Page 54 of Married to the Icy Duke
She could hear Isaac’s rough, rasping breathing in her ears, growing more labored. She could hear herownvoice, with breathy gasps and sighs, filling the otherwise silent washroom.
She could hear the slick sound of his fingers between her thighs, moving more quickly but with undeniable expertise. Something was building inside her, something which felt unstoppable yet also impossible, something which knotted up her breath in her throat.
Squeezing her eyes closed, Charlotte pressed her forehead against his shoulder, and damp locks of hair fell forward around her face.
“More, Isaac,please,” she gasped, a little horrified to hear the words stuttering out of her mouth.
“Come on, then, Charlotte,” Isaac whispered, so quietly that she barely heard him. “Let go, for me, can’t you?”
Her climax hit her in a shuddering rush, a dizzying peak of pleasure which left her shuddering, clinging to his shoulder. For one awful moment, Charlotte was entirely sure that she was going to collapse.
She did not collapse, however, thanks to her own grip on Isaac’s shoulders and his arm around her waist.
“There you are, you see,” Isaac murmured, pulling back with a lazy grin. “Mine to command.”
He released her and paused, glancing down at the hand that had touched her. There was a slickness about his fingers, and she watched, spellbound, as he pressed his forefinger and middle finger against his tongue. He held her gaze as he did so, and she saw amusement glimmering in the depths of his single blue eye. Charlotte sat down with a heavysplash, not caring that the drying sheet was now soaked. She glanced up at him, her vision still wobbling just a little.
“You … You are insufferable,” she managed.
He chuckled. “So I have heard.”
Charlotte pulled her lower lip between her teeth. What came next? What abouthim? Already, however, Isaac had turned away, drifting towards the door.
Is he simply going to leave after that?
“Ours might be a marriage of convenience,” he stated, his tone distant, “But there is no reason why we can’t enjoy our wedding night, eh?”
Charlotte breathed in.Back to business, then.
“No. Absolutely not. I …” she trailed off, and he shot her an odd look.
“Why not? Why set such a strict rule, Charlotte? I have already shown you how much fun it can be. Why not try the full game?”
Charlotte swallowed, meeting his gaze squarely. “I do not want children of my own.”
Something shifted in his face. Confusion, perhaps? Surprise.
“I do not want children,” she repeated, more firmly this time, “and nothing can change that. Not even what you have done tonight. This…incidentmust not be repeated. I was weak, but I will not be weak again.”
There. She had said it. She had told him the truth, or at least part of it. Now what?
He eyed her for a long moment, then nodded slowly.
“Very well,” he responded brusquely. “It shall be as you wish.”
Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel and walked out the door, pausing to close the washroom door behind him.
Charlotte was left alone, sitting in her cooling bathwater, and struggling to understand just what, exactly, she had done.
CHAPTER 16
Bang. Bang. Bang!
Isaac’s fists smacked against the padded punching bag over and over again. There was a worn patch in the middle where countless fists had eroded the fabric. Isaac wondered how long it would take to punch through to the wooden core within.
He took a step back, flexing his hands and rolling his shoulders. Sweat streamed down his forehead, stinging his eyes. He blinked hard, forcing himself to focus on the punching bag ahead of him.
In his mind, he could hear Charlotte’s gasps echoing, her cheek pressed against his shoulder. He could feel the way she shuddered and how her legs had given out at the peak of her pleasure.
