Chapter 21

Dorothy had kept her face buried in Aaron's neck as he carried her to his bed, not wanting to even know if they passed anyone else on the stairs or in the corridors. In his arms, she felt safe, safer in some ways than she had ever felt in her life, even while the intensity of her desire unnerved her in other ways.

"Aaron," she breathed as the door closed behind them and he laid her on the large bed, enjoying the way his name felt and sounded on her lips. "Aaron…"

"You are so beautiful, Dorothy," he whispered. "So very soft and warm and desirable. I burn for you."

The Duke was above her now on the bed, his hands clasping hers as he kissed her deeply. The stiffness of his manhood was already making itself felt, and Dorothy squirmed and moaned softly as it pressed against her mount of Venus through their clothes. It would doubtless be buried deep inside her soon enough, the motion of his hips driving her wild with pleasure and passion.

"Your breasts are the most shapely I could imagine," Aaron marveled, one of his hands caressing her bosom again, although still foiled by the firmly fastened neckline. "Although I hate this dress."

"So do I," Dorothy admitted with a breathless laugh. "Especially tonight. It's old, and I shall not wear it again, I think."

Aaron grinned at this admission and knelt up over her. Taking the neckline of the dress in his hands, he suddenly tore it apart, making her gasp in surprise, her breasts now entirely exposed to his eager hands and hungry kisses.

"I shall buy you a new green silk," he assured her as he fondled the pale, soft globes, small sounds of enjoyment escaping their throats. "One more suitably cut for a duchess of such perfect figure whose husband wishes easier access to all her charms."

"In this, I am perfectly obedient to my husband's wishes," Dorothy sighed playfully, arching her back towards his touch. "My breasts are yours to enjoy. I'm entirely yours in this bedroom, Aaron."

"What a perfect gift!" he whispered, burying his face in her bosom and then suckling the stiffening tips of her breasts in turn while he raised her skirts.

Pulling her body towards the edge of the bed, Aaron shifted and knelt on the floor between her thighs, signaling his intentions with a first light kiss on the fur between her silk-stockinged thighs. While this act, and the feel of his gaze on her most private part, still made her feel shy, she also knew how much they both enjoyed it.

"With my body, I thee worship," Aaron whispered. "Do you remember that line from the wedding service, Dorothy?"

His mouth now softly kissed the furred outer lips protecting her slit before spreading the swollen flower of her womanhood further with his fingers and kissing the slick inner lips, and then the tight entrance below.

"This is my worship…"

Dorothy moaned in pleasure as he planted an open-mouthed kiss on the swollen pink nub that was throbbing for his attention. His tongue flicked against it teasingly before giving her a firm, knowing caress.

"Oh, yes, Aaron, yes…"

He needed little more encouragement to pursue his exploration in earnest, yet Dorothy could not have kept back the pleas, moans, and joyful cries his attention sparked if she had tried. After long, slow minutes, deliberately drawn out, she reached her peak, pulsing, clinging and calling out as her body spasmed under his touch.

"How do you do that, Aaron?" Dorothy gasped as he returned to the bed and kissed her mouth again, his tongue tasting of her arousal.

Sitting up, she pulled impatiently at his clothes while he was again quickly distracted by her breasts. Eventually taking pity on her frustration, he aided her in throwing his jacket, waistcoat and shirt to the floor. Dorothy covered his bared chest in kisses, softly nipping his nipples and enjoying the way his hands tangled in her hair.

Her heart beating fast, she kissed lower, grazing his navel with her lips and then the trail of dark hair leading down below the waistband of his trousers. Aaron groaned appreciatively when she covered the bulge at his groin with her hand and then inhaled sharply when she dropped a kiss on the tented fabric.

"Be careful, Dorothy." He half laughed and frowned as she began to unfasten his trousers. "My self-control is not unlimited where you are concerned, and in your current state of deshabille, it is weak indeed—Aaaah!"

Aaron closed his eyes, his face suffused with pleasure as she released his stiff shaft from its prison and caressed its considerable length and girth with her hands. Dropping a kiss on the swollen crest, she smiled at him, wondering if he would allow what she planned next, or even how it should be done.

As Aaron himself had done with her body, she dropped to her knees on the floor and kissed his most intimate parts with more intention, allowing her tongue to lave the head of his manhood. While she had kissed him like this briefly once or twice before, that had been only as a passing gesture of appreciation for the pleasure his body coaxed from hers. Now, she had a plan.

Aaron's ragged breathing and the guttural sounds in his throat told her that her initial actions definitely gave him pleasure. When she drew the entire head of his manhood into his mouth and sucked on it tentatively, the cry he gave was almost pained, and the tightening of his fingers in her hair was abrupt.

"Dorothy, Dorothy," he groaned, firmly pushing her away from him for a second, and she felt a pang of uncertainty.

"Am I not doing this right, Aaron? Do you not like it?"

"Like it?!" he exclaimed. "God! That is ecstasy, Dorothy."

"Then I should continue? You haven't shown me how to please you with my mouth as you do to me. But I would like to learn."

Her hand stroked his shaft again but was immediately stilled by his.

"Your touch is all ecstasy for me," he assured her again. "But we cannot conceive a child like this."

Dorothy thought over the new and interesting understanding that it was possible for men and women to have physical pleasure of this kind without the risk of pregnancy. She shrugged her shoulders and lowered her head again towards his groin.

This time, Aaron didn't try to stop her, surrendering to the first delicate and then more determined ministrations of her lips, tongue, and hands. Dorothy let herself be guided by his unsteady breathing, low groans, and the involuntary tightening of his hands in her hair.

As his sounds grew more urgent, he suddenly pulled himself away from her lips, although her hand was still holding his shaft.

