Page 55 of His Secretly Pregnant Cinderella

He laid her down on the deck of the boat, knowing that it was hard, knowing that he should take her down to the bed. That he should lay her on soft sheets.

But there was nothing but heat now, no consideration for comfort.

He stripped his clothes from his body, pressing his palms down to her knees and spreading her legs wide, taking a long, leisurely look at her. Every inch of her.

Her breasts were pale, tipped with light pink crests that made his mouth water. That place between her thighs was the color of strawberries and cream, and he knew it tasted just as good.

Her fiery hair fanned out around her, and she looked delicate, innocent and carnal all at once.

And then she opened her eyes, the emerald green there shocking out here in the middle of all this blue.

“Constantine.”

“Tell me,” he said, leaning over her, hovering above her lips. “For which of my bad qualities did you first want me?”

“Your outright unfriendliness,” she said. “The scorn with which you looked at me. The hardness. The cruelty of your mouth. The way that it would never smile. Not for me. Oh, how I wanted to taste it. How I wanted to drink in all of your ire for me. I had a man who was sunny and warm, and he would’ve given me the world. But I wanted the one out of my reach. The one who would not smile.”

“Because we are all of us broken,” he said. “Wanting what we cannot have. And look at us. Here. Together. What we have is because Alex was broken.”

She reached up and touched his face. “No. It’s not. I would not have stayed with him. It would’ve been you. I would’ve been pregnant either way. And this is where we would be. Don’t you think so?”

He growled, pushing the tip of his masculinity into her waiting softness. She gasped, lifting her hips off the deck and he wrapped his arm around her, lifting her toward him as he thrust home, deep and hard. This time knowing that he was the only man to ever be inside of her. This time knowing that she was his, and his alone.

Her rounded belly was between them, a reminder of what had passed through them before.

A reminder of what lay ahead.

But mostly, there was nothing but sensation. But the perfection of being inside of her body.

She moaned, arching up toward him and he leaned down, capturing one nipple into his mouth and sucking hard. A raw gasp escaped her lips, and when he lifted his head, she put her hand on the back of his neck and brought his head down so that he was made to kiss her. And she consumed him. Her tongue searching as their mouths fused, as their desire sparked wildly between them.

She was a wild thing in his arms, and he became a savage.

His thrusts were without tempo or beat. They followed only the roar of his blood.

She gripped his shoulders, her fingernails digging deep as she found her release, as she screamed, a ragged sound in his ear, her internal muscles gripping him tightly, drawing him in deeper. And then, he exploded. On a roar he gave himself up to the desire between them, his jagged breath mingling with hers as he tried to come back to reality. Come back to the present.

He had intended to give her a wedding night. To take her down into the luxurious cabin below and show her what it meant to be his wife.

Perhaps you showed her exactly what it means to be your wife.

Well. Perhaps he had.

And why shouldn’t it begin with such honesty? He had no control where she was concerned.

None at all.

She blinked against the harsh light, and he suddenly felt as if he needed to cover her. Protect her.

He picked her up from the deck, cradling her close to his chest as he carried her down below deck. She barely moved as he spread her over the silken sheets in the well appointed cabin.

It had been his priority that the yacht be luxurious. But he was not the playboy that his brother was. There were many places he entertained women. But not personal places such as this. And certainly not on the island.

She curled partway into a ball, her red hair cascading over her face.

She was his.

There was no question of that now.

And as she drifted off to sleep, and the boat continued on toward the island, he had the feeling that if he could keep her there, separate from the world forever, he might come close to finding happiness.

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