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Chapter Fifty

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Christian’s ship is as fancy as the palace.  There is no ladder to the cabins below, we take wide, polished, stairs.  His cabin is the size of three.  He pushes the door closed with his foot and walks over to the bed where he lays me down.  I grab his hand when he turns to walk away.

“I am not going anywhere.”  He runs his knuckles over my cheek.  “You need water and a night rail.”

“I refuse to wear your other woman’s things.”

“I have only one woman and these are your things.  I brought them from the palace.”

“You have a wife.”

“Yes, I do, and I also had a pretend wife for a short period of time.”

“What happened to her?”

I refuse to accuse him of killing her outright. 

“I did not kill her, Maeve.”  He shakes his head.  “Who told you that lie?”

I am no traitor.  What Ezra and I discuss is between us.

“Ezra talks too much.”  Christian says, leaning over to undo the buttons on my dress.  “What else did he tell you?”

“Why are you asking me when you already know?”

“Because it is polite, and I missed the sound of your voice.”

“Why did you not stop me when I was making a fool of myself with other men?”

“There was a time when I could not hear you.”  He kisses my bare shoulder. 

“Why did you not return for me?”

“Because I had to get rid of the Cardinal before I brought you home.  When he took you away and told me that you were dead, I wanted to die with you, Maeve.”

“How did you learn the truth?”

“I started hearing you again.  You were calling out to me, asking me to bring you home.”

“You saw me that day.”  I swallow my pride.  “You turned your back on me.”

“The Cardinal was on board my ship and I did not want him to see you.”  Christian sits down and removes his boots.  “My heart nearly exploded out of my chest when I saw you standing there waving at me.  It cracked wide open when I heard your sweet voice calling out to me.  And it broke in half, my sweet, when I left you behind.”

“You told Ezra I was dead.”

“I told everyone you were dead.”  Christian lays down beside me, pulling me against his chest.  “It was safer that way.”

“Where is the woman you married?”

“I sent her home.”  He throws a leg over me.  “She did not want to marry me either.  The woman was in love with her father’s groomsman.”

“The Cardinal will never allow it.”

“The Cardinal is dead.”

My Prince seems unscathed by his mentor’s death.  I find it strange after being controlled by him for so long.

“How did he die?”

“There was an accident at sea.”  Christian strokes my hair.  “He was washed overboard by a rogue wave.”  His lips are soft against my forehead.  “After he fell on my knife.”

“You did that for me?”  I look up into his eyes, and what I see there makes the tears fall. “Christian?”

“Only for you, my love.”  His smile makes me weak.  “I married his choice to gain his trust.  I needed his trust, to get him alone.  I needed him alone, to dispatch him.  That wave came out of nowhere, as if it were a sign from God, and I did what needed to be done.”

“You were coming back for me.”

“It saddens me that you doubted my love for you and our child.”  The Prince’s green eyes sparkle like emeralds through his tears.  “I do not blame you for anything you did while we were apart.  I wanted to kill Ramsay Antonov for seducing you.  I spared him, because the pain of losing his brothers is worse than death.  I know, because I lost mine.”

“Sebastian?”

“The bastard escaped me on the battlefield.  He ran like the coward that he is, but I will find him where he least expects it.  I will tear off his head with my bare hands and drink his blood from the stump of his neck.”

“Sebastian comes to me when I am sleeping, Christian.  He does things.  He beats me.  He tried to rape me, and he cut me here.”

I pull away to show him the scar on my small, round belly.  His body tenses, and his lips press together in a tight line as he lays his big hand on his babe.  Christian does not speak.  What he has to say is not meant for my ears.  It is for the monster who tortures his woman and child.

“Bash told me that you sent me to him, because I was better off with my own kind.”

“Get that out of your head, Princess.”  He sits up.  “You were stolen away from me while I was on, what was supposed to be, my death bed.  I would never give you away.  Why would I give you to a Bloodtaker, when I know what they do to witches?” 

“Why did you leave me there?”

“When you were with the Bloodtaker, I could not hear your thoughts.”  His eyes harden.  “Our bond was broken when you laid with him and took his blood.”

I am ill with regret.  “Christian, I did not think you wanted me anymore.” 

“I know what you thought.”  He grabs my face.  “And you were so fucking wrong.”  His hand squeezes painfully.  “You are my wife, Maeve.  I was so heartbroken over you that I could not fuck anyone else while we were apart.  The next time you touch, or even look at a man the way you did Ramsay Antonov, I will remind you with a leather strap.”

Why did I not save myself for my husband?  I am not fit to be a queen after what I have done.  He has every right to give me a place on the staff and—

“Maeve.”  He softens his tone.  “What did you know of men before I came along?  You were lost and alone.  Ramsay and Lockton knew you were an innocent and they took advantage of your giving heart.  It does not change the way I love you.  I will never stop loving you.  We are a family.  You and this child are my life.  No man or church, or anything else will ever come between this.”

