depths.

As she stroked her tongue over his, she unbuttoned his waistcoat using only her sense of touch. The silver buttons felt cold against her heated fingers and the press of her breasts. She hummed low in her throat when his tongue joined and met hers in a rhythmic duel. She dropped the waistcoat to the floor and urged him backward, toward the chair by the fire.

She stood between his outstretched legs, pulled his shirt over his head in one swift motion, then knelt to admire his masculine beauty. She allowed her hands to roam over his chest and strong arms in an endless circle. Following the same sultry path with her mouth, she kissed and licked him to her satisfaction.

"You are beautiful, Your Grace."

When she sucked his taut nipple into her mouth, his hands rose to grip the armrests of the chair. Careful not to touch his tented breeches, she perched on his knee, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.

This time it was he who groaned when she ended the kiss. She slid across his lap and straddled him, only the smooth satin of his pantaloons between the heat of her core and the throb of his cock. She slid her hands down and began to work on the buttons. His breathing hitched as she freed him. With a low murmur of approval, she wrapped her hand around his shaft and stroked the long, hard, length of him until his hips began to lift against her hand.

Desperate now to complete the act he had trained her to fulfill, she rose onto her knees and tried to guide him inside her. To her consternation, it did not seem to be as easy as she had imagined it to be. Either he was too big or she was too small but they didn't seem to fit. She tried to alter the angle of her body to lessen the pressure but that only drove him a little deeper and worsened the painful sensation. Close to tears, she looked up to find him watching her, his gray eyes gleaming a hard silver.

"Please," she whispered.

"What, my dear?" His hand smoothed endless circles over her silk clad back.

"Please, help me."

"But this is your prize, not mine."

She rubbed herself against him and watched the heat in his eyes. "You don't want to help me?"

He stared at her for a long moment and then sighed. "God knows I shouldn't, but I've never considered myself a saint." He brushed his finger over her lower lip. "You are always in such a rush, Elizabeth, close your eyes and relax."

He rubbed his finger along the line of her lips until she opened her mouth and sucked on it. With a satisfied sound, he dragged his wet finger down her body until he reached the apex of her thighs.

"This will help, my dear." He trailed a lazy path with his finger around her already swollen bud, pausing to circle where the crown of his cock disappeared inside her. She shifted forward and brought her hands up to clutch his muscled shoulders. He stroked his finger back and forth like a pendulum, teasing, testing, and tantalizing her senses. Before she knew it, her hips swayed into the rhythm he played out against her most tender flesh.

Gervase gritted his teeth as her luscious body dipped and slid and danced against his fingers. He looked up into her face as her eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks and her head fell back to bare her throat to him. He felt like a snake charmer ensnaring and hypnotizing his unconscious prey. As she undulated around him, he arched his back and slid deeper.

"This is your last chance to stop me, Elizabeth. I will try to restrain myself if you change your mind, but it will be difficult. I'm but a man."

The ache grew between Elizabeth's legs, pooling in her stomach and she deliberately leaned into him, forcing him deeper, feeling him stretch her until there seemed nothing more for him to fill. She gasped his name.

"Ah,
ma femme
, you are so tight." Gervase breathed out hard and tilted her hips until he was buried deeper than she imagined possible. Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes and stared into the duke's aroused face. His heart thumped reassuringly under her splayed fingers. "Is that all?"

"All of me?" Gervase glanced down and his mouth quirked. "Not quite, nor is this all of the lovemaking."

"Give me all of you, then, Gervase. Show me it all." Elizabeth said dreamily, loving the raw feelings he created in her and joyfully anticipating the rest.

The clock on the mantelpiece struck twice as Gervase gathered her into his arms. "I apologize, Elizabeth, but your seduction of me ends here. I need you naked and beneath me, this first time. We will retire to bed. Wrap your legs around me and hold on."

Five minutes.

It took him only five minutes of pure heaven and pure hell to complete an act he had been dreaming about for weeks. Gervase rolled over, bringing Elizabeth with him, and covered his eyes with his forearm. He groaned out loud. She must think him a spectacularly inept lover.

