He only hoped that he could earn hers.
His thrusts grew deeper, harder, as he felt his release approach. Catalina met his thrusts and he could feel her walls throbbing around him. Moaning softly, she reached down to touch the place where their bodies joined, and her caressing fingers threw him over the edge. When his release finally came, his body tensed up so hard that, for a few moments, he saw stars. He plunged into her, grinding his pelvis against hers, and stimulating her passion yet again. Catalina was so highlyaroused that in little time, she was climaxing around him again. He could feel her tight walls drawing at him, demanding seed that had already been spilt, but he kept thrusting gently until her spasms died down, enjoying the moment with everything he possessed.
Still joined to her, his body collapsed on hers. He gathered her up tightly, trying not to put all of his weight on her, and just held her. He wasn’t usually at a loss for words, but at the moment, he was.
He simply couldn’t verbalize the wonder of the experience.
“Are you well?” he whispered. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head, her hair against his face. “Not at all,” she said. “But… that has never happened to me.”
He wasn’t sure what she meant. “What hasn’t happened to you?”
She pushed her hair out of the way, turning to look at him as he lifted his head. “That,” she said as their eyes met. “The burst of stars. The pleasure that men always feel and women seldom do. That is the first time it has ever happened to me.”
He grinned, leaning down to kiss her. “Good,” he murmured. “I am happy to know that I am the first. Did you like it?”
She giggled, embarrassed. “I did.”
“Enough so that if I want to do it again, you will have no objection?”
“I will have no objection.”
He kissed her again, cuddling with her, his face in her hair as he inhaled her scent. “May I tell you a secret?” he whispered.
Catalina was greatly enjoying the closeness of him, greedily soaking up every moment of it. “Of course,” she said.
“I am glad you wanted to consummate the marriage.”
She started to laugh. He started to laugh. Soon, they were laughing like fools, hysterically. It was a release of joy, a release of tension, of all of those feelings they’d had when they’dbeen forced into this union. In a sense, they were laughing at those who had brokered the marriage, at Christopher and at Harald, because those men could have never imagined that their actions might actually lead to joy. Therefore, it was laughter of celebration. It was such wonderful laughter. They might have continued on all night had they not been interrupted by a knock on the door.
Their laughter quickly died down.
“I wonder who that could be?” Catalina said.
Essien shook his head but didn’t reply. He climbed out of the bed, nude, and went to the door.
“Who comes?” he asked.
There was no answer right away. He put his ear against the door, but he couldn’t hear anything. Was it a joke? Frustrated that he’d been lured out of a warm bed, he slammed his hand against the panel.
“Whois there?” he demanded.
There was a shriek outside, clearly someone who was startled by the bang. “Me! Essien, I must speak with you!”
It was Rebecca.
Essien lost his temper then. With a growl, he yanked the door open with unnatural speed and stood in the doorway, larger than life, as naked as the day he was born.
Rebecca was there, cowering.
“You foolish little chick,” he barked. “Did you really come here to speak with me on my wedding night about this imagined romance? I will tell you now that I am tired of your behavior. I do not love you. At the moment, I do not even like you, so go away and leave me alone. I do not want you. I have never wanted you. You are spoiled and ridiculous, and you have a good deal of growing up to do before a decent man will have you, so get out of my sight or I will tell your mother what you’ve done. If she doesn’t spank you, I will. Do you understand me?”
He stomped out after her and she screamed, fleeing down the stairs. When he was satisfied that she wasn’t going to return, he came back into the chamber and bolted the door.
Catalina was sitting up in bed, the coverlet clutched to her naked breast as she looked at him with some disapproval.
“What happened to treating people fairly and kindly?” she asked.
