The Mad, Bad Duke (Nvengaria #2)(77)

“I have no idea,” Alexander answered truthfully. “You are the first lady I have thus adorned.”

“Why are you adorning me, exactly?”

He swirled a line across her shoulder then drew the brush down to her spine. It pleased him to make precise designs, the black standing out starkly on her smooth skin.

He answered, “It is an ancient custom in the orient for lovers to decorate each other’s bodies.”

“Is it?” she started to turn her head, but Alexander touched her cheek, stilling her. “I wager Englishmen and women do not do this decorating,” she finished.

“I’ve never asked them.” Alexander blew on the ink to dry it. “You are lovely.”

“I want to see.”

Alexander returned ink and brush to the night table and left the bed to bring a small mirror from her dressing table. Meagan craned her head to train the mirror on her shoulder and the intricate design he’d produced.

“It’s pretty. Do women in Nvengaria wear tattoos?”

“Not very many. As I said, it will wash off.”

Meagan lowered the mirror and gave him a sly look. “Now I wish to paint on you.”

Alexander’s blood heated. He handed her the brush and held very still while she copied onto his left bicep the links of the tattoo on his right. He kept his gaze on her bent head, escaped tendrils of her long hair brushing his thigh, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

“There,” she said as she finished. “I like it very much. But I think my maid will be quite puzzled when she washes my back tomorrow.”

Alexander gently removed the brush and ink and replaced them on the night table. “Then I will wash it for you and spare her the astonishment.”

Meagan slanted him a hot glance. “I believe I would like that.”

“I believe I will too.”

“Do we make love now?” Meagan asked in eagerness. “I feel quite ready.”

Alexander couldn’t stop his smile.. “Not yet, Lady Impatience. Lie down on your back.”

Meagan touched her shoulder. “Is the ink dry yet? It might smear.”

“It does not matter. I will have Mrs. Caldwell purchase new bedding if it does.”

Meagan quickly laid herself down on the covers, strands of red hair splaying across the linens.

A sudden pulse of energy shot through Alexander, pressing aside the calm he’d held up to this point.

No.

He drew a breath and began a meditation, resting one hand on Meagan’s abdomen to steady himself.

“Are you all right?” Meagan’s soft voice held concern.

“Yes.” Alexander closed his eyes, lightning flickering on the edges of his vision. “I will be.”

He brought to mind the techniques of calming and centering Myn had been teaching him as well as the meditation he’d learned at the temple. He visualized holding a ball of light in his hands. His energy, his strength, his calm.

The flickering lights went away and Alexander drew a long breath. He could control, could steady himself, could stay with his beloved wife.

Alexander drew his fingers to the soft curls between her thighs. His teachers had described a woman’s opening as a flower, blossoming at a man’s touch.

Liquid pooled inside her, hot on his fingers, her honey waiting for him. Beautiful.

The scent of her could drive him wild. Alexander’s senses had heightened since he’d given into the logosh inside him—he could lose himself in her.

He lifted his hand away then leaned down and licked where he’d touched. Meagan arched beneath him, a groan escaping her mouth.

She was more than ready. When Alexander flicked his tongue over her opening, she thrust herself up to his mouth, fingers gripping his shoulders. He needed only a few more seconds before he brought her to sweet climax.

Alexander caught the climax in his mouth, his strong hand holding her steady. Meagan writhed and arched against him, her cries of pleasure ringing through the chamber.

Alexander drank her until she was spent, her body damp with perspiration. Gently, he disengaged her frantic clutches and raised his head, his smile triumphant.

“You are a cruel, cruel man, Alexander,” Meagan gasped out.

He let his smile turn feral. Alexander braced himself over her, bending her knee to press it to her chest. In that position, she was wide open to him, and so slick from her enjoyment that Alexander slid easily and quickly inside her.





Chapter 20





Meagan’s body was on fire from his touch, his mouth, from Alexander himself.

His blue eyes glittered in elation that bordered on madness. His skin was roasting hot, his tattoo sharp on his dark skin, the tattoo she’d drawn gleaming with still-damp ink. Meagan traced the patterns of both, loving how his muscles tightened beneath her touch.

Alexander moved slowly, drawing almost all the way out before sliding inside her again. The weight of his large body pinned her to the mattress, the heat of him warming her.

Meagan rose to him, meeting him slow thrust for slow thrust. Alexander turned his head and closed his eyes, the ends of his hair brushing her. His eyelashes curled thick and black against his face.

His thrusts were like fire, so deep inside her Meagan cried out with it. In and out, his hips rocking, the bed creaking a rhythm beneath them. Alexander slid hard hands up Meagan’s arms and pinned her wrists to the pillows. He clenched his jaw, lips tightening, and growled.