Page 41 of The Sword and the Damsel

She curled against him, resting her head in the crook of his arm, and tried to sort out her tangled thoughts and emotions. One tear and another dripped down onto his chest. She tried to hold them back, but it was no use.

“Alais?”

She didn’t respond. She couldn’t.

“What is it? Do you regret—?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

What could she say? She wasn’t sure she knew the answer herself. It wasn’t regret. There was no one else she would rather have given herself to. But when she’d imagined her wedding night, she never dreamed she would have to plead with him at every step. There was blood on the sheet now. She was vindicated, but somehow, she still felt like a disgrace.

“What is it? Please tell me. I need to know.” There was an edge in his voice, an undertone of panic.

“Why did you make me beg?”

“What?”

“Everyone thinks I’m ruined, but I didn’t feel that way until you made me beg. Why did you do it?”

He looked stricken.

“My God, Alais, I’m so sorry. This was your first time. I should never have done that to you. I truly didn’t realize…. I still can’t quite believe…. But that’s no excuse. This should have beena very different night for you. I should have treated you with tenderness and affection, not made to beg and plead. You’re not ruined, Alais. You take joy in your body, and that’s a beautiful thing. I don’t ever want you to feel ashamed of your pleasure with me.”

For some reason, this made her cry even harder.

“What do you need? I’ll do anything. Please tell me what you need from me.”

“Just hold me, please. That’s all I want.”

He blew out the candle and held her in the darkness. As the tears petered out and she drifted off to sleep, she snuggled into his warmth, praying tomorrow would be better.

Chapter Sixteen

Alais woke upright after dawn to a gentle kiss. Victor was up and dressed and smiling. His twilight blue eye had a hopeful twinkle.

“Good morning, my lovely, luscious wife.” He took her hand and kissed it, then sucked on her pinky, grazing it with his teeth and making her sigh and giggle. She felt a wave of desire at his touch.

“Victor, what are you up to?”

“I did everything wrong yesterday, so today I want to try again and hopefully this time get it right.” He pulled a bouquet of hellebores from behind his back. He plucked one flower out and tucked it behind her ear then handed her the rest.

“These are lovely! Thank you, my husband.” She sat up and buried her nose in the blossoms, then set them aside on the bedside table before folding her hands and resting them on her lap, at the same time making sure her hair didn’t cover her breasts at all. She smiled at him, sure that the picture she presented to him would stir his manhood in no time. “I’m intrigued. What did you have in mind?”

Victor swallowed hard and made an inarticulate noise, his gaze lingering on her exposed chest. It was delicious how easily she could stun him into speechlessness.

There was a quiet knock on the door.

“That would be breakfast,” he said, waking from his reverie to retrieve the tray from the servant at the door. “I thought we should get an early start.”

Alais got out of bed, stretched, and ran her fingers through her hair, angling herself to provide him with an unobscured view of her naked form. There was a satisfying clatter as the tray slipped from Victor’s hands onto the table. “Dear God, I am never going to get used to this.”

Alais sauntered over to Victor and threw her arms around his neck. “You blaspheme a lot.” She nibbled on his ear.

“That’s the least interesting of my many sins,” he mumbled into her hair as he finally gave in and took her back to bed.

Touching her exactly where she needed him, he pressed her back into the bed, making her come and come again as he pulled off his clothes and joined her beneath the blankets. When she was frantic for more, he sank into her and made sweet, gentle love to her, treating her with a delicacy that drove her mad. As she tipped over the edge a third time, his control began to slip, and she trembled in release as he thrust deep and hard, again and again, until he groaned and collapsed on top of her.

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