My eyes are blurry when he slides something cold and heavy onto my finger.  It is the Cardinal’s ring!  My mouth falls open and my eyes widen.  How?

“Consider it a token of my love.”

“I cannot accept this...  It is far too valuable, Christian.”

“There is nothing more valuable than my wife.”

“Oh, Christian.”  My heart swells.  “It is beautiful.”

The ring is far too large for my slim finger and too heavy for my small hand.  I do no care when I admire the diamond.  It is the size of a bird’s eggs and has the shape of one.  The heavy gold is etched with creatures of the forest and some sort of script on the inside.  The ring makes me shiver.  Why are there no crosses on it?  Or scripture?  Who forges something so delicate and with such skill in the time when this ring was created?  I do not believe anything of this quality was brought to life with the hands of a heathen.  A diamond of this size was surely the spoils of some war.  I wonder from whom it was taken?  Christian’s heavy ring is tucked away in his trunk for the night.  When he wears it, he also wears the importance and responsibilities that come with it.  While I would love to keep it for its beauty alone, it belongs to none of us.  If this was my ancestor’s ring, I would want it returned to my family.  This belongs to a dead king’s heir.  The beautiful ring has been held prisoner by the church for far too long.

“It is said to have belonged to a powerful magician.”

“How romantic it all is, is it not?”  I exclaim excitedly.  “This ring has a story that I would love to hear.”  I hold it up to my ear.  “Please, tell me your story.”

My body jerks when it whispers back.  I drop it and crawl away from the sparkling gem.  Fucking hell.  What was that?  It is not until I look up into Christian’s grinning face when I realize the whispering was him.

“That was evil, Beaumont.  I thought the damn thing was whispering!”

His laughter makes me angrier, but I smile because I enjoy watching him laugh.  I put the ring on my finger and give him a look.

“Can we fuck while I am wearing this ring?”

“Maeve.”  Christian gives me a disappointed look.  “It has been passed down from one Cardinal to the next since anyone can remember.  That ring is a holy relic.”

“Can I suck your cock while I am wearing it?” 

My grin makes him blush.  He does not say no right away.  His silence says he is considering it.  Christian’s cock is hardening slowly, one inch at a time.

“Come on.”  I encourage it with my hand.  “You can do it...  Almost there.”

From the look on his face, my love can kill me or fuck me right now.

“Maybe both.”  His chuckle makes me smile.  “You make me want to do both sometimes.”

Christian stands up and removes the rest of his clothing.  I watch him boldly, dropping my gaze when he pushes down his hose to feast my eyes on his hard body.

“Maeve, you do not know how much it means to me to have you home with me.  I keep thinking I am going to wake up and this will be another dream.  The palace was quiet without the sound of your voice and un-lady like laughter.  My days were hell when I did not know where you were, or if someone was hurting you, were you getting enough to eat?  My nights were worse when I laid in bed staring at your empty place.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I missed having you by my side.”  Christian opens up and lets it all spill out.  “Not a day will go by that I do not tell you how much I love you.”

He has spoken my own thoughts and feelings.

“Being away from you was torture.”  I sound weak and broken.  “It was hell, Christian.”

“You are not weak or broken for missing your husband, and I am not weak or any less of a man for missing my wife.  We are in love, Princess.  This is how it is supposed to feel.”

I missed him so much that his closeness makes me lust drunk.  I hold my nose to his skin and breathe deeply.  He is so hard and warm.  I am so hot and soft.  My tongue snakes out between my full lips and licks the hills and valleys of his hard belly.  I taste him because I will go mad with need if I do not.  I lick my way down to the fine hair lighting my way to the prize.  I gasp when he snatches my head back by my hair.  His curious green eyes burn with desire for me.

“Ladies first, Princess.”

Christian’s commanding ways are so smooth and his confident voice so deep that I know why an army follows him.  When we lay down together and he holds me too tightly, I know why my husband follows me.  Because he needs me.  I am what he treasures most and what he reaches for when he needs to feel loved.  This Beaumont Prince who kills everyone who disapproves of me will never let me go.

“Maeve, how I dreamed of holding you again, my beautiful love.”  He strokes my wild hair.  “And the precious babe growing within you is a blessing that I do not deserve.”

“Deserving or no, we are here with you, fighting for us, where we shall remain.”

“Where you shall remain, my love.”

Christian toys with the ring on my finger as he kisses me.  When he holds me, I feel every wonderful thing my husband’s embrace should make me feel.  When he holds me with nothing between us...  I shudder.  There is no language big enough or bold enough to translate this madness into words.  We lay for a long while holding one another and savoring the taste of our kisses.  Christian and I let our togetherness speak the words that our lips have no need for.

“My darling.”  He whispers with wet eyes.  “My love.”  His hands run down over my back to squeeze my soft ass.  “Tell me that you want me.”

“I want you Christian.”  I reach between us and guide him inside me.  “I need you.”

Christian pushes the head of his cock between the lips of my aching cunt.

