Read The Hazards Of Hunting A Duke for Free Online

prefer the admiration to be bestowed upon me…as opposed to being the one who must bestow the admiration.”
    He laughed; the rich, deep timbre of it gave Ava another little shiver of delight. “How very rich and how very honest of you.”
    “I am indeed honest, my lord.”
    “Then I must bestow my admiration on you, Lady Ava, so that you will not cut me so openly again. But first you must tell me,” he said, leaning forward again, his face only inches from hers, “how d o you prefer
    to receive your admiration?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    He leaned even closer, so that now Ava could see the curl of his dark lashes as his eyes casually took in her features. “Do you prefer to be admired in word…or in deed?”
    The question, posed with such a sinfully delicious smile, caused her pulse to quicken, and Ava sank back
    into the squabs, regretting her brash flirting. “I can’t possibly know what you mean.”
    Middleton playfully bumped her knee with his. “Now who is b eing coy?”
    Before she could respond, before she could even think of a response, Middleton suddenly moved forward, close enough to kiss her. Ava reflexively gasped with surprise, to which he gave her a boyish smile as his gaze dipped to her lips and caused her belly to sink a little.
    “I did not hear your honest answer, madam. Do you prefer your admiration in word…or in deed?”
    Her body was melting ahead of her brain. She could certainly understand why women fell under the man’
    s spell—those eyes were overpowering and the smile on his lips was so alluring that she feared she might very well expose herself to any number of potential scandals, right here, right now.
    She looked at his mouth, but found no relief there, and madly wondered if he did indeed intend to kiss her. A kiss from Middleton! There was only one way to achieve such dizzying heights of trifling sport, wasn’t there? “In deed,” she said in a near whisper, then caught her breath and held it.
    “Good girl,” he muttered, and moved until his lips wer e just a hairsbreadth from hers. He hovered there, and Ava prepared herself to be kissed by lifting her chin slightly.
    But the man surprised her by licking her lips, and he could not have been more sensuous in doing so.
    With the tip of his tongue, he trac ed a slow path across the seam of her lips. Ava froze. It was the most sensual, decadent thing anyone had ever done to her, and it was so deeply stirring that she inadvertently released a small sigh of pleasure when he’d done it.
    When she did, he lifted h is hand to her jaw and gently angled her head just so, catching the sigh with his mouth as it passed through her lips. He drew her bottom lip lightly between his teeth and teased her body forward by slipping his free hand to the small of her back, persuading her forward while his tongue
    slipped into her mouth.
    She felt as if she were falling toward him. She let him draw her into his embrace, opening her mouth to him, finding his waist with her hand. He was kissing her so thoroughly that she began to feel
    uncomfortably hot in her cloak, and with her free hand, she fumbled with the clasp and pulled it carelessly from her shoulders. He moved a hand to her shoulder, ran his palm down her arm, then across the bare
    skin of her bosom, and down, cupping her breast , squeezing it, his fingers brushing across the tip.
    Ava gasped in his mouth; he moved her easily, pushing her down, so that she was on her back with her head propped against the side of his carriage. As his hands roamed her body, his mouth traced a wet
    path to her bosom, his tongue flicking between her breasts, his mouth pressing against the mound of flesh while his hand kneaded her.
    When he lifted one breast free of the confines of her gown, Ava panicked and tried to sit up—but then he took the tip of h er breast in his mouth, and she was falling again, sinking back into the squabs, her eyes
    closed to the storm brewing in her, her body on fire. And then