Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
Sydney
C aden rolls away and immediately falls into a deep sleep. I crack open an eye. The sun is setting. Again. I haven’t left this room in two days. Bloody hell, I’ve scarcely left the bed. Every muscle in my body aches beyond description. I’ve never questioned how many orgasms a woman can have in a day, but idly I wonder if the Guinness people would be interested in having a chat.
Joking aside, my confinement with Caden is no laughing matter. Besides his unusual affliction, my feelings for him have grown in spades each minute we’ve shared. I’ve soothed his fear, and he’s rewarded me with a trove of sparkling smiles and sumptuous touches. I still don’t understand this sex marathon and plan to question Hurstgrove about this “curse” later. Now I’m too exhausted. I need to use the toilet, eat, bathe, and sleep—in that order. Unfortunately, I’m not certain I’m capable of moving a muscle.
There’s a soft knock on the door. I grab the sheet to cover my nakedness. Truth be told, I’ve been naked for nearly forty-eight hours. Even the sheet feels unnatural and abrasive against me. Caden’s skin, however… I could get used to waking beside him every morning.
The knock sounds again, jarring me out of my reverie. I cover Caden’s bare backside. “Come in.”
Not surprisingly, Hurstgrove sticks his head inside my bedroom. He looks nearly as tired as I feel. He’s still wearing the same clothes, and he needs a shave. He’s stripped off his tie, unbuttoned his shirt at the collar and wrists, and turned the cuffs back to reveal capable hands and strong forearms.
“It got quiet. I thought I should check on you.”
I blink. This is mad. He’s one of Britain’s wealthiest, most high-profile men. A real duke! He can’t possibly have been comfortable snoozing on my too-small sofa, yet he’s still here, and he’s inquiring after me.
“Tired,” I whisper. “I need food, a bath, and a few days’ sleep. Then I’ll be sorted.”
Hurstgrove casts a sidelong glance at Caden. “Has anything…unusual happened?”
Besides shagging a caveman on aphrodisiacs going hell for leather and losing my heart? “If you don’t count his incredible stamina as unusual, then no.”
He steps in the room, regret shaping his features. “I fear he may not tire for some time.”
I didn’t need Mr. Pedigree to tell me that. “If anything, he’s gaining momentum.”
That’s an understatement. The first night, Caden pleasured me every few hours. The following day, every other hour. Tonight? Every hour on the hour. I can nearly set a watch by him. Currently, it’s three forty-nine.
Bugger . If I’m going grab a bite and have a wash, I’m running out of time.
“Should you find yourself unable to continue, I wouldn’t hold it against you. I can arrange for a suitable substitute?—”
“No!” It’s dead obvious Caden is no amateur in the bedroom, but while I’m with him, I intend to be his only woman. “I’m not certain what’s happening, but I won’t have any other bird near him. I have very few minutes to see to my needs before Caden awakens. Give me a moment, will you?”
Hurstgrove hesitates. “Has he kissed you?”
I stop and sort through the jumble of the last two days. “Actually…he hasn’t.”
“Or tasted you in any other way?”
What does he mean? Oh. Oral sex. I flush. “He’s been far too…occupied.”
Relief crosses the duke’s face. “I hope this runs its course soon. If you’re positively resolved against accepting help?—”
“I am.” And if I have a say, he’ll never have another’s “help” again. “If there’s time, you’re going to explain this bloody shambles to me.”
“Very well. I shall procure a protein bar and water for you. Do take a bath, but with haste.” Hurstgrove casts a glance at Caden. “He’s beginning to stir.”
I look over to find Caden is indeed rolling closer, an absent hand feeling about for me. If I want any creature comforts, now is the time.
When Hurstgrove pops out, I rise as quickly as my protesting muscles allow, grab my dressing gown from the back of my door and amble down the hall. I run a hot bath to soak away sore muscles and brush my teeth. A moment later, Hurstgrove knocks, then brings in protein bars and an energy drink. “Where did you get these?”
“Olivia brought them round. I trust that’s agreeable to you.”
At the moment, I could hug him. I’m famished. I don’t have a lot of weight on my bones as it is, and since I can scarcely remember my last meal, I reckon I’ve lost at least half a stone.
“Splendid. Thank you.”
Conscious of the ticking clock, I shut the door in his face and lock it, shedding my dressing gown with one hand and tearing into the protein bar with the other. I wolf down the first one. It’s little better than coated cardboard, but I lunge for the second and grab the energy drink, downing it in less than a minute.
After a quick visit to the loo, I sink into the hot bath, savoring my last few bites. I notice he’s also brought a plastic container. When I pry into it, I practically inhale the baby carrots and apple slices inside.
Belly not exactly sated but no longer rumbling, I grab the shampoo and scrub my hair. Soap next. I attack my body with it, scouring until my sensitive skin glows.
A glance at the clock I keep on my counter tells me it’s three fifty-seven. Not much time before Caden wakes and demands my body again. And I give him a bit more of my heart.
