by Shay Savage
A moment later, I felt her fingers grip my hair and pull me to her. She took me urgently but still in her soft, gentle way. Her tongue ran over my lips and into my mouth as I moaned her name, the sound muffled as we consumed each other.
An image of her reaching for Michael and tangling her fingers in his hair invaded my thoughts, and the heat of my previous rage resurfaced. I grabbed her head in my hands and pulled her away from me.
“You are mine,” I said to her. Though my tone expressed my anger, there was more behind it. A cold, desperate fear grew in my heart. If she were ever to choose another, my reaction would be no less than murderous. I looked straight at her, so there would be no question as to the meaning of my words. “My wife.”
Even with her face gripped between my hands, she nodded vigorously.
“Take me.”
Those two, simple words were all that were needed. I felt like I could draw breath again. My eyes closed, and I forced my fingers to loosen their grip as I took in a few slow breaths. I kissed her, meaning to be gentle, but I was overcome by my need for her again. I tried to touch as much of her as I could, but it was still nowhere near enough to satiate me.
She is mine, I told myself, and though the words were straightforward and made sense in my head, they were not enough. It felt like there would never be anything even approaching enough again. The thought had simply not occurred to me before the moment I noticed Michael’s look. Alexandra was beautiful, and it should have occurred to me that other men might occasionally take notice, but it had not.
Though my eyes were closed, blackness much darker than any absence of light crawled over my skin and around my head, binding me in the dark. I had to make this stop before I went truly mad.
“Pull up your skirts,” I told her, because burying myself in her body was my only reprieve. “Hold them out of the way.”
Alexandra complied, bunching the layers of cursed fabric at her waist. My hands followed upwards until I contacted the thin garment underneath and pulled it down quickly, knowing the soft, feminine flesh of my wife was near. My belt and sword were next, and I just let them fall unceremoniously to the ground before loosening the drawstring at the front of my trousers. I again found the bare flesh of her thighs and, taking a step forward, I felt the heat of her body close to me. I lifted her until she was off the ground completely—raised just high enough for me to enter her with ease. Taking another step, I positioned her with an audible thump against the wall of Romero’s stall, while at the same time I pulled her legs around my waist.
My hands reached around to her luscious backside, my fingers gripping her flesh as I positioned myself and entered her swiftly and deeply. I could hear my own moan echoed with her cries as I thrust into her over and over again—as hard as I could. Alexandra wrapped her arms around my neck, and she held on tightly as I continued slamming into her.
The anger was still there—the fury still lodged deep in my mind—but as I impaled her body, the anger was slowly replaced by my lust for her. I could almost see the two feelings merging together as one inside of me, and then I was completely expelling the fury from my body with every plunge inside of her.
As I changed angles and pushed upwards, Alexandra’s cries increased. In the back of my mind, I worried for her embarrassment should someone hear her and investigate. I captured her mouth with mine, muffling her cries as I felt her body tremble around me. I felt her muscles go limp, and she fell back against the wall, but I did not alter my course. I kissed her neck as I was again assaulted by thoughts of my insufferable page and his wandering eyes. I quickened my pace.
“My wife.” I heard myself moan. I grazed my teeth over the skin of her neck as I spoke, chanting in time with the force of my hips. “My wife…my wife…mine…mine…mine…”
Between the feeling of her slick, wet heat wrapped around me, the heat of her breath across my forehead, and the pounding motion of our colliding bodies, I felt the intense buildup of sensations in my lower body—the concentration of pleasure as it gripped me, held me, and then released me as I buried myself as deep as I could. I could feel my fluids streaming deep inside of her as I cried out, no longer caring who may find us.
I held her against the wall as I slowly regained my senses and realized what I had just done.
My wife of merely a few days had been subjected not just to my temper, but also to my using her body to relieve myself of my pent-up frustration at losing a jousting match and noting the inappropriate look from a boy. I had taken my pleasure with my young, innocent, and often frightened wife without any consideration of her at all.
Even as I caressed the skin of her neck with my lips, the warmth from her body could not counter the chill that swept through me. I took a slow and gentle step back, fearing I may have hurt her in my rush. I felt another chill as I pulled myself from her and lowered her feet slowly back to the earth. Some of her clothing was lying in the dirt on the ground, and I helped her collect it again. I could not meet her eyes, for I feared what I might see in them. She would most likely not want anything to do with me for some time, if ever again, after I had taken her in such a way and without thought.
I had not even prayed.
I had said a prayer every single time I had bedded my wife. The first time, it was a plea for her to not be hurt—for her trust in me and pleasure for herself. Since the first time, when she expressed her desire for my children, I had prayed for my seed to find purchase—to start my child growing inside of her. There was little else I wanted more than to see her belly swell and to know my child grew within her.
Now, I was afraid of what I would see when I looked at her. Pain? Fear? Distrust? Would she ever again welcome my touch after how I had behaved?
“Forgive me, Alexandra.” With great pain, I met her eyes. She seemed…stunned. Perhaps I would have a chance to beg for her forgiveness.
Again.
“I never intended to be so…so…quick with you.”
“Branford,” she said softly to me. She shook her head slowly as she reached up and laid the palms of her hands against my cheeks. She moved forward, her lips brushing softly over mine. “There is no reason for your apology.”
“I was rough with you,” I said, insisting.
“I am not injured,” she replied.
“I did not…I was not even thinking of your needs.”
“Yet you met them anyway.”
