Page 103 of The Duchess He Couldn’t Resist

“Brandon!” she almost catapulted out of the water.

“No, you’re staying here with me,” Brandon murmured in her ear. “And that will make you feel so good. Does this feel good?”

Marigold nodded furiously as his thumb circled her.

“Use your words, sweetheart,” he warned and pinched her nipple.

“Yes, yes! It feels good.”

Her reward was to touch her more, lick her skin, tease her breasts, and relentlessly enter and circle her until she was a writhing mess in the bathtub.

“B… Brandon,” she muttered helplessly.

“There you are,” he whispered. “You can come now, Marigold. Let me feel you around my fingers.”

And she did. She let go, and her body tensed like a bow against him as sweet pressure rippled around his fingers. Brandon moaned in her ear, his need overwhelming him.

“I believe we are clean enough,” he growled.

Without letting her fully come down from the heights of pleasure, he got up, pulled her into his arms, and headed to the bed.

The night was only just falling, and he was determined to erase the tension of the nightmare they had both faced and replace it with far more pleasurable memories.

EPILOGUE

ONE MONTH LATER

Marigold felt the morning light play through the curtains. She slowly opened her eyes. She had some sweet ache all over her body, but she was warm and completely content. Brandon’s arm was draped around her waist, possessive even in his sleep. His chest pressed against her back, and feeling his heart rate and the rhythm of his breathing calmed her down even more.

Ever since that day at the docks, they had never slept apart. It was as if he was trying to make sure she would never be threatened again and that she wouldn’t slip out of his sight, no matter how Marigold reassured him that there was no other place in the world she would rather be.

“Good morning,” he murmured in her ear.

“Good morning,” she said and tried to get up.

His arm tightened around her and kissed the back of her neck.

“Not yet.”

“Sounds like a very good plan.”

“I am known for proposing the best of plans,” he whispered in her ear. “And I am even better at executing them.”

The maid then knocked and announced that she had brought breakfast to the sitting room and left as she was instructed.

“Let’s eat,” Marigold said.

“I couldn’t agree more,” he nuzzled closer.

“Brandon!”

“Fine.”

Marigold went and brought a simple tray with breakfast, fresh bread, butter, jam, fruit, his favorite coffee, and her tea. Brandon propped himself up against the headboard and admired her, especially after she couldn’t cling to that sheet anymore, and it fell around her.

“You are staring,” Marigold accused.

“You are worth staring at.”