My Dangerous Duke (The Twisted Dukes #2)

Chapter 18

T hey stayed like that for several minutes, both of them needing a moment to catch their breath. Then, with the utmost care, Xander slid himself from between her thighs. Eleanor whimpered, already missing the feel of him, but let out a sigh of relief when Xander shifted her until they were on their sides, and he wrapped his muscular body around hers.

“Are you in pain?” Xander asked, worried for her as he cupped her cheek and looked down at her eyes. Touched by his tenderness, she felt a ball of emotions get stuck in her throat.

“Not at the moment,” she breathed shakily, meaning it. For now, nothing could get past the layers of pleasure she was buried under.

Xander let out a breathy laugh of relief as he leaned down and kissed her sweetly.

“You did so well,” he praised, peppering kisses into her hair and forehead. “Now it is my turn to give you a bath.”

“Why? Eleanor asked drowsily. Her body was still humming with pleasure and Xander’s cocoon-like embrace was quickly lulling her to sleep. The last thing she wanted to do was move.

“Your mother did not tell you?” Xander asked, his deep voice calm through his kisses. “Hmmm, well. Not to worry. It is perfectly normal.”

“What is normal?” Eleanor asked, suddenly wide awake.

She moved to sit up, and as she did so she felt a deep, dull ache in her lower belly. Curiously, she looked down and gasped when she saw her white sheets were smeared with crimson. Embarrassment flooded through Eleanor as she began to scramble off of the bed, but Xander quickly caught her and pulled her to him.

“Honey, it is all right,” he soothed.

“It is not!” She yelled in a strangled voice, gathering one of the sheets around her.

Xander pressed his lips together tightly, as if holding back a laugh.

“I think I prefer you the way you were earlier,” she stated sourly, walking away from him.

Before she could take more than two steps, she felt a sharp slap to her rump and was then lifted off her feet and held to Xander’s chest.

“That was not very nice,” he replied, looking down at her with a wolfish grin. “And I know you do not mean it.”

Maybe she did not, but she was still angry at him for laughing at her.

“Put me down,” she asked, more pleading than demanding. “I shall do this myself. You should go away. Far away. Perhaps you never coming back is a good idea after all.”

Xander only rolled his eyes as he carried her into the bathing room. When he got to the center of the room, he seemed to debate whether or not to put her on her feet or on the counter, and to Eleanor’s dismay, Xander placed her on the highest one- far too tall for her to climb down. It was as if he knew she would try it, and it annoyed her greatly.

“I am not going anywhere, especially tonight,” he replied casually as he pulled the levers to the water pumps. “And neither are you. You took care of me earlier.”

“That was different,” Eleanor countered quickly.

Xander shook his head, looking at her as if she were ridiculous.

“It simply means that you are no longer a maiden. And if I may be honest, I would have been concerned if you had not bled.”

Eleanor did not need him to explain further to understand that her purity had been symbolized by it, but why had her mother not told her? Or her sister? Or her romance books? They wrote of the passionate kisses and fevered heartbeats, but none of this was in any of them.

“This is not right,” she pouted, feeling foolish both for her ignorance and for the way she was handling it. “How do you know more about this than I do?”

Xander looked over at her with a smirk and raised a brow, and Eleanor suddenly remembered. Her husband, the man who had just been so sweet and gentle with her, had probably done the same with many, many women.

“Right,” she whispered, lowering her eyes, a bright streak of crimson on her sheet dress holding her attention.

A moment later, she felt the back of Xander’s hand softly caress her cheek, then his thumb and pointer finger tilted her chin so that she would look at him. His silver gaze held a quiet strength; a surety.

“I have not been with anyone else since our marriage,” he told her, his voice heavy with truth.

“Have you wanted to?”

Eleanor did not mean to ask the question. It had been a day full of intense events, but this last one had made every fantasy, every dream she had had for the last month come true. She wanted to just savor it… but some recessed part of her brain spoke out before she could stop it.

For a moment, Eleanor thought she saw a hint of anger flutter through Xander’s cool gaze, but when she blinked it was gone, and he was giving her that same intense, soul-seeing look again.

“I have not,” he replied calmly. “Have you?”

“I do not want anyone touching me but you,” Eleanor blurted out.

Would you stop?! Eleanor yelled at herself. Had Xander’s fantastic lovemaking broken her ability to filter her words?

Xander’s eyes filled with intense possessiveness as Eleanor spoke her truth, making something inside of her shiver and gasp with need. When he reached up for her, she went into his arms willingly and was disappointed when he only placed her on her feet.

“Seems like we are both happy then,” he surmised, raking his eyes down her body as he pulled the stained sheet away from her. Eleanor trembled under his hungry gaze, feeling another stir of desire through the ache in her lower belly.

“Are we done arguing now?” He asked, his tone sultry as his left brow perked.

Eleanor nodded.

Xander smiled.

“Good. Come.”

He grabbed her hand, leading her the last few steps to the now-full bath, and helped her in. Eleanor sighed in relief as the lavender-scented warm water surrounded her, but when Xander moved to get in behind her, she tensed, took up as much space as she could, and asked what he was doing.

“You cannot get in!” She gasped, mortified.

“I thought we were done arguing?” He asked, moving her easily and sliding in behind her.

“But-”

Xander brought her back to his chest, pinning her there with one arm around her waist.

“No buts,” his deep voice commanded as he grabbed the washcloth with his free hand. “You had control earlier. Now it is my turn.”