Page 39 of Shameless Vows

“They didn’t,” she mewls on a hitched breath.

I let go of her hair and cage her hips between my hands as I fuck her,becausefuck her.

My hips slam against the flesh of her ass, causing it to jiggle, and I squeeze harder. Her moans and whimpers grow louder and more frantic, and I piston my cock even faster and deeper. Her small, yet full breasts are swaying from her suspended chest, and I reach with one hand to squeeze one as I lean over her and place my lips to her ear.

“You got yours, Duchess. Now I am going to get mine.” My balls are tight and heavy, and her internal tremors start pulsing around my cock. I’m about to lose all coherent speech, so I spit out the words as though they’re saturated with poison. “I will fuck you every single night until you’re pregnant, andthenI will place you on suicide watch, and after you’ve given me anheir, I will send you away, and you will never see that child again for as long as you live.”

Isla sucks in a gasp that I’d venture to guess has nothing to do with the climax ripping through her just as stars explode behind my eyes. I hold her tight against me as I fill her with cum and keep her trapped in place until my cock is completely spent.

After I slide out of her, I step back to close up shop and tuck in my shirt, and her knees buckle beneath her. She’s gripping the blanket, kneeling next to the bed, head dropped low, almost looking like she’s in prayer, and sheshould bepraying.

In repentance for the sins she committed againstus.

Isla’s shoulders convulse once, and I honestly have to hand it to her.

In all the times I’ve seen her cry, from childhood on, she never managed to be so silent.

“Tomorrow night, Duchess,” I say over my shoulder as I leave the room. “Prepare yourself.”

NINE

ISLA

Present

MALACHI DID EXACTLY AS he said he would. Every single night.Y Dios ayúdame…I let him. I didn’t fight him. I complied just like I had started doing with everything, but I didn’t justcomply. I engaged him all the while I lied to myself and lost myself in memories that hadn’t slipped away from my faulty mind. I pretended that it was theoldMalachi placing his hands all over me and burying himself in my body, that this marriage wasn’t a total sham, that I hadn’t done the unthinkable to him, that I still loved him, that he still loved me, and that everything was still as it always should have been.

Every time, he refuses to look at me. He calls me horrible names. He reminds me that he has all the power in this situation, and that he will separate me from the child that I will inevitably bring into the world. The child we used to dream of together that will ultimately be only his because of his power. And I don’t know how I’m going to deal with that. Maybethat’swhen I’ll throw myself off my balcony.

It’s now the week of Christmas, and, for the second time in my life, I take a pregnancy test and get a positive result. I leave it on the desk in Malachi’s study and return to my room. About an hour later, I hear the tell-tale pounding of footsteps and brace myself by sitting up straight and perching rigidly on the edge of my bed.

The door flies open, smacking the wall behind it, and I look at the floor as Malachi marches toward me. He pitches the test at me, and it smacks sharply against the side of my arm before tumbling to the floor.

“Do not leave something that youpissed onon mydesk,” he snaps.

“My apologies, Duke,” I say meekly, eyes still trained on the floor. It’s the polar opposite of how he reacted the last time we were in this situation, so I focus on that moment from eleven years ago. “I thought you would like to know.”

“I would have liked to know via youtelling me. You know, withwords.” He huffs, and in my periphery, I see him fold his arms across my chest. “Now, you should be aware that I have security cameras trained on your balcony so you don’t follow through with your petty threat. Additionally, I have arranged for a midwife to begin coming to tend to you. You will also deliver the childherein the palace,notat a hospital. After that, you will be sent to live at the royal estate in Kinsdale. And that is where you will stay indefinitely.”

I say nothing and swallow discreetly.

“You will also not inform your family when they’re here this week,” Malachi adds with a razor’s edge in his voice. “If I have to hide a listening device on you to monitor your private conversations, Iwill.”

At that, I can’t help cutting my eyes up at him. I immediately regret it. His expression couldn’t be more different than the one he wore eleven years ago if he tried. His silvery-pewter eyes are so full of hate that my blood runs cold, and I look away.

“Is all of this one-hundred-percent clear, Duchess?”

I swallow again. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” He turns from me and starts to march toward the door. “And try to put on ahappy facefor your family. I would prefer to keep the theatrics to a minimum.”

The door slams shut, shaking the walls of my room, and a long breath drains from me until it catches on a sudden, boulder-sized lump in my throat. I allow one sob to escape before clasping my hands over my mouth to stifle it, lest Malachi hear that I’m crying and come back to rub more salt in this open wound.

I keep my hands over my mouth as I lie back on the pillows and squeeze my eyes shut, fighting the urge to weep so long and so hard that I exhaust myself and yawn against my palms. I remember from the last time I was briefly pregnant that one of the side effects is fatigue, and I have nothing better to do right now anyway, so I give into sleep.

After some time, a soft, warm palm strokes my cheek. “My sweet Isla.”

I furrow my brow before my eyes fly open, and Malachi is sitting on the bed next to me, only it’s not the Malachi who just left. This one is the twenty-year-old version of him that I knew and lovedbefore.

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