A dangerous Morning

Evelyne felt it before she fully registered the look in his eyes.

That unmistakable press against her inner thigh. Hard. Hot. Demanding.

Her cheeks flamed, but she didn’t move. Her body betrayed her before her mind caught up—her breasts tightened, nipples stiffening where they flattened against his chest. She’d lain like this before, tangled around him after long nights, but something about this morning felt different.

She tilted her head, slightly, enough to meet his gaze.

His eyes were darker than usual. Heated. Hungry. But it wasn’t just lust she saw—it was something deeper. Something… unsettled.

“Are you going to pretend you don’t feel it?” he murmured, voice low, rough with sleep and need.

Her lips parted in surprise. The Duke never teased. He commanded, he touched, he took—but he never joked. Never played.

“I—” she started, but her breath hitched when his fingers slid up the curve of her back, calloused and possessive, tracing the dip of her waist before resting just above the swell of her hips.

“You’re warm,” he whispered, more to himself than to her.

“So are you,” she managed, her voice breathy. Her chest rose and fell against him, every movement brushing those sensitive tips against his bare skin.

He exhaled sharply. Then, before she could think, he flipped them—smooth, sudden, effortless.

She gasped as her back met the mattress, her thighs parted instinctively by the size of him between. Her nightgown rode up, baring her creamy thighs and the lush curve of her round buttocks. He stared down at her, his silver-streaked hair falling slightly over his brow.

“Do you regret last night?” he asked, his tone still unreadable.

“No,” she said softly. “Do you?”

His jaw tightened. “No.”

Silence stretched between them. And then—

“I like this,” he said, running a hand over her thigh, squeezing the soft flesh. “When you lie on me like that. Pressed against me. Your breasts...” His hand moved up, cupping one through the thin fabric of her nightgown, rubbing his thumb over her already stiff nipple. “…driving me mad.”

Heat coiled low in her belly.

“You’ve never said things like that before,” she breathed.

“I’ve thought them every damn night for three years,” he replied, eyes flicking from her lips to her chest.

Evelyne arched into his touch, shocked at her own boldness. But something about this moment—this dawn, this honesty—it undid her.

“Then show me,” she whispered.

That was all he needed.

He surged forward, capturing her mouth in a kiss that stole her breath. It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t patient. It was three years of unsaid words, three years of aching glances and unspoken tension. His tongue swept in, claiming. Demanding.

Her fingers dug into his shoulders, wrapping around his thick biceps as he rolled his hips against her, grinding into the soft heat between her thighs.

Her nightgown was ripped. Not pushed up—ripped.

And he didn’t look away as her breasts spilled free. He groaned—a sound of pure, male torment—and buried his face between them, kissing, biting, sucking like a starved man.

She cried out, fingers clutching his hair. He lifted one of her legs over his shoulder, exposing her entirely, then reached down and slid two thick fingers inside her without warning.

She was soaked.

“So tight,” he growled. “Every time.”

“You’re not exactly small,” she gasped, trembling as he curled his fingers just right.

He smirked. “No complaints, I hope?”

“Only that you stopped,” she panted.

He gave a dark laugh before lining himself up, dragging the thick head of his cock through her wet folds before slowly sinking into her—inch by devastating inch.

Her mouth fell open in a silent scream. He filled her completely, stretching her in ways that made her toes curl and her vision blur.

Once seated fully inside, he didn’t move.

Instead, he looked at her.

And for the first time, she saw the truth in his gaze.

He cared.

He cared more than he dared to admit.

“I won’t be gentle,” he warned.

“I don’t want gentle.”

He grinned. “Good.”

Then he moved.

And the dawn lit their skin in gold as they unraveled each other.

Again.