Page 49 of The Odyssean Duke

Evelina scarcely dared to breathe, as he cast her a wicked smirk. Stephan undid the fastenings of his trousers and let them fall. Evelina didn’t see where the trousers went—if he had kicked them away or still had them around his ankles—because her eyes remained fixed only on his revealed manhood. She shivered, her mouth dry. Evelina had some notion of what to expect. She had seen a man’s member on statues and in some manuals on child-bearing before, but seeing artistic depictions was quite another matter from seeing her husband’s manhood in person.

“Oh,” she said.

How could he possibly sheath himself inside her? He looked large, massive even. Evelina curled her fingers tightly into the bed linens as he joined her on the bed. He went onto his knees and elbows, looming over her, and bent his head to kiss her. It was a soft, warm kiss that shattered Evelina’s nerves. Stephan’s manhood prodded her stomach, and Evelina gasped for air. Would he just—just impale her while they were kissing? Had it already happened?

“Wait,” she whispered against his lips.

He tipped his head back and gazed down at her. Stephan’s body trembled, as if it took considerable effort to restrain himself, but he did. “Is something wrong?”

Evelina licked her lips, trying to gather the courage to tell him that she had no notion of what to expect. He would have assumed that she knew what to expect on her wedding night. Any man would have. Even if Evelina did not know what to expect, she ought to be ready. She was not some young, innocent miss anymore. Evelina was nearly thirty years old; she ought to be able to accept her wedding night with grace and dignity.

“I am a virgin!” she blurted out.

Stephan furrowed his brow. “A virgin?” he echoed. “But you weremarried.”

“I know,” she croaked. “I know, but he never—he never touched me. Ever.”

An incredulous look crossed his face, and his eyes swept over her body with a wondering expression. “How did he resist?” he asked, as if to himself.

“He preferred the company of other women,” Evelina explained, her eyes darting to his manhood. “I—I am sorry, but I do not think I can—can endure?—”

Stephan cut her words off with a heavy sigh. “I do not like the thought of youenduringme,” he said. “It has been a long day for us both, so perhaps another night is best.”

Stephan shifted back and climbed off the bed, considering her for a long moment. His absence sent a wash of cold sweeping over her, except for her core, which ached hotly between her thighs. A faint, damp smell rose in the air, and Evelina suspected it was the evidence of her body’s desire. Could he smell it, and did he know the significance of it? She imagined he probably did.

“Perhaps, a parting gift,” he said. “If we are to have an heir, maybe it is best to let you experience something like a wedding night.”

Her throat was tight. “I do not know if I can take you.”

Stephan’s face softened. He looked at her more kindly than he ever had before. “You do not need to do that tonight.”

He leaned over the bed, his hands curling over her thighs. Evelina watched him as he lowered his head towards her sex. For a heartbeat, she had the horrid thought that he mightbiteher, which confusingly made her inner walls clench. Then, he dipped his head lower, and his tongue swept between her folds.

Evelina tossed her head back, a groan tearing from her. She clung to the bedlinens as though her very life depended on it, as he licked between her folds and at the top of her sex.

“Oh!” she exclaimed.

She had thought it impossible, but the burning need inside her grew, as if Stephan’s every movement stoked the flames of her desire. How was it possible to bear such a sensation for so long? A sharp, whining sound tore from her throat as she jolted against his mouth, desperate to achieve some end to her torment and unable to find it.

Her muscles went taut, her body seeming to move without any conscious thought. Evelina observed her own body as if from a distance, equally fascinated and desirous. She had not read about this before, and the desire inside her curled tighter and tighter. Evelina hissed between her teeth. “Oh, Stephan!”

He did not answer with words, but his clever tongue flicked against the top of her folds. Evelina gasped, as pure pleasure swept over her.

She bucked her hips against him, as her body tensed and reacted wildly. Evelina felt that familiar sensation of tightening, and her thoughts moved in a quick, persistent rhythm. She was nearly there, so very close that Evelinamustfind her release. If she did not, she thought she might very well go mad.

Stephan seemed content to oblige her. His breath was hot against her core, and his lips surprisingly soft. He swept his tongue over her sex once more, and Evelina twisted. A ragged moan tore from between her lips, as she tried to coax him into working faster, into giving her just that little push over the edge.

More, more, more?—

The tension inside her burst apart, and she gasped at the weight of pleasure sweeping through her body. It was so delightful and intense that tears sprang to her eyes. Evelina cried out and heaved for air, as she lay in the aftermath of her release. Her body was boneless and sated, and she remained still, listening to the sound of her quickened breaths.

After a heartbeat, Stephan removed himself from the bed and stood. She gazed wonderingly at him. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I wanted to.”

Evelina pressed her thighs together and groaned again. She felt well-used and pleasantly tired, as if she had just completed some vigorous exercise.

“I shall see you tomorrow, Evelina.”