******
Hope was clinging to her like a limpet, refusing to let go, clogging her airways, making it impossible for her to speak. She wanted to believe him. She so, so badly wanted to believe his sweet, gentle words, accompanied by tender caresses, and the most utterly sincere look on his face. But... could she?
Confusion bubbled inside of her as Felix pulled her in for a kiss, his lips coaxing and firm, insisting that she yield her mouth to him. So she did. She let herself sink into his kiss, let him turn her on his lap, let him run his hands up and down and over her body. She so badly wanted to believe him, but she was afraid.
And just like that, it was suddenly clear.
It wasn't just Felix's behavior that had driven a wedge between them - it was her fear. Even though she'd hoped, she'd been afraid to really give into that emotion. She'd been afraid to allow it to grow. So she'd taken every excuse she could find, every contrived reason she could manufacture, to try and keep herself safe from her own emotions. Even when she'd been determined to make Felix hers, she hadn't given herself over totally to the effort, and she'd abandoned it at the first justification she came across.
Somehow, it was easier to think that he was in love with Cordelia than it was to allow herself to be emotionally vulnerable to him. It was easier to feel heartbroken over and over again than it was to be happy with him. It was less frightening to look a life of misery than it was to face that she might have everything she ever wanted.
Because if she could just convince herself that she could never have it, then she could never be disappointed. She could never be let down.
But it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, because if she never took the chance, then she would never get the prize either. She couldn't have the reward without the risk.
No wonder she was terrified. Her life had been one long lesson that risks were met with pain. That lesson had been ground in long before Cordelia had ever become her stepmother. Which, Gabrielle now realized, was why she'd never truly given Cordelia a chance either.
Felix suddenly turned her, laying her back on the bed. Her bottom was a little sore and protested as it pressed against the sheets - he hadn't spanked her for very long, but every swat had been very intense and very painful. Braced above her, he stared down at her, and for the first time, Gabrielle let herself really see how he looked at her. See not just the desire, but the emotions behind them.
"I love you, Gabrielle," he said, his voice low and husky. "I chose you for my wife, not out of duty or for a friend, but because I wanted you for me. Do you believe me?"
She licked her lips, which suddenly felt dry, as the compression in her chest became almost unbearable. "I think so," she whispered.
Her husband grinned. That roguish, devilish grin that made her heart race and said he was about to do awful, wonderful, perverted things to you.
"I love that you can already beat me at chess."
He kissed her lips again, but moved away after an all-too-brief moment.
"I love when you're sassy."
A kiss on her throat.
"I love how you fully embrace joy when you feel it, as if it encompasses your entire being."
A kiss on her shoulder. Gabrielle arched a little, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck, but Felix wouldn't come down further.
"I love the way you have with children."
A kiss between her breasts.
"I love that you're just as happy in the countryside as you are in the city, that we can have fun no matter where we are or what we're doing."
He kissed her nipple, sucking it into his mouth and making her whimper. The little bud ached when he released it, the cool air suddenly much more intense against the wet nub.
"I love when you react in a way I could never have anticipated, keeping me on my toes."
He kissed her other nipple and this time Gabrielle tried to hold his head against her breast, making him chuckle. Plucking her hands from his head, he pressed them down on either side of her body, making her shiver as he took over.
"Do you trust me?" he rasped, looking down at her with such emotion, such love shining in his dark eyes that she didn't know how she'd managed to avoid seeing it before.
"Yes," she whispered, feeling incredibly brave at the admission.
"Do you love me?"
"Yes." This affirmation was said even softer, felt even braver, and yet she didn't regret it even when it felt like all the air had left her lungs, because the expression on Felix's face was everything she could have wanted.
"Do you believe I love you?"
This time she hesitated, but she didn't shy away from the answer. "Yes."
He kissed her.
Deeply. Thoroughly. With so much heady emotion that she felt dizzy from it. She was vulnerable, stripped bare, and yet she felt more safe and secure than she ever had before. Felix wouldn't let her fall.
When he released her wrists, easing more of his body onto hers, she immediately reached for him, clinging to his shoulders as he stripped off his shirt, helping him to push the garment off of his body. He was hot and hard on top of her, making her senses sing. The utter freedom she felt was both shocking and exhilarating.
Her secret had been laid bare, her confession had been heard, and instead of being rejected or mocked, she had been met with nothing but love and acceptance. It was everything she'd ever been too afraid to hope for.
Felix's hands roamed over her body, one sliding between them to slip into her wet folds, expertly circling her swollen clit. Moaning, Gabrielle lifted her hips, rubbing herself against his probing fingers as his mouth returned to her breasts, suckling on her nipples. It was as though he was rewarding her honesty with pleasure, touching her in all the ways that he'd learned sent her soaring highest with ecstasy.
His teeth tugged at her tender nipples, making her writhe as two fingers slid into her body, curving to find her most sensitive spot. Gabrielle cried out as he pumped his fingers, rubbing over that exquisite point, relentlessly, until she screamed with pleasure. Her climax rippled through her as he stroked his fingers, nibbling and pulling on her nipples, driving her through the ecstasy until she was limp and moaning.
Only then did he turn her over, pulling her onto her hands and knees, and slide into her from behind. His cock stretched her wonderfully, pressing against her sensitive tissues, making her feel weak with the pleasure of it. When his fingers pressed inside of her anus, making her feel so incredibly full, Gabrielle felt her elbows give out.
