But then an ivory altar with gold etchings up the side similar to the runes marking our bodies appears in the center of the stage. There is a single pillow and very thin looking mattress that makes the altar look like a bed and it becomes perfectly clear what she means.
“Sex, she means sex.”
“We don’t have—”
“We do. We will. Whatever it takes. I trust you.”
“I’ll help you kill her the second this is over,”he growls in my head.
“No, she’s mine.”
“We have restraints if you need to use them to get the job done, Ambrose,” Isolde says with a cruelty in her voice that leaves an unsettled feeling in my stomach.
A raw, primal growl pours out of Ambrose as he uses his body like a shield, blocking me from her. “That won’t be necessary,” he says through clenched teeth.
“I’ll make this fast and keep you as covered as I can. I’ll—”he says in a panicked voice in my head.
“I know. I trust you. I don’t care who sees our bond. We are doing this, not just because we have to but because we want to. You’re my mate, Ambrose. I want the world to know.”
His jaw twitches, but he takes me by the hand and leads me gently to the altar-like bed.
“Just focus on me.”His eyes lock on mine and mine on his as we both take a slow, deep breath. His fingers gently brush against my cheek before her cradles my neck with the palm of his hand, and his lips brush over mine. Once, twice before he quickly sweeps his tongue through the seam of my mouth and gently lifts me onto the hard altar.
Heat weaves through me with every purposeful kiss until I’m quickly burning up. A fervent longing beats hard in my chest as my core begs for him inside me to quench the ache between my thighs.
“It’s just us.”
“Just us.”
That’s all the preparation I’ll get—anything more would be too intimate and take too long. It would expose my body to the rest of the world. There are no blankets, nothing to cover our bodies with. He kissed me just enough to turn me on, just enough to make this pleasurable for me, to prepare my body, but nothing more.
Ambrose gently spreads my legs and takes up the space between them, hiking my dress up my thighs until it’s bunched around my waist. His thumb circles my clit over my panties once before he realizes how soaked the material is. I’m ready for him;I’m always ready for him. He carefully pushes my panties to one side.
“I want you so much.”His voice is desperate, as is the look in his golden eyes.
I don’t look away as I hear the zipper of his pants.“Me too.”
I feel the tip of his length brush against my clit, and then he takes me in one hard thrust, burying himself to the hilt. My eyes squeeze shut as the quick shot of pain overwhelms me. I thought I was more than ready for him, but his large size compared to the heaviness of the moment is more than I was prepared for.
Despite my best efforts, a wretched moan squeaks out before I can contain it. I quickly bite my lip, refusing for anyone to see or hear that I’m in any pain—especially Isolde.
Ambrose is focused, though. He fucks me fast to get this over as quickly as possible. His lips dance over mine again, soothing my agony.
“I’m sorry—”
“Don’t. I’m okay,” I reassure him.
Both of our voices are strangled, pushing through the torment we feel in this moment.
His lips brush against mine again and again, and the heat returns to my body, quickly overshadowing the burning and stretching I felt before.
I don’t dare open my eyes, too terrified I’ll lock eyes with anyone in the crowd. Instead, I focus on feeling Ambrose inside me. But my mind is rushing through all the possibilities of what could happen.What if we can’t break the curse? What if…?
The bruised, burning feeling when he first took me is gone, but my mind won’t allow me to settle into the moment with him like I usually would. I’m too panicked. Thrust after thrust, he expertly fucks me. It’s pleasurable but nothing like when we’ve had sex before. It’s as if he doesn’t want to share that part of us with the world. This feels methodical, mechanical. He’sgoing through the motions but not really revealing much of our relationship to the world.
Panic sneaks up my chest as I realize it’s going to take forever for me to come.
“Please don’t let me having an orgasm be required for our joining as humans to be complete.”