The memory of my mouth muffling her cries as her body shuddered around me washed over my thoughts. She had not only allowed me to take her in such a way; she had embraced it. As I looked into her eyes again, it was clear to me that she spoke nothing but the absolute truth. She was not angry with me—not for the rough way I took her or the openness of the location. She accepted it, and she accepted me, with the same quiet manner she had accepted all my flawed ways.
My heart clenched as if an iron-clad fist held it within its grasp, and the sensations of her touch on my skin ran through my body—bringing me to further calm. It was as if there were a direct line from the tips of her fingers over my jaw to the darkest places inside of my mind, forcing them away with her light. How could I not love her, this woman who could bring me such peace—not just allow the peace to exist but to bring me back from the place inside my mind where I was driven so often against my will.
She had saved me.
I reached up to touch her cheek, stroking slowly across her delicate, pale skin as I leaned forward and gently kissed her. My heart still beat rapidly in my chest, and I still felt tight and clenched there though the feeling was not completely unwelcomed. I knew what it was.
I loved her.
I tightened the drawstring on my trousers and adjusted my belt, which aggravated my left hand and wrist. I made a fist with it, flinching slightly as I did. It was painful but not unbearable and already appeared better than it had been before. I turned back to Alexandra and kissed her softly near her ear.
“I am undoubtedly the luckiest man to ever live,” I told her. “I
promise I will make this up to you tonight.”
“There is no need,” she said to me, still out of breath.
“I shall do it anyway,” I said.
That night, I was determined to make good on my promise and take her to the brink of ecstasy many times before I took my own pleasure. It was entirely possible I went overboard in my efforts, and as my wife cried out my name for the fourth time, she started begging me to finish with her before she lost all her senses. I chuckled, nuzzling my nose against her sweet smelling neck and teasing her still with my fingers.
“Please…Branford…please!”
“Please what?” I whispered hot against her ear. “Tell me what you desire, my wife.”
“I…I want you…please.”
“What do you want?” I smirked. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
“Oh…Branford.” Alexandra sighed as her skin turned a deeper shade of pink. “I want you inside of me…please do not wait any longer.”
I was only too happy to oblige, slowly pushing inside of her and gently rocking back and forth until I could feel the tension locking through my legs. I let myself go with a long moan, looking up to the roof of the room and silently praying.
Lord God, our Father…please bless my wife. Let her become with child…please, if it is your will…let me father her child tonight. Amen.
I listened to her breathing as it slowed and sucked at the skin near the base of her neck. Her skin was so soft in that one place, and I was drawn to it repeatedly. I reached out with my tongue to taste her once before I raised myself up on my arms to get my weight off of her. I looked down into her beautiful brown eyes to find her smiling up at me.
A beautiful, unassuming smile that simply gave my universe meaning.
And that was when I knew I would spend my life making sure Alexandra was happy.
More Books by Shay Savage
Unexpected Circumstances Series:
The Handmaid: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F3Q9TT8
The Seduction: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FG5R67S
The Consummation: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G8X5T3K
The Shortcoming: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H3W9AVM
The Concubine: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HS3GOEM
The Apprehension: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IHY87HI
The Devastation: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J64JKTW
Surviving the Storm Series:
Surviving Raine: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CWG930S
Bastian’s Storm: www.amazon.com/dp/B00L2LLC0S/
Evan Arden Series:
Otherwise Alone: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AP5NNWC/
Otherwise Occupied: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DGGUM76/
Uncockblockable (a Nick Wolfe Story): www.amazon.com/dp/B00EBW1ZQG
Otherwise Unharmed: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H3RUY8G/
Isolated: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U88ERI0
Irrevocable: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XW9U71I
Stand Alone Works:
Transcendence: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IFV9AXY
Offside: www.amazon.com/dp/B00MEWGCWC
Worth: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KAFC6MK/
Alarm: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QGUIHMQ
Commodity: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016V9LK0C
Kandace and the Beast: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019D4DDN4
Specimen: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BFZXUWS
Win Some, Lose Some: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MCU752A
Deklan: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071J8MN2C
Novella Collection:
Savaged: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q9DRR1W
Caged Trilogy:
Takedown Teague: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010C3UFXQ
Trapped: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010RRZ0E6
Released: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011YTEKBU
Kindle Unlimited – Read for Free!
Stand Alone Works:
Commodity: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B016V9LK0C
Specimen: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BFZXUWS
Worth: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KAFC6MK/
Boxed Sets:
Surviving The Storm – Surviving Raine and Bastian’s Storm Boxed Set: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OE9I6NQ
Evan Arden – the complete Boxed Set: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01899NUUK
Novella Collection:
Savaged: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q9DRR1W
About the Author
Shay Savage lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her family and a variety of household pets. She is an accomplished public speaker and holds the rank of Distinguished Toastmaster from Toastmasters International. When not writing, she enjoys spending her weekends off-roading in her bright yellow jeep, watching science fiction movies, masquerading as a zombie, and participating as a HUGE Star Wars fan and member of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers. When the geek fun runs out, she also loves soccer in any and all forms—especially the Columbus Crew, Arsenal, and Bayern Munich. Savage holds a degree in psychology, and she brings a lot of that knowledge into the characters within her stories.
Website: http://www.shaysavage.com/
Webstore: http://www.shaysavage.com/#!merchandise/cw7q
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShaySavage7289
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5160667.Shay_Savage
Twitter: @savage7289
Blog: http://shaysavage.blogspot.com/
