“Yes,” she breathed, dazed and trembling. “Yes, Your Grace. Please ...”
That broke him.
With a final thrust, he buried himself to the hilt and poured into her, groaning her name like a prayer and a promise.
He stayed there, breath ragged, leaning down so his forehead pressed to hers, his manhood twitching inside her as her walls still clenched tightly around him.
Victor didn’t withdraw. Not right away.
He remained buried deep, her thighs trembling around his hips. She was warm and pliant beneath him. Her breath came in shallow pants, lashes fluttering against flushed cheeks, and he could feel the faint aftershocks of her climax rippling through her.
He kissed her, softer this time. Trailing his lips from the corner of her mouth to her jaw, her ear, the hollow of her throat. Each press of his lips a wordless claim and vow.
“You did so well for me, little one.” She deserved all the praise. “Such a perfect, good girl.”
Olivia didn’t speak, but the way her fingers curled around his bicep told him all he needed to know. Her body, utterly spent, had melted beneath him like wax warmed by flame.
He eased out of her with a groan, watching his seed spill slowly from her cunt and pool on the inside of her thigh. His manhood twitched again, possessively.
Mine.
Victor removed himself from the bed and retrieved a cloth that he dampened in the wash basin. Returning to Olivia, he gently cleaned her, his touch reverent as he tended to her most intimate places.
“You’re shaking,” he observed, concerned.
“It’s ... I’ve never ... that feeling of pleasure.” She struggled to articulate.
“I know,” he said, his voice gentle. “I’ll always take care of you after, little one. Always.”
When he finished, he climbed back beside her, pulled her against his chest, and drew the coverlet over their naked bodies.She fit perfectly there—her back pressed to him and her bottom nestled against his hips.
He smiled against her hair. Their arrangement had begun better than he could have hoped. She needed his guidance, and she would continue to need it in the days to come. He’d gone easy on her. But his little one could handle it.
“You did beautifully tonight,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. “You surrendered so perfectly to me.”
Olivia made a soft sound of contentment, her body growing heavier against him as sleep began to claim her.
“I meant every word I said,” Victor continued softly. “I care for what’s mine. And you, Olivia Blackwood, are very much mine.”
An unexpected sensation stirred in Victor’s chest as he listened to her breathing even out. The fierce satisfaction he felt wasn’t just physical dominance. It was the deeper fulfillment of providing exactly what she needed. Her complete trust in his guidance stirred emotions he’d thought buried with his fallen comrades. Perhaps caring for his little one could heal parts of himself he’d assumed were permanently broken.
But he wouldn’t allow it to become anything more. Her lessons had only just begun, and she had no idea what she’d just awakened in him.
But she would learn. And she would submit to him, whatever he commanded.
Chapter Three
Olivia
Olivia paced the length of her bedchamber. The previous night’s events played through her mind on endless repeat. Mental images of kneeling before Victor, exposing herself, finding pleasure under his watchful gaze. Her body still hummed with the memory, a persistent ache that had followed her into restless dreams.
“Will you be wanting the blue gown today, Your Grace?” Martha asked, pulling Olivia from her thoughts.
Your Grace. The title still felt foreign, ill-fitting. She had been Lady Olivia for four-and-twenty years. Now, after a hasty ceremony and an even more unorthodox, unexpected wedding night, she was a duchess.
“The green, I think,” Olivia replied, running her fingers over the emerald silk, “and the matching hair ribbons.”
As Martha helped her dress, Olivia contemplated her husband. Victor Blackwood remained an enigma—commanding yet restrained, demanding obedience while offering praise that made her insides flutter. Last night he had watched her while she touched herself, maintaining his composure while she fell apart under his gaze. Then the way he made her his ...
