Chapter 24
Cynthia
His movements are slow but sure as he slides in and out. Though I hadn’t the pleasure of feeling him inside my pussy, I know from the married duchesses that the marital act is so very similar to this.
Will it hurt this badly when he takes my virginity? The thought soon scatters as he pulls out again, dragging a low, lurid moan from my lips.
“That’s it, sweet girl. Now touch yourself again. I want you to come on my cock.”
Unable to resist his command, I bring my fingers back between my thighs, touching my clit as pleasure surges through my body. I bow up, arching my back as I impale myself onto his cock. His growl of approval slithers through my veins, turning my blood molten.
He smacks my backside, gently this time, spurring me on. Now that he’s loosened me up, it’s not nearly as bad. With his purrs to comfort me and his rough touch to burn me, the pain dissipates into nothing but white-hot pleasure.
I bite down on the pillow, softening the sound as the orgasm slams into me, nearly stealing my breath. Charles moves faster now, sliding in and out, taking me with a wild abandon. I can feel every move, every twitch as he claims me as his own.
As he pounds into my backside, I cry out again as the release continues to roll through me, turning me limp and ragged until there are no more thoughts. All I feel is him. All I know is pleasure. All I want is his mark.
His lips settle on my shoulder, in the crook where it meets my neck. It’s as if he somehow heard my prayers and will answer them. Henhaven can’t take me as his bride when marked by another.
My stomach flips as Charles tongues my skin, laving it before planting soft kisses. I brace, waiting for his bite, but it never comes. His teeth grip me, but never sink in.
His breath is hot and rapid as he grabs my hips, holding me still as he pistons in and out. With a loud grunt, I feel his cock twitch as he pushes in just a little deeper.
The hard pressure of his knot stays on the outside of my back hole. Just as he promised. Hot seed splashes my insides as he pours out his arousal into me, but still, he never bites me.
Charles trembles as he holds me close, gathering me in his arms as he rolls over to his side, still deep in my bottom. His chest brushes against my back as he gathers air in his lungs, mimicking my breathless state.
Perhaps he wants to wait until we’re officially married for me to carry his mark.
That or for me to go into heat. To hear the others speak of it, it’s far more agonizing than his cock up my bottom.
It still doesn’t keep the pain from lancing at my chest. Time is ticking, and it’s no longer a luxury we both have.
He holds me close, murmuring nonsensical praises in my ear, but I barely hear them. I’m so deep in my thoughts. This has to mean something. He wouldn’t commit such an intimate act if he wasn’t going to take Henhaven’s place down the aisle. Right?
“Your mind is very far away,” he grumbles as he grazes his lips across my temple. “Care to speak to me about it?”
“You’ve found your evidence then?” I ask, my hope fragile at this point.
He says nothing. Hope turns to fear as he wraps his arms around me and refuses to answer. After another moment or two, he rocks his hips back and forth a little, easing his way out of my body. My heart mourns the loss of him as he eventually pulls free and slides off the bed.
“Why won’t you answer me?” I sob as I clutch the sheets to my chest. “Why do you leave me here without a word?”
“Because there is no word I can give you,” he eventually sighs. “Henhaven is a good man. There is not one blemish to his name.”
White crosses my vision for a moment as the world dips and sways around me. “No. No, this isn’t possible.”
“It is, my desire. Though I wish it were not. I’ve explored every avenue, every-”
“No,” I cry out again, a touch more forcefully. “You cannot tell me that. You cannot stand there and say there is no hope when you touched me in such a manner, when you made my body endure your invasion. You… you took your liberties with me and now tell me there is no hope?”
“Precious,” he whispers, his voice thick with emotion. “If I could change it all, I would. It would be me by your side, and not him. My love. I would give up the world if it meant having you.”
My heart thuds in my chest, heavy, cold, detached. I look up at Charles and note the misery on his face. But then, it is the same as mine. I’m sure of it.
He dresses in silence, stopping every now and then to glance at me, but I have nothing to say either. When he’s done, he comes back over to me and slides his hand across my cheek to cup it. There are no growls now, no purrs to distract me. I feel the agony as it slices through my heart.
Rejected once again.
“I will come to you tomorrow night, and the night after, and the night after. I will visit you in secret while he has your hand in public. I will never take a wife. There will never be anyone but you.”
As he pulls my head back to kiss me, tears stream from my eyes and wet my hair. He promises. He vows. He lies.
He will find another. A duke cannot go without an heir. He will find someone and marry her. In truth, I hope he finds his happiness, just as I hope to somehow find mine with Henhaven.
Charles slips through the hidden door and disappears from sight, leaving me cold and alone. My bottom aches, but it’s nothing compared to the gaping hole in my heart. He promises to see me tomorrow, but that can never happen.
Now that I am beholden to Henhaven, I need to do my best to find something of interest, something that can bind us together. We may not have love right now, but that doesn’t mean it can't eventually come.
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I slide off the bed, moving gingerly as my muscles protest each little movement.
I grab a paper and quill so I can pen a letter to Teresa, begging her to let me stay with her.
I cannot be here when Charles comes back.
I cannot see him again. Not if I want to keep my sanity.