Chapter 29
Aurelia stepped out of Lottie’s room and pulled the door shut with a soft click. The little girl had been moved inside to sleep after dozing off in the garden.
The hallway was cool and quiet, yet Aurelia’s heart drummed because of the man standing in the dim light.
Percival.
He hadn’t moved since they had left the garden. His blue eyes found her in the dim light, without the need to say a word, for his silence was intimidating enough.
Aurelia breathed slowly.
Even in the shadows, her husband was devastatingly handsome. With his dark hair falling slightly across his brow and his mesmerizing blue gaze, he looked like a man carved to tempt ruin.
And the ruin was hers. Because her lips still tingled from a kiss they didn’t even share in the garden. The almost kiss still followed them, like a ghost lingering between their mouths, making the tension feel raw and alive in the narrow space between them.
“How is she?” he asked softly, breaking the silence.
“She’s sound asleep,” Aurelia whispered, as if raising her voice might shatter whatever was between them. “Peaceful.”
He gave a small nod. No more.
Silence followed, this time hotter and heavier. They both knew this was the moment to part ways. To bow politely before retreating to their separate chambers. Time to pretend they didn’t yearn for one another.
But neither of them moved.
Aurelia swallowed, her palms trembling at her sides. She forced herself to speak again, although her voice was breathless, and much softer than she had intended.
“I suppose you would like to retire now…”
His eyes flickered.
He knew. Of course, he knew.
She wasn’t asking if he wished to sleep; she was asking if he wished to stay. To stay with her. To linger in this fire.
At that moment, his eyes fell to her mouth. Her breath hitched once again.
His stare lingered, and her senses heightened. She could feel that desperate need again. As for him? She could see it in him as well. That hunger. That shadow beneath his lashes. The twitch of his jaw indicated he was considering a decision.
Then, he spoke, his voice guttural and raw. “No.”
Her brows rose slowly, a flicker of hope touching the bronze in her eyes. Only for him to kill it.
“There are some things I need to check in my study.”
Without waiting for her reply, he gave her a curt bow—the cold, calculated kind—and turned around. His boots clicked against the stone as he walked away, not sparing her another glance.
Aurelia stood there, his rejection filling every inch of her, leading her to confusion once again.
When Percival stepped into his study, there was no peace.
He sat at his desk, but his mind was elsewhere. He had vowed control. He had vowed distance. He had vowed that her body would never be his.
Yet he could think of nothing else.
Her face. Her smile. Her melodic laugh. The way her gown clung to her curves, the swell of her breasts, the tiny tremor in her lips when she looked at him.
“Aurelia,” he groaned, dragging a hand down his face.
His body was so close to breaking. His cock was throbbing painfully against the confines of his trousers.
He stood up and grabbed the edge of his desk. He took another deep breath, trying to resist the urge. But his control? It was slipping like water through his fingers.
“Dammit.”
He stormed out, his steps echoing off the floorboards his body thrumming with a singular thought—Aurelia.
Soon, he was marching toward her chamber. But when he passed a certain corridor, he froze.
She was there. In the hallway. Under the soft glow of candles. She stood before a large painting of flowers, studying the colors, with her hands folded delicately before her.
She had not left.
And she was beautiful. So beautiful that it felt like a sin just to watch her.
Percival lingered in the shadows, drinking her in.
As though sensing him, she shifted slightly, and her eyes widened in surprise when she spotted him.
“Is something the matter?” Her voice was filled with both concern and curiosity.
His throat worked. For once, he could not hide behind coldness. For once, he wanted to be honest. To let go of his guilt, his vows, his restraint.
“Yes,” he said, his voice hoarse.
Her brow creased. “What is it?”
At that, he took one step, then another. Each deliberate and slow, until the distance between them shrank, leaving nothing but heat.
When he was close enough to breathe her in, to see the rise and fall of her chest, he let the words tumble out. “You.”
Before she could gasp, before she could think, his hands seized her waist and pulled her flush against him. And, deciding not to hold back, his mouth crashed onto hers.
His kisses were never tender. They were never polite. They were everything he had denied himself, unleashed at once—fierce, all-consuming, and desperate.
Aurelia moaned into his mouth, shuddering as she melted against him. Even when her back hit the wall with a muted thud, she didn’t care. All she could focus on was him.
He tasted her like he was starving, a broken duke, as though every ounce of his restraint had vanished.
Her hands flew up to his shoulders, her nails digging into the fine fabric. Heat splintered through her body and pooled low in her belly. She shuddered as his tongue parted her lips and slipped inside.
These were no stolen moments. No fleeting moments he might later regret. This was hunger.
“Percival…” she moaned breathily.
He growled in response, and she felt the vibration in her chest, in her bones. His mouth tore from hers, only to trail hot, wet kisses down her jaw to her neck. His teeth grazed her skin, biting just enough to make her moan.
And the sound only seemed to drive him further from sanity.
“You drive me mad,” he hissed against her throat, his breath hot. “Do you know what you do to me?”
Aurelia trembled, the throbbing ache between her thighs betraying her. “Then stop… Stop pretending that you don’t want me…”
“I wish.” His words broke against her skin as he sucked the tender curve of her neck, leaving his mark. “God help me.”