"I'm going to?—"

"Yes," Dorothy said, squeezing him firmly. "I want you to feel as good as you make me feel."

Before she could recapture him in her mouth, Aaron cried out, and thick jets of whitish seed burst from his shaft and landed on her naked breasts.

"Oh!" she exclaimed in wonder at the sight and continued to squeeze his pulsating shaft until the last drops.

"Dear God…" he panted, slumping slightly where he sat. "Dorothy, I never expected you to do that. Dear God…"

"I enjoyed it," she admitted, planting another kiss on his softening manhood and then examining the sticky fluid on her skin.

Aaron laughed, with contentment and incredulity, before grabbing a handkerchief from his discarded jacket. Pulling Dorothy back onto the bed with him, he wiped clean her breasts amid the ruin of her torn green dress.

"If you enjoyed that too, I would like to do it again," she murmured. "I know how good it feels, and I'm glad to give you the same pleasure."

"Do you not want a child, Dorothy?" Aaron asked.

"I do not know," she told him honestly, raising her eyes to his. "I want your body, and I know you want an heir, but the thought of making a child frightens me a little. I did not even know how it was done before you showed me."

"I'm sorry," Aaron said. "I should have discussed this with you before our wedding, shouldn't I? I assumed you knew more than you did."

"It is too late for second thoughts or regrets." Dorothy shrugged. "I cannot prevent it now, if it happens, after everything we have already done."

"No," he agreed, stroking her hair and sighing a little. "But I hope when the time comes, bearing my heir will not seem so bad. Rather like marrying me, in fact…"

They both shared a smile and laughed together.

"Yes, you are not so bad a husband as I feared," she teased. "Far above the average, I suspect."

"You only suspect?" Aaron looked back at her with mock offense. "Give me half an hour, and I shall seek to improve your good opinion further, Duchess…"

Dorothy awoke early the next morning, still in Aaron's bed, the bright shafts of morning sunlight hitting her head on the pillow. The curtains had never been drawn last night, amidst the distraction of their alternately playful, tender and urgent coupling. Her husband still lay deeply asleep beside her, and a pleasurable shiver ran through her as she recalled their night.

Her ruined green dress now lay on the floor among the array of Aaron's discarded clothing. Her thighs were yet again damp with the flow of his seed. How many times had he mounted her during the night? Two? Three? Dorothy felt dizzy with the memories.

The first time, Aaron had attempted to withdraw from her body before the crucial moment, likely remembering her admission about pregnancy fears. Dorothy herself had wrapped her arms and legs fiercely around him when she realized what he was doing, clasping him tightly to her until they had both achieved satisfaction. It was too late for such measures, and she wanted him too badly.

The second time, they had come together sleepily side by side, Aaron's fingers and shaft working together on her body with exquisite slowness. He had whispered in her ear after her pleasure had peaked, offering to withdraw, and she had protested, still wanting the contentment of feeling his throbbing manhood so deep inside her.

Stay inside me, Aaron, stay inside me…

The third time had been vigorous and animalistic, Aaron taking her in the way that animals mated, on all fours. Each intimate stroke sent lightning flashes of pleasure through her stimulated body. He did not attempt to withdraw this time, although Dorothy had feared terribly that he might.

Do you want me, Dorothy?

He had asked that again and again as he thrust into her. She remembered whimpering and pleading desperately for him to fill her, shortly before his purposeful fingering joined the rhythm of his hips and all else was forgotten in the mutual crescendo that followed.

Dorothy sighed ruefully. Even if it were theoretically possible to avoid pregnancy, it seemed she lusted after her husband's body far too much to limit their union. She might not actively want a child, but she wanted all of Aaron. She must therefore presumably accept the inevitable consequences. It was a bridge they would cross when they came to it.

His unconscious face on the pillow beside her was handsome and peaceful in repose. Dorothy smiled longingly at this Duke of hers, the mere sight of him sparking the now-familiar tingling and deep longing, but she decided he needed his sleep. Despite his considerable size, he looked oddly vulnerable to her in the dawn light.

Perhaps she could more clearly see his vulnerability now after hearing so much more of his childhood story and the evils inflicted by the Talbot family on the boy he had been. Or perhaps he had let his guard down last night in some way that showed itself even in the expression on his face.

He was starting to trust her now, Dorothy realized, smiling to herself. Then, she remembered Patrick and his demands that she aid him in inveigling Aaron into his latest investment scheme. She had already decided that she would have nothing to do with this matter. Surely, a man as intelligent and worldly as Aaron would never fall for any of Patrick's ploys .

Still, she felt a new qualm this morning as she understood for the first time that she really might have some power over Aaron. If she asked her husband for something that she really wanted or needed, he would likely give it to her. His rude outbursts and brusque manner were entirely outweighed by his strong principles and innate kindness.

Although he wanted an heir, for example, Aaron would have willingly held himself back in the sexual act for Dorothy's sake, for as long she wished, if she had allowed this. Even their marriage had been at least partly to save her, as well as preserve his good name that he took pride in.

Power was also responsibility, Dorothy reflected. It was important that her brother should never realize the extent of her capacity to influence the Duke. In fact, it would be best if Patrick believed them entirely ill-matched and at odds with one another. Her husband was a good man, and she would have no part in manipulating him to Patrick's ends, especially given his past.

Rolling and muttering slightly in his sleep now, the Duke's arm came to rest around Dorothy's shoulders and lay there comfortably, the muscles relaxing at her touch as he drifted back into deeper sleep.

Yes, whatever Aaron said, or didn't say, his feelings for Dorothy and trust in her were real and made him vulnerable. For both their sakes, it would be best not to get any closer.

Very gently, Dorothy disentangled herself from his arm and slid out of bed.