Chapter 21 #2
Rosaline frowned. “What… I don’t understand.”
“I appreciate your concern,” Thalia continued pleasantly.
She made sure to look at her husband, trying to catch his eyes so that he would know there was nothing to be upset by.
But he stared at Rosaline and Laurent without blinking; a coldness seeping from his body that made the room feel chilled.
“As you can likely see, there is no need to worry about me. I am, you might be surprised to hear, perfectly happy where I am.”
Rosaline gasped.
“I…” Laurent licked his lips nervously. “That is wonderful to hear, Thalia. Truly, we had no idea.”
“And why are you surprised?” Caspian asked.
Laurent’s eyes widened. “I did not mean it like that. We have just…” He laughed awkwardly. “We have been a little cut off from the world, is all. Behind on our gossip.”
“We are happy for you,” Rosaline was sure to add. “So very happy.”
“And I am glad to hear it,” Thalia said, with a careful smile. The situation needed it.
The addition of Caspian to the conversation had the obvious effect of squashing the warmth and cheer, while sucking from the room any chance that this interaction might end on a pleasant note. He stood silently, his expression flat, his stare unblinking as he looked between Roseline and Laurent.
And the happy couple, as was to be expected, wilted in the face of the Duke’s silent hostility. They held one another, trembling the whole while, looking as if they wished to be anywhere other than in that room.
“We… we best be going,” Laurent said.
“Yes!” Rosaline agreed, a little too loudly. “We… there is so much to do.”
“We were glad to see you,” Laurent was sure to add as he led Rosaline across the room. “And as for your marriage, Thalia. Congratulations.”
“Yes,” Rosaline said. “We are so happy for you. So… so happy.”
She did not sound like she meant it. Nor did she look as if she meant it either. Both she and Laurent could not contain their surprise, or their shock, that the marriage had both happened, and that Thalia was happy.
Not that I can blame them. And the way that Caspian has decided to react to seeing them both certainly did not help.
They left shortly after that, which saw Thalia and Caspian alone in the sitting room.
“I hope you are happy with yourself,” Thalia snorted the second they were alone. “I dare say you scared poor Laurent half to death.” She laughed and shook her head. “The look on their faces when you came into the room…” More laughter. “I will be reminding Laurent of that for some time.”
She laughed further as she walked back to where she was sitting, scooping up her book, and then sitting back down.
As she did, Caspian said nothing, but that wasn’t such a huge surprise, which is why she did not notice at first how strangely he was acting. He just stood there, staring at the doorway, an unreadable expression on his face that might have been anger, or just as well might have been amusement.
“We will have to have them over for supper,” she continued as she opened her book.
“Assuming that everything works out. I wish they had stayed longer to tell me why they have returned and what they are planning…” She bit into her lips.
“And that would have given me time to warn Rosaline about her father and…” It was only then that she looked up and saw her husband.
He was still standing in the same spot, only now he was looking down at her. And Thalia, finally paying attention, saw that something was wrong.
“Caspian…” She closed her book. “What is… what is the matter?”
“I hope you know that if you were to try and run, Thalia, there is nowhere you could go that I would not find you.”
She blinked in surprise. “Ah… as I said, I have no intention of –”
“I would tear down cities, if I had to. I would…” He clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. “They really thought that they were helping you, didn’t they? They really think so little of me that… that…” He was shaking now. “That they came here thinking to save you.”
“Is that what’s wrong?”
“I know that I am not the easiest person to live with,” he started, his voice trembling.
“I know that when we first married, the idea of running away might have been appealing…” He winced.
“But I would hope that by now, you and I…” He winced again.
“That we have reached a place where… that you no longer…”
Thalia could not believe what she was seeing. Or hearing, for that matter.
Caspian was worried about the offer that Laurent and Rosaline had made.
And he was afraid that she might be considering it.
For all his stiffness and coldness, for how long it had taken for Thalia to crack through his outer shell and coax him to a place of trust and understanding, he was still not confident with where they were as a couple.
More than that, the idea of losing me terrifies him. And not because of some silly arrangement, or a desire to have a child. But because he…
Thalia was up and swept toward Caspian before he had a chance to say anything further. She took one hand, while the other rested on his shoulder. And she stepped into him as close as she could.
“There is no need to worry,” she assured him. “And there is certainly no need to be upset.”
“I am not upset.”
“Whatever you are, I can assure you that running away is the last thing on my mind.”
“It better be,” he said.
She laughed. “That sounds like a threat. Besides, after last evening, you could not drag me away from your side.” She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand.
“That…” Caspian took the hand that was on his shoulder and pulled it around his waist so that he was facing her. “That was nothing.”
She pumped her eyebrows. “Big words. But I expect that one of these days soon, you match them with –” She squeaked as his arms wrapped around her.
