Page 14 of Emerald

He answered me with a hoarse groan, his mouth hot and open on my throat as he licked and sucked and bit. I could feel my orgasm building in my core with every thrust, every drag of his cock against that spot inside me that made me see stars.

"Fuck," he gritted out, his rhythm faltering. "Fuck, Cara, I'm going to fucking come..."

"Yes." I gripped his hair, pulling his mouth back to mine. "Yes, Finn, come for me. Come inside me, fill me up, make me yours."

He made a desperate, animalistic sound, his hips slamming into me once, twice, three times before he finally let go. I felt him pulse inside me, felt the hot rush of his release as he emptied himself in long, shuddering spurts. That was all it took to send me flying over the edge after him, my heat clenching hard around him. I think I screamed, or maybe I just sobbed his name over and over as the pleasure ripped through me. It seemed to go on forever, the two of us clinging to each other as we rode out the aftershocks.

Finn rolled off me with a groan, his softening cock slipping free of my body. I felt the loss of him like a physical ache. It was an ache I would have to get used to, because I knew I would have to leave him. I only had this time now and then I would have to distance myself from him to prepare to meet the monster my father has given me too. It was the only choice I had, if I wanted to keep him safe. Keep him alive. I had to do what my father wanted.

I still had tonight, when I was still sticky with his cum and sore from his love. Tomorrow would be soon enough to face the cold, hard truth of what I had to do. For now, I just wanted to lose myself in him. I wanted to memorize every inch of him, every scar and tattoo and plane of hard muscle. I wanted to brand myself with his touch, his taste, his scent. I wanted to fucking drown in Finn Gallagher until there was nothing left of me.

I rolled on top of him, my hands braced on his chest and my hair falling in a curtain around us. I stared down at him, drinking in the sight of his heat and hunger in his eyes as he looked back at me.

"Again," I whispered, my hips already starting to move in a slow, sinuous roll. "Fuck me again, Finn. And don't you dare fucking stop until I tell you to." Then he was gripping my hips, helping me lift and lower myself on his rapidly hardening cock, setting a rhythm that stole my breath and scrambled my thoughts. I lost myself in the pleasure of him, in the perfect fullness of his body inside mine, I let myself believe. Just for a moment, just for now, life was going to be okay.

Chapter 10: Cara

Ifelt like I was going to vomit at the sight of Mikhail Sokolov and his brothers lounging in my father's study like they owned the place. Like they owned me.

I clenched my fists at my sides, fighting the urge to turn tail and run. But it would only delay the inevitable. I squared my shoulders and stepped into the room; my chin high. I wouldn't let them see how scared I was, how desperate. I was a Maguire, for fuck's sake. We didn't show weakness, not even in the face of our own destruction.

"Ah, there she is." Mikhail rose from his seat, his eyes raking over me. "My beautiful bride-to-be. Come, let me look at you."

I fought the urge to recoil as he approached, his meaty hand coming up to grip my chin. He tilted my face this way and that, examining me like a prize horse at auction. I could smell the vodka on his breath, the stale stench of cigarettes on his clothes.

"Very nice," he murmured, his thumb brushing over my bottom lip. "Such a pretty little mouth. I bet it will look even prettier wrapped around my cock, don't you think?"

I jerked away from his touch, bile rising in my throat. "Don’t touch me.”

Mikhail chuckled, a dark, oily sound that made my skin crawl. "Oh, but soon you will beg me for it, devotchka. You will know the pleasure of all the Sokolov brothers before long. We like to share, you see. It keeps things... interesting."

I felt the blood drain from my face, my stomach turning over in horror. Share? He wanted to share me, like some kind of fucktoy?

I looked to my father, desperate for some kind of reaction. Some sign that he gave a single flying fuck about what this monster was saying, about what he planned to do to me. But Declan just sat there, his face impassive as he sipped his whiskey. Like he couldn't even hear the vile things coming out of Mikhail's mouth, like it didn't matter to him at all what happened to his only daughter once she was married off to the monster he was handing me to.

And in that moment, I knew with a sickening certainty that my father would never save me, never lift a finger to protect me from the fate he'd chosen for me. I was on my own. The thought made me want to scream. Made me want to throw myself at Mikhail's feet and beg for mercy, for some shred of human decency. But I knew it would be futile. Knew that men like him, men like my father, had no concept of mercy or decency.

They only understood power. And right now, all the power was in their hands.

"I think," I said slowly, choosing my words with care, "that perhaps we should postpone the wedding. Just for a little while, until we've had more time to get to know each other."

Mikhail's eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a sneer. "Postpone? I think not, devotchka. The deal has been struck, the date set. You will be mine in two weeks time, and not a day later."

I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest. "But surely, a bit more time couldn't hurt? Just to ensure that we're compatible, that the marriage will be a success?"

"Compatible?" Mikhail barked out a laugh. "What does compatibility have to do with anything? You are to be my wife, my property. Your only job is to spread your legs and bear my heirs, not to question my decisions."

I felt a hot flash of anger at his words, but I tamped it down, forced myself to take a deep breath and think. I needed to be smart about this, needed to find a way to buy myself some time. Time to come up with a plan, to find a way out of this nightmare before it was too late.

And then it hit me. The one thing that might give Mikhail and his brothers pause, the one card I had left to play in this fucked-up game of power and control.

"I can't marry you in two weeks," I said. "I... I think I might be pregnant."

Silence. Absolute, deafening silence, broken only by the sound of my own heartbeat thundering in my ears. For a moment, no one moved. No one even seemed to breathe, as the weight of my words sank in.

And then, all hell broke loose.

"Pregnant?" Mikhail roared, his face purpling with rage. "You fucking whore, you dare to stand there and tell me you're carrying another man's child?"

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