Duke of the Beast and the Vicarious Bride - Chapter 56

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※ This work contains depictions of coercive relationships, explicit language, and other graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

She stammered, feeling strangely diminished. The fear that had lain shallow beneath her heart—the fear she would never reveal to Jayden—suddenly swelled. For the first time, she faced him unbound. She did not think he would harm her, but the realm of “what if” tormented her nonetheless.

“It has been some time,” she said, still speaking warmly. Her desire to trust him still outweighed her fear.

“I could not come down because I was unwell. I am sorry I could not tell you beforehand. There was no way to send a word.”

Even at her apology, Caligo remained motionless for some time.

“Caligo?”

Only when she called his name, puzzled by his stillness, did he seem to release a held breath, exhaling deeply and calling to her.

“Fiona.”

His call was so natural she could find nothing strange in it, and her heart steadied somewhat.

She was genuinely glad to see him freed. Could they not keep him thus always? So docile, so obedient—why must he be confined even during the day? And why he must not be seen, Jayden had never clearly explained.

Her wandering thoughts soon returned to the present. She could think of nothing else.

Caligo climbed onto the bed of his own accord, without any instruction from Fiona. The blankets rustled beneath his knees. Come to think of it, this was the first time they would lie together in a proper bed.

Blushing for no reason, Fiona felt Caligo finally lower himself over her.

It was indeed a strange sensation. Until now, Fiona had always initiated their acts, yet here was Caligo acting of his own accord. Moreover, the process of this large man positioning himself between her legs was utterly unfamiliar. Even in the darkness, his overwhelming presence made her feel as if she might be devoured at any moment.

‘It is all right. Caligo is my husband.’

She told herself the intimacy they had built over the past fortnight would see her through. Though they could not converse, she had sensed that he quite liked her. And she, too, did not dislike Caligo.

So it would be well. He would not harm her.

Yet in the next moment, she could not help but question whether her judgment was correct.

Without warning, Caligo pushed aside her thin garment and stripped away her undergarments as if to tear them off.

Nor did he stop there. He cast aside the scrap of cloth barely covering his own lower body, seized her hips with both hands, and thrust into her without preparation.

Startled by his sudden urgency, Fiona cried out softly and pushed against his chest. As her hands met his pectorals, firm as a wooden door, a hot sigh burst from his lips.

‘Was it the long absence? Caligo seemed more aroused than ever before.’

But she could not proceed directly to union. Without preparation, his manhood would cause terrible pain—or perhaps not even enter, as on that first difficult night.

If she had been atop him as usual, she would have oiled herself by now. Perhaps because circumstances had changed, she had forgotten.

“Wait. You will tear me.”

At Fiona’s restraint, Caligo paused his thrusting and grew still.

He had claimed to teach him bedroom manners, but they seemed utterly ineffective.

Not that she had expected anything from that man Jayden—she muttered to herself irritably regardless.

“Let us do it as before, with me atop…”

She attempted to climb over him to proceed in her accustomed manner, but something unexpected happened.

He grasped her waist and pressed her down firmly, preventing her from moving. Though it did not hurt on the soft bed, his large hand conveyed an unspoken pressure.

Did he mean for her not to climb atop? At this unexpected communication of intent, her heart lurched strangely. Though she had never forgotten, Caligo was a physically healthy male.

As a male, he likely did not dislike their acts. Perhaps, having been bound and merely receptive all this time, he now wished to move of his own accord.

Her mind understood this clearly, yet she felt intensely embarrassed. The thought that Caligo desired this too made her even more bashful. Though the start had been somewhat rough, the fact that they now mutually desired each other’s bodies was both embarrassing and, in a way, felt like a step closer to the bed of an ordinary husband and wife.

No longer wishing to restrain Caligo, Fiona felt beside the bed and found the bottle of oil.

“We must use this… it will be easier.”

She poured some oil into her palm and began to apply it to herself.