Tainted Reasoning (Dark Sovereignty Book 2)

by Anna Edwards

  “I’m sorry,” I mumble and try desperately to keep my hands and feet still, but I just can’t do it. My left foot lifts and taps three times in quick succession on the floor.

  “Damn it, William. Stop it. You’re an intolerable embarrassment,” my father curses at me.

  Nicholas drops to his knees and tries to hold my foot still. He looks up at me with so much worry on his face – no fourteen-year-old should ever have that expression.

  “I’m trying, Your Grace. I really am.” My words catch in my throat with the effort I’m exerting, trying to keep still.

  “It’s all your mother’s fault. You’re just like her. Why was I lumbered with her winning the trials? I could have had any of the other women, but no, I get the wife who gives me one belligerent son, and one son who’s a monster.”

  My hand swipes around my head really quickly, and my father’s face reddens with so much anger that I know I’ve broken the last vestiges of his control.

  He balls his fist and pulling it back, I feel the punch as he lands it hard on my face. His hands move to his belt, and I know what is coming next. He’s tried so many times to beat the ’wrong’ out of me. It never works, though. I’m what he says I am – a freakish monster. Nicholas is quick to his feet and blocks my father’s path to me.

  “Your Grace, please. I’ll take him to his room. We’ll keep him secreted away for the night, so he doesn’t make an embarrassment of himself in front of your distinguished guests.”

  “Out of the way, Nicholas,” my father scolds, and I see my brother go flying across the room. Before I have a chance to draw a breath, the biting leather of his belt cracks against the skin on my back. Even through the t-shirt I’m wearing, I can feel it burning my flesh. Nothing will stop my father now, until he’s satisfied there’s a chance that he’s beaten the ‘freak’ out of me. It never works, though. I’ll be back with my tics tomorrow, and there is nothing he can do about it. It’s who I am, and why would I ever try to fit in when I was born to stand out? This is my future, and with each lash of the belt, I accept it.

  “William?” The voice of an angel breaks me out of my reflection, and I realize I’m curled up on the floor as I would have been all those years ago, protecting as much of my body from the beating as I could. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Tamara appears at my side and instantly checks my forehead to see if I’ve a temperature.

  “I’m alright.” I tell her and pull myself upright. “A memory…” Climbing up, I look down at the ground to try and calm my rapidly beating heart.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “No…Honestly, it’s fine. How are you?” I question with genuine concern. She still looks tired, and the rims of her eyes are red from all the tears she’s shed. My heart’s still beating too quickly, but for another reason now. This one is an overwhelming need to protect the woman in front of me.

  “You can talk to me,” she says, deflecting the question from herself and centering it back to me.

  “I was remembering my father’s anger toward my quirks when I was a child. He used to beat me, thinking that maybe he could get rid of them that way. I was an embarrassment to him. It’s why he hid me away for so many years.”

  “Your father was wrong. You’re not an embarrassment, but he was. He was a shameful example of a man, especially being in such a respected position, and Viscount Hamilton continues to remain so even now. The way they treat women and children is disgusting. Actually no, scrap that…the way they treat most other human beings is wrong. William, for you to be the man you are today, and to have saved Victoria and Nicholas the way you did, proves that you’ve survived your father. You’re stronger than everything he did to you. You suffered but came out on the other side, stronger. The way you carried me out of the Viscount’s house today is more evidence of that. Yes, you may be quirky at times, but that’s a part of you, and it makes me laugh. Please don’t try to hide it…I like it. Plus, it makes my best friend blush when you talk about her sex life.” Tamara giggles, and I can’t help but smile at the enthusiasm she’s exuding for me. Nicholas and, now, Victoria always support me in everything I do and who I am. Especially when I relax and don’t try to rigidly control everything to the point where I’m tying myself in knots and making myself sick in the process. Tamara sees the real me as well, which makes me happy and surprises me.

