Chapter 11

Seraphina.

Oh gods protect us, I say under my breath over and over. I try to remember to breathe.

Alaric is on the ground. The rain pounds down on us but I can hardly feel it.

I reach out my hand to feel for a pulse. I let my fingers graze his neck to see if touching him again will have the same effect.

He doesn’t react. I hold my fingers to his neck and feel, yes, a pulse. I hold my hand under his nose and feel his breath bloom against my skin.

Alaric is alive.

The body of my attacker lays in a bloody heap a few paces away from us.

I suddenly feel cold and wet. My hair is plastered against my scalp. I’m shivering, I don’t know if from shock or cold.

Our cabin is not far away but Alaric is too heavy for me to lift alone. I remember Elias and Ivy.

“ELIAS!” I scream. Over and over, louder and louder until I’m hoarse. The sky begins to darken.

Finally I hear something.

“Seraphina!”

I hear a man’s voice call in the distance.

“Seraphina!”

It’s Sir Elias Humpston coming closer.

“I’m here! I’m here!” I reply with relief.

Sir Humpston’s tall frame runs toward me between the trees carrying Ivy on his back.

“Seraphina!” cries Ivy. “Thank gods!”

The duo stop and Ivy jumps off of the big man’s back. She rushes to give me a tight hug.

“Seraphina—” starts Sir Humpston before seeing Alaric on the ground. He stoops down and turns to me. “Is he alright?”

“He’s alive, but he needs to rest. We should bring him to our house. It’s the closest place,” I say.

Sir Humpston nods.

I look to the horse of my attacker, tied to a nearby tree. “Help me get him on the horse,” I say to Sir Humpston.

Sir Humpston lifts Alaric’s limp body onto the saddle.

“Ivy,” I say quickly, “go to town with Elias and buy some herbs for the prince. Bring them back to me.”

I climb into the saddle with the prince and ride to our hut deep in the forgotten wood.

—

The fire is blazing in the hearth when Alaric wakes up in my bed.

Rain patters on the windows of our cabin, less strong now. Ivy is still away. I busy myself grinding the herbs we have on hand the way mother showed me.

“Seraphina…” croaks the dark-haired man. I sit beside him and gently push his raven hair from his sweat-soaked brow.

His hard-muscled arm peeks out from the covers. I took off his clothes to dry by the fire, but I couldn’t help but marvel at his body up close.

“Shh,” I say. “Stay still.”

“What happened?” asks the prince.

I look into his piercing blue eyes gently blinking open. They pull me toward him as though there were a chord attached to my navel.

“You saved me,” I say, “then we touched.”

He looks confused. “Us touching made me pass out?”

“Well, yes,” I reply. “I don’t know why. There must be some sort of bond between us. Something that started last night in the river.”

His eyes widen. “It was real. That was you,” he says in amazement. “I thought it was a dream.”

“No…” I start, feeling my body heat up with the memory of last night, “that was real.” A pulse that begins between my legs starts to beat and thicken.

He gives me a stark, searching look. I feel his gaze descend from my face to my neck, to my collarbone, to my nipples hardening beneath my cotton shift.

Here is this man in my bed with the ice-blue eyes. He is watching me, seeing me without a mask or a veil, and I want him to. I am unafraid.

The feeling of last night in the river returns with full force. My breath comes heavier as I am flooded with desire. I want him more than I’ve wanted anything.

For the first time, I want someone to touch me. I want to replace the memory of my attack with one of tenderness, of desire. When I look into his aquamarine eyes I know Alaric won’t hurt me.

Wordlessly he reaches for my cheek. I clasp his hand to my face, relishing its warmth.

Without thinking I pull away and stand up from the bed. I lift my shirt over my head to expose my body.

My body, beautiful, perfectly formed, shines in the dancing firelight. I toss my silver-white hair behind my shoulders. My body has been my curse to bear every day until today. Tonight I want him to see me.

Alaric’s gaze pierces into me. He moves to prop himself up in bed to see me better.

Unconsciously my hands move towards my full breasts, cupping them, displaying them for him. I run my hands down my sides, over my hips, the tops of my thighs. My lips part with need. I turn slowly to show him my backside.

When I turn back around the prince has a flush on his face. The sheet across his lap has formed a tent. I feel my cheeks flush in return.

“Come here,” he says hoarsely.

I approach him and he reaches for me, pulling me towards him. He brings my mouth to his. I inhale sharply before his lips touch mine.

Men have pressed their lips to mine and I have never kissed back. But the tenderness with which Alaric kisses me nearly makes me cry. He tastes like comfort, like a home I’ve never had.

The flame within me burns hotter, its origin deep between my thighs and spreading through my torso. A wetness seeps between my legs.

Overcome, I cross my leg over his lap to straddle him. I gasp at the feeling of his hard cock between my legs. I kiss him harder, and his tongue finds mine hungrily while his hands search for my heavy breasts.

Suddenly Alaric snaps down the sheet separating my cunt from his hard iron. Released from the cover it springs to attention. I gasp at its perfection, its shape, its size, its diamond hardness.

Hungrily I climb on top of him, hovering just above his member, kissing his neck. He lets out a soft moan as my cunt makes contact with the tip of his cock. I slide my cunt lips down his shaft without yet putting him inside me. I am savoring him, spreading my wetness over his stiff wood, pressing myself into him.

He runs his hands up and down my back, taking a handful of my ass in each of his hands. His mouth finds my breasts and he tastes them greedily. Gods that feels amazing!

When we both can’t bear it any longer I rise up and take his whole cock deep within me, letting out a loud moan.

“Fuck!” he exclaims and throws his head back.

The feeling of him inside me is indescribable. Eyes closed, waves of bliss radiate from my core. I savor the feeling of him within me, rocking back and forth and then sliding myself up and down his shaft.

The prince wraps his arms around me and flips me onto the bed onto my back, lifting and parting my legs. I gaze into his piercing blue eyes above me, helpless to our desire. He looks back just as surprised, just as hungrily, and thrusts into me.

His cock parts the lips of my cunt with no resistance. My wetness slicks my thighs and soaks the sheets beneath us. Rolling his eyes into his head with pleasure, he pumps his iron in and out of me with perfect rhythm. He feels so full within me, as though up until this moment I’ve been missing him. I feel the pressure within me build.

I want him to continue forever. I want to be pinned down beneath him forever. I let out a moan every time his member pushes into me deeper and deeper.

“Alaric—!” I gasp. The pressure within me expands beyond my body, fills my every crevice. Every part of me is consumed by him. I scream with pleasure as the valve bursts and waves of bliss wash over me.

Watching me writhe in pleasure, I see the prince above me unable to contain himself.

“Seraphina,” he moans and he pulls his cock out of me. His member twitches and spills a hot stream of seed across my belly and breasts.

“Oh Seraphina,” he sighs as he collapses onto my chest. I hold him to me and bask in the afterglow of our lovemaking.

Then we hear the latch click open.