Page 6 of Married to the Devil

Instead, he rises over me. I spread my thighs open wider for him to thrust home.

But he doesn’t fill my aching core. His tongue slides over the crook of my neck. He grabs one of my arms still above my head and extends it to the side as he kisses the open space between my shoulder and neck. I have a moment to flinch in understanding before his teeth sink into the skin.

“Fucking, ouch!” Ithurts. I don’t expect the searing sting and tears to fill my eyes. The hand still in the duvet moves to grip his shoulder as if to push him away, but he holds tight a moment longer before releasing his teeth from my skin.

All of the sudden the moment comes into focus. My husband, my mate, is a stranger to me. Like he said, there’s no warmth of an entwining bond, only a mix of pain and coldness.

Stoneheart makes a satisfied soothing-shushing sound that causes some of the muscles I’ve tensed to loosen. His tongue starts laving over the wound, the sting receding with each pass. His tail fucks into me again, and I take a shuddering breath, blinking away the urge to cry as the charged nature of the moment slowly returns.

“I didn’t know it was going to hurt,” I say, feeling stupid. There’s a prodding disappointment too. A part of me wantedthere to be some sort of magical bond between us. Some sort of balm to the fact that this is a marriage of convenience.

“Apologies.” His voice is still lust drenched, and the gravelly nature of it helps return me to the next order of business. His cock presses against me through his kilt, but he doesn’t rush. It takes a few minutes of Stoneheart licking and sucking my neck before the warmth of his skin against mine chases away the remnants pain.

“Mine,” he growls again pulling away to take in the mating mark on my neck. That growl goes a long way to sweeping away the memory of the pain. I tighten around his tail, wishing it was his cock.

I flex my grip on his shoulders, impatience finally taking over. I got a bite for all my obedience before. Now I want the dessert that was promised. My hands go for the fastenings of his kilt, but he bats them away.

He stands between my spread thighs and unfastens the garment himself. His tail slides from me in a rush that leaves me gasping even as I admire the true breadth of his body.

The kilt falls from his hips, and my eyes widen. His size shouldn’t be a surprise. His cock is proportional to his body, but I can already tell it will be a stretch for us to fit together. The gray skin of his body reddens and darkens over his cock. The head seeps milky precum as he strokes the full length.

There’s no hair to obscure my view of his anatomy. There isn’tmuchdifference to that of a man. His shaft and head are similar in shape if much larger than I’ve had before, but the hard bulge at the bottom of his cock before his balls isverydifferent.

Is that a knot?I don’t say it out loud because Stoneheart snarls with the next stroke. His other hand forcefully squeezes the bulge of flesh, and he erupts.

All over me.

Surprise hits me first, followed by his release. His seed splashes hot over my chest and stomach. A stray droplet hits my cheek. I freeze in confusion even as my skin flushes hot under the cooling fluid that is already starting to thicken on my skin.

Stoneheart’s snarl smooths, and he refastens his kilt back to cover himself. Each movement is efficient. There’s no fumbling or halting. There’s no sign of the gargoyle who could growl me to release if he wanted to.

Only one cool action after another. He doesn’t even look at me before he turns away and walks to the alcohol cabinet.

I press up, and rivulets run over my lower stomach to where my thigh was reddened by the scrape of his teeth. The sting of my neck comes back to the surface as the lust drains away.

My confusion spirals, but Stoneheart’s back holds no answers. His wings twitch as if he wants to soar away. The clink of glass as he pours himself a drink doesn’t help.

“What—” I start.

The door bursts open, and I jump in surprise.

“Lord Stoneheart—oh, I see that you’re busy. Apologies.” I don’t recognize the woman. She looks to be in her fifties in a neat pant suit.

I scramble and try to pull the heavy duvet around me in my compromised state, but the damage is already done.

The shine in her eyes is bright as she takes in everything. Me naked on the bed, covered in a mix of sweat and both of our fluids. I catch the flare of her nostrils that makes me assume she’s a shifter and undoubtedly picking up the smell of blood in the air from the mating bite.

She bows her head in respect and swiftly exits, closing the door behind her, but not before I catch the guilty glance from one of the guards. Guards who were supposed to stop any sort of interruption…Weren’t they?

Didn’t Stoneheart lock the door?

Shock morphs into something else, and I start trembling.

The interruption was allowed. Not only that. The humiliation that’s burning my cheeks sinks into the pit of my stomach and churning with the ice there, flashing hot and cold over my senses.

This was orchestrated.

“You knew.” My accusation is hoarse in the heavy silence of the room.

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