  Pushing up onto my feet, I brush off a few leaves that have stuck to my trousers. The day has warmed up, and the grass, which was frosty this morning has dried, so my trousers are not soaked through, maybe a little damp but nothing uncomfortable.

  “Thank you.” Taking Tamara’s hand, I offer her respect for the way she has spoken to me. I protected her earlier today, and she’s cared for me now. It’s strange – I may have only known her for a little over twenty-four hours, but I feel more relaxed around her than anyone else. Tucking her under the crook of my arm, we both look back to my mother’s gravestone.

  “I’m sorry for the way she died.” Tamara bows her head in respect. “It was cruel to have her taken away from you.”

  “To have us both taken away from her, really. She was never allowed to be a mother to Nicholas. He was always supposed to be my father’s shadow. I’m just glad he was able to step out from under it.”

  “I’m sure she’s up in heaven looking down proudly on her two sons, for everything you are achieving, and the way you are trying to undo all the wrongs of the past.”

  We both lower our heads to my mother’s grave before making our way back to the house while I reflect on my answer.

  “It won’t be easy to right all the wrongs. We will find obstacles at every turn, but we won’t stop trying. I don’t know if there will be a happily ever after, but I’m going to try my hardest to find one.”

  We stop just inside the patio doors to the lounge. Tamara inclines her body so it’s facing me, and I feel a heated sensation cascade through my skin. She really is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Her eyes spark with intelligence, mischief, and a caring nature all combined.

  “I think you’ll find your happy ending. The one thing I’ve learned is that you have determination.”

  “Determination. I like that. Determination to have what I want.” I can’t help but push my body closer to Tamara, and she reacts with a hitch of breath as her eyes filled with lust stare up at me.

  “When all this is over, what else are you determined to have?”

  “A wife,” I reply instantly.

  “And?” she questions with a playful bite to her lip.

  “Children.”

  “How many?”

  “A whole army. I never want any of them to not have a playmate if they want one.”

  “That’s a lot!”

  “You up for it?” I ask her before lowering my head and pressing my lips against her plump ones.

  Chapter Six

  Tamara

  William Cavendish is kissing me! I think the world is tilting on its axis, and everything is becoming slightly surreal. I’ve only known him for just over twenty-four hours, but I already know in my heart I’m his. I can fight it all I want, but our souls have already become entangled with the emotions of what has happened to us. He sees himself as the poor boy abused by his father, but I see the strong man he’s become – the lover who will respect me and worship me. I need this just as much as he does. Damn to hell the consequences.

  Opening my mouth slightly, I allow his tongue entry to ravage me with an urgency that seems to dominate his body. I’m pressed flat against the patio doors we entered through with the cold of the glass at my back, and his heat warming the front of my body. It’s an assault on my senses, heightening the urgent need I have to feel his passion.

  “William,” I breathlessly utter into his mouth. He catches my words and responds by moaning out my name.

  “Tamara.”

  He shifts his hips, and I feel the hardness at his groin as he strains to bring me to orgasm. If we don’t find somewhere more priva
te soon, I know he’ll take me against this glass door for the world to see. I’m not sure Victoria and Nicholas will be impressed with having to clear a possible ass imprint off the glass panel.

  “We need to go upstairs.” I pull away but keep my gaze focused solely on him.

  “You sure?” He brings his hand to my face and strokes the calloused pads of his fingers down my soft skin. “I’m different…I don’t want to scare you.”

  “You are different in a beautiful way.” My words are honest because he is. This isn’t my first rodeo – I’ll be the first to admit I was promiscuous at university. I’m pretty certain I nearly gave Victoria a heart attack when I told her about the orgy I participated in one night. As long as I was careful and set boundaries, then I was never one to think I needed to shy away from my sexual orientations. Yes, I’ve experimented: with men, women, both at the same time, and toys of different varieties. But William has seen the darker side of sex, and he’s seen the pain and suffering it can bring. So when he says he’s different, I’m not stupid – I know he’s talking about his needs in bed and not his autism.

