Duke Charming | Craig

Nineteen

The moment we're inside and the Craig closed the door behind him, I pulled him down by that unbuttoned collar. A sound of surprise slipped from his mouth but was muffled when I crashed my lips to his with a starving passion. It took him maybe a second to snake an arm around my waist, using his free hand to gently hold the side of my face to return the kiss.

Craig backed me up towards the en-suite bathroom, our lips never breaking contact. On the way, I started unbuttoning the rest of his shirt to finally, finally run my palms down his chest. I adored his chest hair and every inch of him downwards. He wasn't awfully muscular like I imagined Rheon and his brother to be, but he was toned – despite his love for whiskey – and still had the faintest outlines of his abs when he was younger.

Only when I started pushing the shirt down his shoulders, did Craig briefly break the kiss. "I'd say by the way yer actin', lass, you want t'get me naked. Didn't you get a good enough look in the kitchen the other night?"

"I need a second glance," I said breathlessly and tossed his shirt over my shoulder. "Besides, I've seen yours, but you still have to see mine."

"Aye, you've had me at a disadvantage, I agree." He grinned and the next thing I knew, Craig hoisted me up onto the dresser, causing my dress to rake up my thighs. His fingers grazed up the outer sides of my legs, slowly making the way to the bend of my waist...and then stopped. "But first, let me turn on the shower so long for the water to heat. Don't move."

The sound of utter dismay that left me cracked him up, and he laughed all the way into the bathroom. I heard him turn the tap and a moment later, the shower sputtered to life.

Sensing Craig returning, I sat upright, leaning back on my palms a bit to give him ample space to roam his hands over my body. I doubted I could wait much longer. The dress was starting to feel stuffy, my skin hot, and my lower regions...achy.

I've been aroused before – in the ten minutes I've met Dario before he rejected me. Had he given me half the chance, I would've jumped his bones then and there regardless of who was watching or where we were.

But this...this was different.

What I felt for Dario in ten minutes was hasteful and numbing, but the need I had for Craig was aching and, like a fever, had been building up for three days now. Only his touch, his lips, his body could break it, and I craved him like I would a drug.

Craig rounded the corner, smiling in satisfaction when I remained when he left me. "Probably should get ya ready for a shower now, aye?"

"Please." I swallowed, on the verge of begging him to touch me, undress me, anything. Little did I know that one little word would trigger an entire personality shift within him.

My breath hitched when his hands hooked behind my knees and tugged me to the edge of the dresser. Craig stepped between my legs and with one hand tilted up my chin to brush his lips against mine. The ghostly touch of his lips made me whimper, my desperation growing by the second to close the gap and kiss him like my life depended on it.

Reaching behind my back, he found the zipper on my dress and slowly, very slowly, pulled it down. I felt the dress sag drastically, and I could breathe a tad better.

"You're absolutely sure 'bout this, Nel?" Craig whispered against my lips while his hands lingered on my body. "I had to ask b'cause...I don't think I'd be able to stop once I've seen you."

I wanted to tell him me neither but limited my words to one sentence. "I want this, I want you." To show him how much I've meant it, I closed that blasted gap between our lips, grazing his bottom lip with my teeth before softly biting down on it.