Page 54 of A Dream of Redemption
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The pain came swift and sharp, the fullness of him filling her, and she cried out just as Clary’s eyes flashed open in horror.
“Oh, God, what have you done.”
She pressed her hands onto his chest to hold him still, while she grew accustomed to the size of him pulsing deep inside her. “You can’t ruin me,” she whispered as a tear fell down her cheek. She didn’t care that she was crying. “How can you ruin me when I will never marry. I love you. You own my heart. How could I possibly do this with anyone else?”
For one brief moment she watched him fight his inner battle, but this time love and desire won. If this was the only chance to share herself with the man she loved, she was happy to take it—no, she needed to take it. She would remember this night for the rest of her life.
His hands found her waist, and he helped show her how to move upon him. The discomfort began to ease and in its place came sensations unlike anything she’d ever experienced. Her body wound tight, rippling out wave after wave, until pleasure encompassed every inch of her body. She could not believe the sounds coming out of her mouth, and her moans seemed to encourage him, his thrusts became more forceful.
She matched his rhythm, using her legs to move faster upon him.
The pleasure was intense. Almost painful and yet not. She knew the pinnacle she was reaching for, and she knew the reward when she got there, for he had introduced her to such pleasure once before. What she was feeling was indescribable. She wanted her release and she wanted it with a desperation that almost frightened her.
Clary half sat up and took one hard nipple into his mouth, suckling hard. Just when she could not take any more suddenly…a million brightly colored stars burst throughout her body, in a maze of sensations that had her arching, her head thrown back as she screamed his name. “Clary.”
Through the euphoria of her release, she could feel his hands urgently grip her hips, and the next moment she was thrown onto the bed next to him, as his satisfied groan echoed around them and his seed pumped into his hand.
—
Dear God in heaven, what had he done? Thank goodness he’d had enough sense to move her off him before he came. If he got her with child…Was that what she was trying to do?
He turned his head to find her looking at him with a dreamy expression on her face. Her hair was askew and she looked like a woman thoroughly ravished. He couldn’t meet her eyes, couldn’t bear to see the triumph. She thought this would change everything but it changed nothing.
Just then there was a banging on the door, and loud voices could be heard bellowing, followed by a crash as someone forced the door in.
He barely had time to fasten his trousers before a man appeared in the doorway. He heard Helen’s scream and moved to block the man’s view to protect her modesty.
“I’ll kill you for this,” an upper-class voice roared.
Lord Coldhurst.
Clary stood to face Helen’s irate brother, as she scrambled off the bed to try to get between them.
“Did you think I’d let you marry her if you ruined her? You’re not fit to breathe the same air as her.”
Lord Coldhurst’s fury stormed around him. The anger distorted, making him almost unrecognizable. “You bastard,” he yelled as he crossed the room in three long strides.
Clary didn’t even attempt to duck from what he deserved, as one of Coldhurst’s large fists connected with his face, snapping his head back. Pain ricocheted in his head, pounding through his skull. He stumbled back onto the bed and Coldhurst was on top of him, his large, meaty fists pummeling his face and body.
He could hear Helen screaming for him to stop the assault, and then someone was pulling Coldhurst off him. He tried to focus.
He saw that it took both His Grace and Simon to hold Coldhurst back from killing him.
Helen placed her hands on her brother’s chest, her gown back in place. “I love him, Seb. I love him.” Tears were flowing over her cheeks as she thumped on Coldhurst’s chest.
Finally the fight went out of Coldhurst, and he shook off the other men’s hold. He pulled Helen into a tight hug, and they simply stood there with her cradled in his arms.
Clary moved and picked up his shirt and held it to his broken nose. He had always hated his straight, perfect nose. Coldhurst had done him a favor.
Coldhurst didn’t say another word. He simply ushered Helen out of the room and out of Clary’s lodgings and out of his life.
Simon came to stand by his side. “Are you all right?”
He simply glared at his brother. Did he look all right? He deserved this. Coldhurst should have hit him harder.
“I’m disappointed in you,” the Duke of Lyttleton said slowly, as though needing to search for each word before he spoke it. “You will present yourself in my study at eleven tomorrow morning.”