“Christian.”  His name falls from my lips when my body trembles.  “Make love to me.”  I whimper, winding my hips and rubbing my kinky hairs against the shaft of his straining cock.

“With pleasure.  I am yours, my queen.”  His promise comes with a kiss and a deep thrust.  I need to feel it deep inside me where the little one grows.  Christian watches me buck and thrash underneath him as my hips thrust my dripping cunt on his hard cock.  He presses me down onto my back, holding me flat with a hand on my chest and slides in to the hilt.  My womb shudders.

“Not too hard with my heir inside you.”  Christian does not smile when he reaches down to finger the pink bud guarding the gates to my paradise.  “But it does not mean I have to be gentle.”

His hips pound against my thighs.  My body misses his touch when he removes his finger from my bud.  I gasp when he wets them with his tongue and goes back to rubbing the hard nub while he fucks me.

“Christian!”  I cry out at the top of my voice when I reach our special place.  “Oh, Christian.  Cum with me.  Cum with me.”

I cry his name again when his ass tightens, and his cock fills me with his seed.  My legs are locked around him.  My nails dig into his skin.  My lips sob against his lips.  My Prince rides on.  He rides me until my shudders are little more than a twitch.  Christian kisses the ancient stone on my finger and rides me until I am a worn-out pile of skin, bone, and trembling flesh.  I am a sweaty mess when my husband is finished with me and he holds me as closely as he possibly can.  His love is so perfect that it brings tears to my eyes.  No one will ever take me away from him againThey will have to drag my dead body away from him and our babe.  My possessiveness will put Christian’s patience through the paces.  He will soon tire of me following him around and hanging onto him whenever he tries to leave my sight.  The mere thought of being apart from him makes me miss him.  I wiggle closer.  His arms tighten.  Christian sighs.  His deep melodic voice is thick with emotion. 

“You are thinking what I am thinking.”  He smiles knowingly.  “I want to keep you close to me for a while.  Perhaps twenty years, or so until I get used to having you back.”

“That is not nearly long enough for me.”  I yawn tiredly.  “I am never leaving home again.”

Can he truly love me the way that he did before?  It feels the same to me, but can he forgive me for laying with other men?  He does not treat me like an adulterer.  The way he loves me now is the same as I remember.  This gentleness and pampering is what I know.

“I love you, Maeve.”  Christian whispers.  “More than before.”  His hand closes around my breast and he rests his face against the curve of throat.  “Every day without you was harder than the day before.”  He coils my hair around his finger.  I missed you.”

I smile a sleepy smile, knowing he missed me too.  I am relaxed.  So relaxed, that I cannot move.  My body is weighed down with his.  My head is foggy from his scent.  My skin tingles from his touch.  His finger trails down my brown arm, leaving a row of tiny bumps.  My smile widens.  This is what I have been craving.  This is what I have been chasing.  The way the Christian makes me feel.  A soft snore escapes me jarring me awake.

“Sleep, my love.”  He holds me tighter.  “I am here, now.”

He does not understand.  I cannot sleep.  Not with Bash out there somewhere waiting for me.  He will surely kill me now that I am back with Christian.  This is everything he did not want to happen.  My lover feels too good to argue with.  If I die, it will be right here.  Just like this.

I am disappointed in you, Mae.”

Sebastian is waiting for me.  He is pacing back and forth-toying with the knife in his hands.  I sit up in bed alone and clutching the quilt to my naked breasts.  I want to cry, but I will not.  Christian and I reunited for a short time and already, we are losing one another again.

“I will not fight against you, Sebastian.”  I vow.  “You have nothing to fear from me.”

“You, lying bitch!”  He yells at me.  “You killed more of my men, than anyone aside from the Butcher.  Neo, died when you stood between him and an Antonov.”

“He was only a boy.”  I tell him.  “An innocent boy.”

“You will die for your betrayal.”

I am too tired to fight, when he raises his knife.  Too tired to care anymore.

“I have seen my husband again and felt his love, Sebastian.  Kill me, I care not.”

His jealousy burns greater than his hunger for revenge.  I lay back and accept my fate.

“I shall take great pleasure in killing you, Mae.”

“It, will not be this day, Blood-taker.”

Bash turns too late.  Christian’s hands are already locked around his neck in a death grip.  It all happens so fast.  Blood splatters my face and blinds my eyes.  There is a brief struggle before a wet, fleshy sound drags a high-pitched scream from Sebastian.  He is silenced with a crack of snapping bones.  The powerful Bloodtaker king is dead by a twist of the Bucher’s hands.

“You, heathen coward.”  Christian drops Sebastian’s corpse and gives it a few kicks.  “I should have killed you when I watched your father die.”

“Christian?”  I am confused.  “How are you here?  How did you know?”

“I am cursed to walk in minds, Maeve.”  He reminds me.  “Even his.”  Christian kicks the corpse again.  “We needed to be touching when he came to you and I knew he would come.  He cannot hurt you anymore, my love.”