Page 200 of The Wishing Game

Just like this. A wild, intense, almost primitive mating that has nothing to do with reason, only feeling.

Only unfettered desire.

Before I can draw in my next breath, I find myself on the bed with him looming over me, his fingers still inside me as he adds a third digit.

I thrash against the cool sheets, the sting of his possession searing itself on my flesh.

I'm full. So full.

"Nikki," I whisper, cupping his face and staring at those maddening shadows. "I'm yours. Never doubt that," I say as I tilt my hips, urging him on. A tingle goes down my spine, my muscles clenching as I tighten my grip on him.

I throw my head back as my breathing intensifies, the pain giving way to the sweetest pleasure. A little more. Just a little...

A knock at the door puts a stop to everything.

"Miss, I have brought your dresses," a feminine voice says from the other side.

Before I can blink, I'm all alone in the room, the shadows dissipating until the soreness between my legs is the only thing attesting he was here at all.

I quickly get out of bed and run to the bathroom to put on a bathrobe before opening the door and instructing the maid to leave everything on the table in the back.

She does as told, and as she leaves, I lock the door after her.

My heart is thumping loudly in my chest, my mind barely able to make sense of what just happened. A trickle of wetness slides down my inner thigh, and I get some tissue to wipe myself. As I part my robe to look between my legs, I'm not surprised to see a pinkish liquid cling to my skin—a combination of blood and arousal.

He wasn't gentle with me. He was rough and demanding. And despite the lingering sting of pain, I find myself wishing the maid hadn't knocked on the door.

Maybe I shouldn't even entertain thoughts of doing this with him as he is now, but the only regret I have is that we didn't finish what we started.

Ididn't finish, despite being so close.

"Oh, Nikki. Ghost or not, you always like to torture me." I tsk to myself.

A smile plays on my lips as I wipe off the residual blood.

Yet now that this has happened, the idea of intimacy is sown into my mind, and I can't help but wonder.

Could we go further?

Could we...

The thought alone makes me blush to the roots of my hair. I don't care how taboo or wrong this may be.

He's my husband.

And shadows or not, I'll always welcome him in my body.

Even when his touch holds a bite of pain.

Maybe even more then.

FORTY-THREE

Incessant knocking at the door wakes me up from my nap. I yawn, rubbing my eyes as I fling the sheets off me and get out of bed.

"Luce! It's me!" Thea calls out from the other side.

As I unlock the door, she barely gives me time to react before she barges in, her arms full of boxes.

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