Feeling marginally revived, I rinse and pull the plug, then reach for a towel. I never get it.
A thump at the door makes my heart stutter. “Hurstgrove?”
Not a word. Instead, another thump. A grunt. Then the slam of a body and the crash of the door striking the wall.
Caden fills the doorway, naked and magnificent. With hungry eyes and an erection only a blind woman could miss, I have no doubt what he wants.
Despite my exhaustion, my wobbly legs, and the tenderness in places I’ve never been sore, I want him again. To touch him in this moment and know he’s all mine. It’s utter madness, but pointless to deny.
He takes a huge step into the tiny bathroom and grabs my hand, hauling me out of the bath and into his arms. “Sydney.”
My damp skin makes contact with his hot, dry flesh, and I sizzle—inside and out. What is it about this man? Intelligence, yes. Bags of it. Good looks, naturally. But I sense his soldier’s core of honor. Even when he lied to me, he did it for a good cause. He was uncomfortable with subterfuge, which explains why I saw straight through him.
Despite everything, he did his best not to hurt me, even refusing the sex I so blithely offered and he so clearly wanted. The fact he’s endured this fever and need to shag is likely my fault. An aftereffect of writing in that bloody magical book.
To make matters worse, when this ailment of Caden’s is over, he’ll probably resume life without me. He still has his brother’s illness to sort, and we no longer work together.
But I’ll savor every last moment and touch with Caden. I’m knackered. But sod it if I’m going to let another woman finish what I’ve started.
“I’m here for you,” I whisper in his ear.
The words set him in motion. He secures his hands under my arms and lifts me, using the incredible strength in his flexing forearms and biceps. Then he plasters me against his body. Automatically, I curl my legs around his waist, my arms clinging to his shoulders. Before he takes a single step, his cock begins to probe my swollen folds.
With a groan, he sinks into me. Slowly at first, like honey drizzling across something warm and sugary. He eases his way down, grazing sensitive tissues as he fills me. I gasp, digging my nails into his hard shoulders.
Finally, every inch stretches me. I hiss as he lifts me up, up until the tip of his erection is barely tucked inside me. Despite my soreness, I need him. I can’t stand another moment without him. If he wants me, I’m his. So I wriggle, tempting him to pack me full again.
He laves his way up my neck and steps forward as he pushes me down, shoving me full of his hard cock.
Bam! The electric sensation jolts every nerve in my body. Oh, my days! In this position, Caden feels both enormous and more determined than the many times he’s already pleasured me. This time, there is something different about his lovemaking—more concentrated, compelling, certain.
Another step, and he lifts me, only to shove me down again with his next stride. The amazing sensations ricochet through my body. After days of sex, I should be completely desensitized. Instead, I’m more receptive to each touch.
Once back in my room, Caden kicks my door shut and lowers me to my bed, still buried deep inside me. Then he grabs the far side of the mattress and uses the leverage to impale me with long, rhythmic strokes.
“Feel me,” he entreats with a growl.
How can I not? This is madness.
Bliss soars in seconds under his unrelenting demand. I thrust against him, feeling passion catch fire in my blood. In response, Caden wraps one arm around me, grabbing my backside and canting my hips up to his even more. And with his next thrust, I scream.
“That’s it,” he growls in my ear. “So tight, so perfect.” Then he picks up the pace, going from frenzied to frantic. The bam, bam, bam of the headboard against the wall fills my ears like a chant. “Damn it, it’s near.”
Orgasm? Yes!
Ecstasy begins to overtake me. The burning ache brewing deep in my womb races in a hot flood to my clit. It builds—bigger than anything I’ve experienced. I claw at him, bite into his hard shoulder, feel my pussy tighten on his swelling cock.
That only ramps up the friction and sends me closer to the edge.
The bed shakes, as does my body. Every nerve ending topples on the edge of a huge precipice. Suddenly, I’m holding my breath, anticipating, needing and desperate. I lose my breath, the edges of my vision go dark.
Then climax hits me, flattening me in a burst of ecstasy and emotion, red-hot pleasure piercing my entire body. As a buzzing winds through my head and my vision tilts, a starburst of feeling inside me explodes. I rain kisses across Caden’s shoulder, his neck. And I know that, even if he leaves me, I’ll always belong to him.
The thought slams my beleaguered brain as Caden wraps both arms around me like I’m his life jacket in a storm-tossed sea. His grunts thunder into a shout of completion that makes my ears ring as he pounds into me savagely, one breath-stealing thrust after the other. As he does, I feel the heat of his release inside me.
His shouts turn to sobs, and his body shudders as he rolls onto his side, taking me with him, arching his back and still fucking me as if his life depends on it. I grab him tighter, giving him all my strength as his face wrenches with agony.
“Oh, god! No. No! Oh, my—” Then he screams something low, shudder-inducing, and utterly agonizing.
When I realize why, I follow suit at the top of my lungs.