To his infinite disgust, he'd spent three minutes resisting the possessive need to plunge as deeply and completely into her as a man could, and the final two wrestling with an insane desire to stay inside her when he knew he must withdraw.

He stared down at her flushed face, which rested over his heart. As if she sensed his regard, she braced her hands on his chest and raised her head. Her mouth opened and he placed his hand over it.

"If you are going to ask me if that was it, I will beat you." He growled as she pulled his fingers away. She frowned, wrinkling her nose as she contemplated him, her gray eyes wide and serious. She smoothed a lock of his hair behind his ear and patted his cheek.

"It is all right, Gervase. I understand that this must have been a difficult evening for you." She paused to brush a kiss on his lips. "No aging rake could be expected to enjoy being beaten at cards by a woman and then find the energy to perform in bed."

With an oath, he grabbed her hands, pulled them above her head and had her on her back before she could scarcely finish the sentence. Bereft of speech, he gazed down at her modestly lowered eyelids and caught the suspicion of a smile on her pursed lips.

"Aging, am I?" He leaned forward, kissed her hard on the mouth and straddled her. "You will be the one pleading to sleep soon, my dear. You will be the one begging."

Her only answer was a shrug as Gervase captured her breast in his mouth and began to suckle hard.

*** *** ***

She shut her eyes and resolved to resist the temptations he offered, despite her body's urgings. The duke needed to learn she was not so easily seduced.

By the time the clock struck the half-hour, Elizabeth was well past the point of begging. She was writhing and biting and clawing at the duke in an effort to make him come inside her. He hovered over her, a smiling, taunting, devil, not allowing her to touch him or to break his hold on her wrists. Sweat gleamed on his muscled body as he contained her struggles and searched her quivering skin for yet another place to torment her.

She blinked and shook her head as he bent close again to kiss her swollen mouth. "Gervase, I need you. I take back what I said. You are truly the greatest lover in the world, as well as the best card player."

He chuckled against her neck as his fingers slid between her legs and buried themselves inside her. She moaned as his thumb found her swollen bud and caressed it with the tip of his fingernail. His mouth captured her breast and he lazily suckled her in counterpart to the thrust of his fingers. A now familiar haze of pleasure built inside her and she arched her hips to keep him close.

She shuddered as he released her hands and hooked her knees over his elbows, opening her wide to him. He tilted her backwards on the mound of pillows until she could see him poised to enter her. She held her breath as he held her gaze and slowly drove forward until he was enfolded in her aching heat. She counted five beats of her heart before he moved again and then withdrew completely. She tried to lock her ankles around his back but the angle at which he held her at prevented it. He surged into her again and again she counted to five before he retreated.

Another desperate half-hour passed. When the clock struck three, she sank her teeth into his arm and screamed his name. He laughed and climbed off her. She watched in disbelief as he strolled across to the fireplace in all his naked, aroused glory to retrieve his brandy glass. He filled the glass and toasted her before raising it to his lips.

"To old rakes and uppity virgins."

Elizabeth had never realized she had the ability to snarl. "You..."

His brandy flew everywhere as she charged into him, fists flying, toppling him over onto the floor. He held her tight to his chest as they fell together onto the thick Turkish rug, taking the impact on his broad back. She could feel him shaking with laughter as she fought to get free of his hold.

He rolled her over and the brandy, warmed by his skin, dripped from his face onto hers as they locked gazes. He smiled, a conqueror's smile, and slowly shook his head dousing her in more brandy. Elizabeth licked her lips and tasted the amber liquid mixed with the duke's subtle, salty taste. She arched her back, suddenly aware of the hardness pressed against her belly, and her undiminished desire to have him inside of her again.

She deliberately licked her lips and his lust filled gaze followed the movement of her tongue. "We are covered in brandy." She reached up to swirl the tip of her tongue over his unshaven chin. A shudder ran through him and his hips drove against hers with a convulsive thrust. His tongue darted forward to touch her nose and soon they were licking each other clean.

After a while, he picked her up and dropped her on the bed. Elizabeth grew so heated that when his large hands slid under her bottom to lift her for his penetration, she scarcely paused to breathe before she exploded with pleasure.