Caspian lifted Thalia in the air; one hand on the small of her back, the other under her legs. He did not ask permission, he did not say anything, he simply picked her up and carried her to the chair.
“Caspian, what are you –”
“You doubt me,” he growled as he sat her down. “It is time I put those doubts to rest.”
“What doubts?” she laughed. “I was only joking.”
“And I am not.” He then dropped to his knees right in front of her and, without saying anything, took hold of her legs and spread them apart.
Thalia’s eyes widened when she realized what he was doing. On instinct, she went to stop him. “Caspian, what are you… it is not yet midday.”
“So?”
“The staff…”
“I don’t care about them.”
“But… but… but…” She stammered and Caspian shuffled on his knees between her legs, a look of sheer determination on his face as if the fate of the world depended on what he was about to do.
“Thalia.” He was looking at her. There was no hunger in his eyes. There was no desire dripping from his lips. He simply looked at her, made it so she knew that he was not playing games, and she could do little more than look back. Literally stunned into silence. “Just try and keep it down.”
She swallowed. “I… I will try.”
Thalia and Caspian had come so far in such a short amount of time.
They now kissed often. They held hands, they spoke freely, and they acted like a happily married couple; both in public, and privately.
Even them sleeping together was no longer taboo or awkward, and Thalia was grateful for all the changes that had occurred between them.
But this right here… what she knew Caspian meant to do… never in her wildest dreams did she think he would dare such a thing.
Not that I am complaining…
Thalia closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, getting herself comfortable as she felt Caspian shift so that he was right between her thighs.
And with her eyes still closed, she bit into her lip and her breathing caught as she felt his lips start to kiss gently and wetly across the bare skin of her right thigh.
“Oh… Caspian…”
His kisses started on her right thigh, then moved to her left. They climbed higher, grew wetter as her legs opened further. Without thinking, one of her hands found the top of his head and ran through his thick hair before gripping it.
His kisses moved deeper. They started to lick and suck right by her womanhood. Each kiss sent a ripple of pleasure through her body so that she was already squirming.
She could feel how wet she had become. She could feel the pulse throbbing from between her thighs. She gasped when Caspian’s fingers traced her lips, and she moaned when she felt them gently slide inside of her.
“Caspian,” she breathed as she held onto his head. “The staff… we… be careful…”
“What did I say about keeping it down?” Caspian growled.
The next thing Thalia felt was… hard to describe, even if she knew exactly what it was. Caspian’s lips kissed the outside of her womanhood, while his tongue then gently dipped inside of her.
“Oh!” she stiffened.
His tongue pressed deeper and started to lick the inside of her.
“Ah…” she writhed.
His lips then wrapped themselves around her and started to suck.
As he did this, his fingers found their way inside of her, curling against her walls as he sucked softly and wetly on her clitoris.
It swelled in his mouth, started to throb, and as her breathing grew in intensity, so did the way he tended to her.
“Oh, God…” She spasmed and shook. “Caspian…” She pushed his head down further. “Do not stop… God… right there…”
His tongue licked up and down her lips. His mouth sucked and spat over her clitoris. And his fingers curled and pressed, stroking her as if trying to coax something from deep within. He did it all to her breathing, the way that she moaned, and how violently her body shook.
He did not come up for a breath.
He did not waste time teasing her.
He kept his head planted between her thighs, one hand gripping her thigh, the other playing with her as he sucked and licked and spat and kissed and devoured her like a ravenous beast that had not eaten in days.
“Caspian!” she cried out, eyes snapping open. Light streamed into them, Thalia became aware of where they were, and she shut her eyes and closed her mouth the best she could. “Oh…” she moaned as she felt pleasure wash over her. “Ah…” she panted as that same pleasure rolled up her body in waves.
Caspian’s tongue moved faster. His sucking became more intense. He pulled his fingers free so both hands could grip her thighs and hold her in place because Thalia had started to thrash on the seat.
“There…” she breathed. “Right… there… it’s… coming… close… do not stop!” she screamed into the air.
She felt it building inside of her. She felt it rising like the tide.
Caspian played her expertly, a snake charmer with its target hypnotized and moving to his rhythm.
He built it like a fire inside a hearth.
He let it grow like a flower reaching toward the sun.
He did not stop, or even breathe, as he felt his wife explode.
Which she did do. It came on her quickly and suddenly. It came like a slap across the face and, before she could stop to think, Thalia opened her mouth and screamed her pleasure for the whole manor to hear.
“Yes!” she cried out. “Yes! God, yes!”
Both hands held onto Caspian’s head. Her legs snapped shut around his face. Her body writhed and spasmed. Her screaming lifted the ceiling and burst through the heavens. And all the while, Caspian stayed right where he was, not once stopping, not once seeming as if he meant to.
And just like that, when Thalia thought that she was starting to figure her husband out, he surprised her once more. A good surprise at that. A surprise she could very much get used to.