Sliding down her body, he applied the same wicked brutality to her throat, her breasts, the soft skin under her arms.
Sin lifted his torso. Lips red, he stared down at her, rocking his hips, making her quake.
“I love you, Winnifred Archer. And I believe you have feelings for me, too.” He traced a finger down her throat. “After all, what is love but friendship and devotion and yearning all knotted together?”
She snarled at him, pulling at her hands and bucking with all her might.
All she managed was to ratchet her need higher.
“God damn it, get off me if you wish to speak so.” Her legs wrapped around him, hugging him to her, her body clearly disagreeing with her brain.
He arched an eyebrow and tutted. “Such language. Most unbecoming of a marchioness.” He slapped her breast.
The sharp sting reverberated through her body. She watched as he raised his hand and brought it down again, this time over her aching nipple.
“Don’t you understand yet?” He lowered his head and wrapped his lips around the throbbing bud. The strong pulls shot pleasure straight to her core, as though the two parts of her were connected by a string. “My body.” He squeezed her breast just to the point of pain. “My dugs. My wife.” His eyes burned. “No one else will ever see you as you are. I’d dig the eyes out of any man that dared. You’re mine to love.”
A whimper tumbled from her lips. His to love. If only some of his feeling could be shared with her, that she could reflect it back. He deserved to be loved and she—
She closed her eyes. Love was more than just friendship and passion. It had to be. Her parents hadn’t been friends, barely even companions. Yet even through the fits and frenzies, her mother had loved her father. Perhaps too much. When her father showed more interest and excitement in his work than in her, it had broken her mother’s heart, and her mind.
Love. She shook her head. That way madness lie.
She couldn’t watch him as they came together, see the reverence that she couldn’t feel. Couldn’t let his gaze pore into her and find her inadequacies.
With the last of her strength, she pushed off of him, driving her heel into his thigh and pushing herself up the bed. She flipped to her stomach and raised her bottom. An offering her husband was quick to accept.
Sin gripped her hips, pulled her higher. He fitted her opening with his crown, and slid into her on one stroke.
She moaned, the pleasure too much.
He began slowly, filling her at his own pace. He gripped the nape of her neck with one hand, holding her steady as he pistoned in and out.
The steady rhythm, the dominance of his hold, it all worked on her as a sedative. Every muscle in her body relaxed. Her worries, about hurting Sin, over losing herself like her mother had, all drifted away. The moment was only about seeking bliss. She clenched around his shaft, increasing the friction.
Sin cursed in Gaelic behind her. He pounded into her harder, his tempo erratic.
The sounds their bodies created were obscene. Exquisite. She slid her hand under her belly and found her clitoris. She circled it as Sin drove into her, her sheath holding him tighter and tighter.
Her lungs seized, black spots danced before her eyes.
Her heart beat once, twice, and she exploded. Her toes curled, her back arched as wave after wave of pleasure consumed her.
Sin held himself deep within her. His cock twitched, and he spent deep within her with a bellow. He shuddered above her, his fingers digging into her nape and hip, as her core clutched his length once more, milking his seed.
He collapsed next to her, breathing heavily. “Winnie,” he whispered.
She turned on her side, facing away from him, and stared at the door to the dressing room. This wasn’t a calamity. Their marriage could still be a successful one, filled with joys and achievements, even though she would always remain a bit of a disappointment to him.
He ran his fingers along the line of her shoulder and arm, and her skin tingled. Physical satisfaction would go a long way into making her husband content. She would keep him so well-satiated that he would barely notice their feelings did not match.
It would have to be enough.
Sin hooked his arm over her waist and pulled her back into his warmth.
It was all they had.
Chapter Twenty-Five
