“I don’t blame you for what happened, but I want you to know you can feel safe here. You can open up to me.” His legs are spread wide as his bandaged head rests against the back of the plush chair. His eyes pierce into me. Challenging me. Wanting to pry the story from my lips. One fraught with heartache and betrayal. One I haven’t told anyone, except Jasmine in exchange for her magical scent.
I feel myself wanting to believe him. Wanting the chance to open up to someone, even if I’ll have to move on from here, maybe I can share just this once. Even if opening up means he’ll see me differently, at least then he’ll see the real me. All of me.
A breath leaves me as I’ve made my decision. “That was my ex-fiancé that came here today.”
I let the shock of my words settle over him. It’s clear they hit him in the stomach as he sits straight, bending forward at the waist to rest his forearms on the tops of his long legs. His fingers come up over his mouth and stroke his stubbled chin.
“Trust me, he was better off dead. He came here to kill me.” I swallow hard around the knot that’s seemed to form around my throat. “I thought I loved him once. Many years ago. I was foolish, and desperate for someone to see me. For someone to want me. And then, one day when we were to be celebrating our upcoming nuptials, I found him entangled with my sister.”
The more I talk, the more I notice this tightness in my shoulders disappear. He’s rapt, focused on every word. The wrinkle between his thick brows deepens, taking in my past.
“You see Barrett, I’m not the woman you think I am. That night when I found out that he was unfaithful, I…” My diaphragm tightens around my ribs as the words I’ve held in for so long work their way out of my mouth. “I… thought I killed him.”
My eyes bore into him, waiting for a reaction. He gives me no indication of his thoughts. Instead, his body is still in the same position resting on his knees, his eyebrows furrowed as he stares at me. I decide to continue and get this over with, ready to lay my sins bare for him. He should see what a twisted dark thing he’s allowed into his life. “I have magic, and I unleashed it on everyone around me. Killing several, including my father who had caused me years of heartbreak.” My hands twist together as I plow forward, too late to turn back now. “That moment, everything changed for me. I was cursed and I’ve been trying to break that curse since.”
Silence stretches between us as he sits back, crossing his ankles one of the other.
This is it. He’s going to call Scotland Yard back here to lock me up. Hope of ever having anything normal goes out the window, but then I see him reach for something in his pocket and pull out a crumpled looking piece of parchment.
“After the doctors left and cleared me with instructions to rest, my mind wouldn’t let me settle in for the night. Something that’s been nipping at the edges of my thoughts, circling my consciousness and plaguing my dreams. I’d chalked it up to grief.” The mention of his late wife stings my heart, but I shove down the ridiculous emotion. His fingers dig into the paper, crinkling it further. "The doctors said I could have gaps in my memory from experience such a trauma. Grief can do funny things to a person, even warp their ability to recall what’s happened. Things I haven’t been remembering correctly. But tonight? It all clicked back into place. You were scared to tell me your secret, so now I’ll tell you mine.”
He peels himself off the chair and stalks over to me, thrusting the paper into my hands, before dropping to his knees before me. I feel his hands on my thighs as I read over the neatly penned letter.
My Dearest,
How it tortures me to be without your lips on mine for so long. When I received your news of your pregnancy, I’ll admit it pierced my heart to know that yet again, we will need to pretend that our children are his. Harriet, how much longer will we need to live this charade? Exchanging letters every few months and meeting only when I dock at port but once a year. How I wish Her Majesty’s Navy could spare me for longer.
Thank you for enclosing a lock of your hair. I keep it tucked inside my breast pocket, as close to my heart as possible. For now, it will have to do until I can wrap you in my arms once again.
Yours forever,
Admiral Boone
I read the letter again, disbelief and anger coursing through my veins. She was unfaithful to Barrett? And their children? No. It’s too much.
“So you see? We both have our little secrets. Our darkest parts that we hide from prying eyes, but perhaps that’s what’s brought us together. Two dark and twisted souls destined to find each other.” His hands rub higher, parting my robe. “I kept hearing her voice. ‘Barrett, no.’ Her last words. And when I focused on my emotions of her last moment, I found that it wasn’t grief that I had been feeling at all. It was anger.”
“W-what are you telling me Barrett?” I ask as his fingers slip between my legs, finding my wet center.
“That I do not care that you’ve killed. That you possess some sort of magic. Perhaps that is why I am so bewitched by you, my love. But I too have killed.” His finger presses inside of me, curling forward as I watch my knees widen for him. “I took a pillow from Harriet’s bed and smothered her face for betraying me. For betraying the children.” A small moan escapes my mouth. “We are the same.” He kisses my inner thigh. “Blood stains our hands and our souls.” Another kiss, this time higher. “I’ll do whatever it takes to break this curse of yours, if that means that we can be together.” His mouth finds my clit, tongue lapping at the bundle of nerves that sits between the apex of my desire. Knees shaking, I let him ravish me.
BARRETT
This woman will be my undoing. Her taste coats my tongue with a hint of sugar and vanilla that drives me to the brink of insanity. I drink her pleasure as if it’s the only thing sustaining me. Ignoring my throbbing head, I lick every inch of her, twirling around her sensitive clit with the tip of my tongue. She writhes beneath me, robe coming undone and granting me the most beautiful sight. Nipples peaked with desire, her chest heaves with the most beautiful moans falling from her scarlet stained lips.
Her confession tonight confirms that I’ve found my match. Both of us have been broken down by those who claimed to love us, but we’ve taken our power back by force. Our souls may be tainted with the stains from our past, but they meld perfectly together.
Her moans become louder as her hips roll on my mouth. I nip at her tender flesh, and she lets out a screech. I chuckle, shoving another finger up into her. Her walls tighten around me, making me wish I had my cock inside of her right now. But she needs to know that I’m here for her. That I accept her as she is. Flaws and all, and I’m not going anywhere. So, I will worship her pussy on my knees if that’s what it takes to let her know how desired she is. In all ways of the word.
“Barrett! I’m coming. Please.” Her words are a vice around my hard cock. I can feel a surge of wet desire leaking from my tip as I keep a steady pace of bringing her to the peak of her pleasure. Shuddering, I remove my fingers and kiss her sensitive skin one last time, feeling her bliss coating my tastebuds.
Her sapphire eyes lock onto mine. She’s a vision of perfection. Hair splayed out and robe undone with her legs spread wide for me. A flush coats the apples of her cheeks and her eyes are heavy with lust. I can’t help but feel a rush of emotions taking her in. She feels right. Like everything I could have ever wanted.
“Marry me.” The words come out unbidden and surprising even myself, though I know nothing has ever felt more right.
She sits up straight, clearly unprepared for my sudden proposal. “What?” Her hands go into her dark tangled hair as if she tugs on the ends enough it will erase the lingering question. It sits between us heavy, like an arrow pulled tightly back awaiting the archer’s permission to fire.
“We can’t! We’ve only just met.”