  “If you want me to stop at any point, then you say, and I’ll do so immediately,” he offers me.

  “Yes.” Lowering my hand, I entwine it with his and lead him through the corridors of Oakfield Hall. My heart is thumping so loudly, and the need between my legs throbs with every step. As we walk, I can’t help but hear the echoing screams of the many women who’ve been taken unwillingly to their fate in this place. The tables are finally turning.

  On reaching my bedroom, I lead William in and go to sit on the bed. We’re both silent as he remains stood at the doorway just staring at me. Finally, he turns and locks the door before striding over to me while at the same time removing his t-shirt. For someone who’s been kept hidden away, he’s clearly not been inactive over the years since his body is rippled with lines of taut muscles. His skin is slightly pale, especially against the dark tone of mine – ebony and ivory springs to mind when comparing us. I suck in a breath of lust at the sight of him.

  “Stand up,” he orders in a voice so deep and commanding it initially shocks me, and I jump straight to me feet. “I want to watch you undress.”

  William licks his lips while taking a seat in the plush Queen Anne chair in my room. He dwarfs the elegant chair with his size.

  “Tamara, remove your clothes. Show me what I want to see.”

  With a shaking hand, I bring my fingers up to the top button of my teal blouse. My breaths are hitched while I slowly undo the fastenings and peel open the shirt to reveal a similar colored lace bra. William shifts in his seat, presumably to adjust the position of his hardness. I can’t help but feel a little thrill of delight surge through my body that he likes what he sees.

  “Tamara. The bra,” he orders.

  I drop my shirt to the floor and reach around my back to unclasp the fixings of my bra. I lower it carefully into my hands but keep the cups covering my breasts until the last second when I allow the gossamer material to fall and reveal myself to him.

  “Fuck!” he exclaims. “Do you know how much I dreamed of them last night? I got off twice in the shower this morning just imagining my tongue wrapped around your flesh. They are even more beautiful, the nipples perter, and the shape more rounded than I even imagined.”

  “You played with yourself thinking of me?” I find myself shocked at the admission. I don’t know why, because I found him instantly handsome from the first moment I saw him. I was just way too exhausted last night to contemplate using those visions to get myself off.

  “You don’t like me telling you that?” A line of worry creases William’s forehead. “Tamara, I thought you’d have learned by now I say what I think, and that’s both in and out of the bedroom. Around everyone else, I have to control it as much as I can, but here with you, I’m afraid, you’re going to get everything.” He rises to his feet and comes to stand directly in front of me. Grabbing the waistband of my jeans, he pulls me to him and grinds his hips into my waist. “Every dirty word…every commanding need. You will get it all from me. Say now if you want me to stop.”

  “No.” The word spills from my lips before my brain has a second to even think about what he’s just said to me. I need William between my thighs to relieve the urgent ache burning there.

  “Good. Because I think we need to get these jeans off, now. I need to see that pussy I can smell getting ready to milk my big, hard cock.”

  Fuck! If he keeps up with the dirty talk, I’m going to come without any stimulation. In all my experiences, nobody has ever spoken to me like this before. It’s intoxicating. His velvety tones, spilling filthy words about what he’s going to do to me are almost like his fingers running directly over my clit.

  William undoes the buttons of my jeans and pulls the fabric down over my thighs. He lowers his body, so he’s kneeling in front of my pussy and takes a breath of air through his nose. I know he’s sensing how much I want him.

  “Please,” I whimper… wanting…needing…something…anything.

  “What do you want me to do, Tamara?” William looks up at me from under hooded eyelids, and when he hooks the tip of his finger in to my panties, I let out a groan of wanton desire.

  “Please. Touch me.”

  “Touch you?” he says as he pulls my underwear down my thighs. I kick my shoes off to step out of my panties and my jeans. I’m naked before him, and every nerve ending in my body is tingling with desperation.

