Page 43 of The Dark Prince
One finger dipped inside me.
“You’re so wet and for me.”
His voice vibrated against my skin as his finger stroked a torturously slow motion in and out, in and out. His mask was slipping off his face, but neither of us cared. He pushed a second finger in with the first, and I whimpered and went limp against the tree. Tyr pushed it further, then froze when he met a barrier.
My eyes widened in realization, and he dropped me. His fingers and mouth all withdrew, and the cold surrounded me, filling in the gaps where his presence had warmed me. I hurriedly tugged up my bodice and pushed down my skirts. If I adjusted my short cloak just so, no one would see the tear on my top.
“I’m sorry, I—”
“No please, I didn’t—”
“With your fear of those men, I assumed—
“Why did you stop?”
Tyr closed his mouth, then opened it again. “I didn’t realize you were a … Well, I’m sorry.” He straightened his mask and looked away. It felt like there was a chasm between us now. But why?
I bet anything if I were to take his mask off, he’d be blushing terribly.
“What should me being a virgin have anything to do with that?” I demanded boldly, tired of getting worked up only to be frustrated over and over again. Sure, I’d kissed a few stable boys, and one time a visiting lord had gotten his hand under my shirt before my step-father had walked in, but I’d always been too wary and afraid to let myself get caught alone for anything more nefarious. One point for my constant anxiety, I suppose.
And now I felt like it was being used against me.
“Please forgive me. I can’t,” Tyr pleaded with me.
My rage built. “So if someone had raped me before, then you’d keep going? Is that it?”
He winced at the argument. “That isn’t what I meant.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Then tell me what you meant. Tell me why you’re so afraid. Tell me why you won’t let us live as a wife and husband should?” My chest heaved up and down with emotion.
A snapping branch had us both whirling around. Tyr bowed his head and put a fist to his chest.
“My lady. Have you lost your way?”
I froze at seeing Aella standing before us, bundled up in so many layers it looked comical.
“Not at all,” she assured him, a slow smirk spreading across her face. “Just taking it all in. The views here are marvelous. It’s all just as I remember.”
My face had to be beet red. Tyr, however, looked as unfazed as always.
“I am glad to hear that. I will leave you two ladies to make your way up for dinner. I must confer with my steward before we set off on our hunt tonight.”
Aella hummed, her eyes following Tyr’s frame as he walked. “The one with brown hair and the tight bottom?”
Tyr’s eyes narrowed at her, and I felt an unexpected rush of kinship with him. She irritated him as well, then. “We both know you know who he is.”
Aella’s eyes blinked innocently. “DoI?”
“My lord! There you are!”
The man in question jogged up to us, to Aella’s obvious delight. He blushed deeply upon seeing Aella. Curious.
Tyr sighed. “I must go. Have a servant escort you to your chambers if you don't remember the way.”
I bristled at the reminder in front of Aella, who likely knew this castle better than me. I also hated how cold Tyr’s voice was; how unattached. As if he didn’t care. As if he hadn’t just stuck his fingers inside me, and—
“Maddeus, a word.”
