Read Online Her Mystery Duke by Natasha Blackthorne - Free Book Online

thing.”
    “Some men want more than others.”
    There was a wealth of dark, sensual promise in his tone. It
spoke to parts of her that seemed to awaken.
    She laughed, a catch in her voice in time with the sudden,
clenching of her cunt, the thrill of wetness trickling over flesh swollen by
desire. “I just hadn’t planned on showing myself.”
    “You’ve seen me.”
    “Yes, I have.”
    “So what’s fair, Jeanne?” His teasing tone sent more fluid
surging from her.
    “I have seen your all simply because I needed to bring your
fever down.”
    “And you took no pleasure from the act?”
    “Just the satisfaction of helping a fellow human in need.”
    “What a little liar you are.”
    “If I let you see my body, will you promise to sleep
afterwards?”
    “Well, I am too weak yet to do anything else.” He smiled
then, a slow, sensual curving of his lips. Despite his pallor and the heavy
dusting of dark stubble on his cheeks, the effect was heart stopping. His male
beauty ravished the last of her self-defenses.
    She reached down and slowly pulled up her hem.
    The moment came when she couldn’t delay any longer. She
whisked the garment over her head then tossed it aside.
    He stared at her so intently. It was hard to stand there
calmly and just let him look. She had lain down and let men unbutton her gown
and lift her skirts. But never had she stood and just let a man look at her
whole body.
    She felt exposed. Chubby. She put her hand over the curve of
her lower belly.
    “Turn.” It wasn’t a plea or a request. It was a command.
    She rankled all over. Had she really placed herself into
this position? “You are fatiguing yourself, David. And it is really
unnecessary.”
    Despite her nakedness and her sense of being too vulnerable,
displaying herself produced an undeniable increase in her arousal. She hadn’t
expected any of this, the strange feelings, the nuances of play. It put her at
a disadvantage. It made her think that perhaps he did know something about her.
Something she didn’t know herself. She offered him a cool, steady look.
    His look softened. “All right, Jeanne, so you’re still shy
about your own nakedness. Come back to bed.”
    His tone held grudging tolerance. Like a protector being
lenient with a willful mistress, not like a man who she had rescued from the
street and been nursing for the past few days.
    “I cannot come to bed. I need to work.”
    He raised his brows. “What work do you do?”
    “I write.”
    “Ah, so that is why your fingers are smudged with ink?”
    “Yes.” She balled her hands to hide the shameful stains.
    “What do you write?”
    “Children’s fairy tales.” It proved hard to say those words
with a straight face. Now her face went up in flames. What was it about him
that brought out the foolish girl in her?
    “Children’s stories?” He smiled fully then, all white teeth
and sensual lips and brilliant, flashing eyes. Despite his unkempt appearance,
or maybe even because of it, he was just too deliciously handsome.
    She had to look down or else she would have flung herself
back in that bed, let him do whatever he wanted. “Yes, children’s stories.”
    “And you bed ministers and shopkeepers to help with your
rent?”
    The teasing note in his voice settled on her like drops of
water into hot oil.
    “Yes, something like that, David.” She didn’t even try not
to sound snappish. Her previous lovers were none of his affair.“You are selling
yourself too cheaply, my darling.” He sounded so certain.
    She laughed softly. Maybe a tad bitterly. “Am I?”
    “You have a stunning body and a lovely face. You could have
a duke, if you wanted.”
    She glanced up. His gaze was riveted upon her breasts. Well,
it wasn’t the first time she’d seen that effect.
    “I have seen many beautiful breasts—”
    “Congratulations.”
    “That’s not a boast. My wealth and position has allowed me
to pick from the cream of available women. I am telling you that I have