  “Touch me.” I repeat, and William presses his finger against my left arm.

  “There you are…I touched you.” He raises a playful eyebrow.

  “No, not there.”

  He reaches up and swipes his finger over my shoulder.

  “Please…” I cry, needing so much more.

  “You have to tell me, Tamara. I need to know exactly what you want.”

  “Down there.” I flick my eyes down between my thighs. Damn, what the hell is happening to me? I’ve taken the initiative before, but in front of William, it’s like I’ve reverted back to an innocent virgin. He’s messing with my brain, and it’s making me so ready for him that I can feel wetness running down the inside of my thighs.

  “You are going to have to elaborate, I’m afraid. I need full details. Remember, my brain’s wired a little bit differently to others. They may know exactly what you want them to do to you, but I need to be told explicitly.” The last word he says is so dark and demanding I groan and bring my own hand to my pussy. William stops it and lifts me effortlessly onto the bed.

  “No,” he snarls a warning that chills my blood but also sends electricity straight down to my clit. “You’re with me. You don’t touch yourself. I do all the touching.” He looks around the room, and I wonder what for until I see him go for my dressing gown cord. Shit!

  “William.” My eyes go wide when he takes my left hand, and tying the cord around it, he threads the cord through the wire frame at the head of my bed before bringing it back down to secure my right hand with it. I’m trapped. “What are you doing?” I can sense the fear in my voice. The intensity of the situation is leaving me with little control. I’m not sure whether I’m willing to give up my say in the matter of our coupling. I don’t have time to dwell on my worries, though, when once again William lowers himself down to my pussy and blows a long breath onto it. Fires ignite at the delicate current of warm air flowing over my heated flesh. He licks his lips and looks up at me. His eyes are dark, the pupils dilated so much he looks like the devil himself. Fuck! What am I getting myself into? With his dexterous tongue, William trails the length of my folds then flicks over the sensitive bundle of nerves at the peak. I’m writhing underneath him on the bed, wanting more. This is insane – I’m tied up beneath a man who’s devouring my pussy and looks like Lucifer, and I want more. I want it all!

  “William.” I twist, thrusting my hips toward him, but he brings his hand up and pushes me down into the bed.

  “No moving,” he orders
and goes back to eating me as if I was his last meal.

  My body feels like it’s on fire. I can barely make sense of anything but the throbbing between my thighs. I know I won’t last long against this onslaught. His tongue is like a dangerous weapon, ridding me of all sense. I’m a wanton harlot, calling out for more, more, and even more.

  The ricochet of an orgasm crashes into me when I least expect it. I thrash hard against the bindings on my restrained hands, but William is deft with a cord, and I can’t pull them free. My body pulsates and jerks through every pleasurable sensation centered at my core. I’ve never had an orgasm like this before. It’s taken over my whole body. My ears are ringing, my vision’s blurry, and my limbs are shuddering of their own accord. Vaguely, I’m aware of William rising from the bed and divesting himself of the remainder of his clothes. I try to focus on his cock to prepare myself for what I know is about to come, but my head is still too cloudy with the aftermath of my orgasm. Something hard presses against my entrance, and I scream out with discomfort and overwhelming sensitivity as William pushes what feels like a massive dick into me.

  “Oh God.” I’m not religious, but at this very moment, if he can save me from this overload of pure, pleasurable sensation traveling through my body, I’m willing to attend church every Sunday for the rest of my life.

  “Take me, Tamara.” William says as he withdraws and then slams back into me with a thrust that seems to go on forever. How fucking long is he? I can barely breathe.

  William pulls all the way out this time, and I’m given a few seconds to collect my thoughts as he releases one end of the cord before flipping me onto my front and lifting me up onto my knees. He slams hard back into me, and in the back of my mind, I briefly think of contraception, but then that thought is lost with his animalistic thrusts.