She was my wife. The only one who’d make her cry was me. And those would be tears of pleasure.
It didn’t matter what I’d said in the beginning. From the second she placed herself at my feet, everything had changed. And now, after a glimpse of what it could be like between us, I’d never let her go.
ChapterTen
ROSIE
You said she didn’t matter. She wasn’t enough. Just a business transaction.
Gavin’s lover’s words echoed in my mind as I ran from the room. Just a transaction. I’d been right; I was such a fool.
I’d known going into this that Gavin Donoghue wasn’t a good man. But then I’d gone and startedwantingthings, and all thatwantclouded my mind. Made me forget just what kind of man I’d married. Cold. Callous. Unfeeling. He didn’t let himself care about anyone. Least of all me.
It would have been so much easier to protect myself if he hadn’t touched me. Hadn’t given me a taste of what a genuine marriage could be like between us. But he did, and now I knew I couldn’t be satisfied with anything else.
I wanted all of him or nothing at all.
A business transaction with sex thrown in the mix wouldn’t end well for me. I’d fall in love with him, with a man I’d never really have, and then I’d go mad.
Every day my heart would break all over again.
It wasn’t a life. It was a prison sentence.
Torture.
This is all your fault, Roslyn. You’re the one who threw yourself under the bus. Who offered yourself up like a prize pig. When did you get so stupid? You’re supposed to be the smart one.
I had to get out of here. I’d never survive him if I didn’t. I’d go home, back to Blackthorne Manor, and pretend I hadn’t already fallen a little in love with a man who’d never truly want me. And love aside, in one night, Gavin Donoghue unlocked more dark desires than I ever thought existed inside me. The need to be dominated, degraded, and praised. The hunger for pain and pleasure to be joined together. The twisted urge to watch him bring another man release.
I shuddered as a flood of need rushed between my thighs in response to those memories. Gavin’s stiff length glistening at the tip as he stroked himself in front of the camera. His harsh breaths, the way he tensed as he made the other man cry out in pain.
Goodness, Roslyn, get it together.
I had to focus, not get lost in a state of arousal right here in the hall.When had I gotten here? Where the devil am I?
The castle was a labyrinth. I didn’t even know which wing I was in. Nothing looked familiar. I spun in a circle, starting back the way I’d come when I heard this hiss of a conversation. I could only make out one word, but it was enough to stop me in my tracks.
Blackthornes.
They were talking about me. My family.
I crept closer to the door that was slightly ajar, my heart in my throat as the duke and duchess’s voices grew louder.
“The blasted sun is rising. I don’t want to go another night with her in this castle and us not able to walk in the day.”
“Patience, darling. She’s already given Gavin a taste. He’ll handle her during daylight hours, and then we’ll begin.”
“If she doesn’t give us what we want, we’re fucked, Felicity. She’ll simply be another burden to care for. We can’t very well dispose of the Blackthorne princess without some kind of censure.” The duke’s rumbled words made me cringe.
“Oh, ye of little faith. Gavin will bring her to heel. You saw how the bitch was practically in heat as she stared at him with those puppy eyes of hers. She was begging him to love her. She’ll give him his heir, and then we can use the baby to keep her in line, and if she...dies in childbirth, no one will be the wiser. We’ll lock her away, siphon her blood slowly, and have our very own Blackthorne-Donoghue bloodline, and Gavin will be free of this albatross hanging around his neck.”
“And what if she doesn’t get with child right away?”
“Then we use that brother of hers. You saw how protective she was of him. If she doesn’t want to obey, then we blackmail her into submission.”
“Oh, my devious little duchess. I love it when you plot to destroy our enemies.”
A soft moan filtered into the hall. The rustle of fabric. The unmistakable sound of a zipper. “And when she doesn’t submit, we kill every. Last. Creature. She loves.”