His hand slid down her back and cupped her buttocks, squeezing until she gasped and arched against him. He pressed her harder against the wall, grinding his arousal against her stomach.
Aurelia felt him. She felt him so terribly. How hot, thick, and straining he was. Her knees nearly gave way.
Without hesitation, he lifted her leg and wrapped it around his waist, before pressing his arousal against her sex. She cried out at the shock of feeling his hardness.
It was difficult but she remembered to swallow her moans as his mouth claimed hers again. She didn’t want Lottie alerted to what they were doing or worse still, they’d draw the girl’s attention and she walk in on them.
His kisses didn’t slow and she returned them with just as much ardent hunger. It was brutal and wet, their tongues colliding and teeth clashing.
She kissed him back just as wildly, just as desperately, as though her very life depended on his taste.
When he lifted her suddenly, she gasped and looped her arms tight around his neck. Then, he moved, carrying her with that strength that made her dizzy. His mouth never left hers as he crossed the hall.
With every step he took, the kiss deepened, his teeth tugging at her lower lip and his tongue plunging deeper. By the time he shoved the door open, Aurelia realized with disbelief where they were.
His chamber. The room he had banned her from since their wedding.
The room was dark, smelling of his cologne and something sinful.
He lowered her onto his bed, and her breath stuttered as his gaze slid leisurely over her.
“I want to strip you naked,” he rasped, his voice almost unrecognizable. “I want to devour every inch of you. Do you understand what you’ve done to me, Aurelia?”
Her thighs clenched, heat gushing between them at the feral look in his eyes.
“Then don’t hold back,” she whispered. “Take me.”
That tipped him over the edge.
With a guttural groan, he leaned down. His large hand gripped her jaw, forcing her to hold his gaze.
“That mouth of yours…” he murmured, his breath mingling with hers.
“You love it,” she retorted, her confidence surprising her.
But she had no time to dwell on it because his lips crashed onto hers once again, punishing and possessive. Then, his teeth caught the delicate fabric of her sleeve, dragging it down until it slipped off her shoulder.
“Percival,” she gasped at the sudden exposure, her pulse quickening.
His tongue traced a path down her bare shoulder, across her collarbone, and lower still. His hands were everywhere, rough, greedy, desperate. He tugged at her bodice until her breasts spilled out.
“God, Aurelia…” He leaned down and closed his hot mouth over her nipple.
She cried out, her back arching violently, her hands flying to his hair. He sucked hard, his teeth scraping lightly, his tongue flicking mercilessly.
Her cries filled his chamber, shameless and desperate.
He moved to her other breast, giving it the same brutal attention, rolling the tight bud between his lips and groaning against her skin as though he were tasting heaven.
“Percival…” she gasped, pressing her thighs together. She was desperate for friction.
Percival kissed down her stomach, the dip of her waist, going even lower until his mouth stopped at the mound of her sex. His hands squeezed her breasts again, and she let out a whimper that broke into a sob.
He spread her thighs, coaxing them open with a reverent touch. She tried to keep still even if she was mortified at how bare she was to him.
Percival stilled, staring at her glistening folds. His cock twitched painfully at the sight, and he swallowed hard.
“Fuck,” he whispered hoarsely.
And then his tongue was on her without warning.
A scream tore from her throat as he licked her clit. He licked her as though he were feasting, as though every drop of her arousal belonged to him. His hands pinned her thighs apart, his tongue plunging deeper into her.
Aurelia thrashed. Her fingers tangled in his hair, tugging and pulling. “Please don’t stop…” she moaned.
He groaned into her, the vibrations spreading through her core. He buried his face deeper, fucking her with his tongue, rubbing her clit until her cries grew frantic.
Her body was on fire, screaming for release.
When she couldn’t take it anymore, she choked out, “Please, take me. Claim me.”
At those words, he froze. His jaw tightened.
“Claim me.”
The vow he had made to himself echoed in his mind. He couldn’t claim her fully, for it could lead to heirs. But he couldn’t stop either.
So instead, he withdrew one hand and slid it between her folds. His fingers moved into her slick heat, pumping hard, curling deep, while his mouth sucked on her clit.
She let out a loud moan as her body convulsed beneath him.
She was undone. He was undone.
His free hand had already moved to his cock, unable to contain himself. He gripped his cock, stroking it hard and fast as he fingered and licked her, his groans muffled against her flesh.
He did so till she climaxed, and he followed right after.
“Percival,” she cried out as he spilled his hot seed in his hand.
He buried his face deeper between her thighs, his groans animalistic. Then, he collapsed on her trembling body, covering her with his warmth.
He kissed her again, softer this time, tasting her moans.
She was breathless. Her body was limp, and her eyes were glazed over. As she curled up against him, she wanted to whisper something. To ask him why he had refused to take her. Why he had held back.
But sleep quickly claimed her, her breathing evening out.
Percival stared at her. His heart was still racing, and his vow still echoed like a curse. And yet he wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to her forehead, despite his fear.
Fear that he could never let her go.