Pink bottom up in the air, fingers thrusting in that most private hole as her husband's cock thrust in her pussy, Gabrielle fisted the sheets as she tried to keep from screaming all over again. The sensations were swamping her in the most incredible way, but she felt like if she started screaming, she might never be able to stop. Her pleasure was already building again, her body quivering like a fine tuned instrument as Felix played her masterfully.
She was on the edge of climax again when Felix suddenly pulled away and she cried out in protest.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere."
Something slick and huge nudged at her back entrance, which was slightly opened from his fingers. Gabrielle sucked in a shocked breath. Yes, she'd realized that his forays into this territory were all leading up to this moment, but now that it was here she couldn't quite believe it. Fear, arousal, excitement, a sense of utter wickedness it was all bundled together as Felix pressed his cock to her slick rosebud and began to push in.
Gabrielle began to pant as her muscles stretched, feeling the burn like a sharp ache in her backside. It hurt, but it hurt so good... she almost wanted to tell him to stop, but yet she didn't want to disappoint him either. This was trust... it was submission... it was the last yielding of her body to him. If she didn't trust him, if she didn't love him, she would never be able to take this.
Still... "Ow... ow... slower, please..."
The forward movement stopped and he pulled back slightly. She whimpered at the strange sensa
tion, tensing and relaxing.
A hand smoothed over her back, caressing her, comforting her. "I'll go slowly, sweetheart, just tell me when you're ready. I've... never done this before."
But he'd always wanted to. Somehow she just knew that without him saying the words. It made this even more important to her. It was something they would share, that was just theirs.
Gabrielle rocked, experimenting, and couldn't help but smile at the groan it elicited from her husband, even as it caused a deep ache in her body. She couldn't tell if the ache was from pain or pleasure, it was so intense, but she wasn't going to allow that to stop her now. Moving slowly, she began to back herself onto her husband's cock, surging forward every time she went a little too fast, panting and moaning as she worked herself back. All the while, Felix caressed her back and ass, groaning and occasionally tightening his fingers as she impaled herself.
By the time her cheeks were pressed against his groin, she felt almost completely spent. The passageway he was filling burned from being stretched so wide and so deep, her inner muscles felt acutely sensitive, and she'd never felt more powerful or more submissive in her life.
"I think I'm ready," she whispered.
******
The tight grip of Gabrielle's anus around his cock was like a heated vise, almost too much pressure to bear and yet intimately exquisite. Her little pink rosebud was practically white, all the wrinkles smoothed out from being stretched around his cock, her dripping pussy pink and swollen beneath it. He could feel her arousal coating his sack as the two rubbed against each other.
Felix's breath caught in his throat from the sheer sensual beauty and intimacy of the situation. All his... every part of her was now, finally, all his. He had her trust, her love, and her belief in him, and there wasn't a single part of her that he hadn't explored, touched and now claimed.
Well, almost claimed.
Very, very gently, Felix began to withdraw from that humid haven, groaning at the sensation of her gripping him and flexing around him as he moved. The little whimpers she was making in the back of her throat were like nothing he'd heard before - so caught between pleasure and pain that it was like waving a red flag at a bull. It took all his willpower not to just thrust back into her with force and ride her roughly... knowing that some part of her would enjoy it.
But he wanted this first time to be special. Gentler. There would be plenty of time later to indulge in more exotic flavors of this particular perversion.
He rubbed his hand over her bottom as he slowly pushed back in, giving her rosy cheeks little slaps to help his entry. As her inner muscles clamped and pulled him inward with every swat to her pink mounds, Felix could actually feel his balls practically churning with the need to empty. Gabrielle moved, backing into him, taking him more deeply much swifter than he would have done.
"Ohhhh... yeeeess..."
That was all the invitation he needed.
He didn't pound her roughly, but he did take a grip on her hips and began to move with much more fervor, his thrusts coming faster and firmer than before. It was like heaven and hell, plunging into that tight, formerly virgin orifice, all the while trying to keep himself from taking her too roughly. Beneath him, Gabrielle bucked and moaned, sometimes pressing back against him, sometimes trying to pull away.
The occasional whimper of pain between her moans of pleasure only spurred him onwards. He could feel her convulsions every time it happened, feel her shudder, and he knew that she was taking that pain to please him. To pleasure him. It was a gift and a responsibility, and not one that he would reject or abuse.
Leaning forward, which pressed his dick more firmly into her crevice, he slid his hand between her legs and felt her clamp down around him as his fingers reached her swollen pleasure bud. Gabrielle gasped as he pinched the little nubbin, rubbing it roughly in the way he knew she loved. She couldn't handle it right away, but this far into love-play when she was this aroused? It was a surefire way to send her screaming headlong into ecstasy.
"Oh... oh god... Oh Felix..." She began bucking beneath him as his fingers expertly pulled and pinched, pushing his cock and in and out of her tight hole as she moved. There was a touch of something like devastation in her voice, as though she was too overwhelmed to feel pure pleasure, and yet she wanted it too.
Felix thrust harder, his fingers working, as he felt the familiar tingle at the base of his spine. He wanted her to join him in ecstasy, but he knew he couldn't hold on much longer.
******
Too much... it was all too much...
Gabrielle felt like she was about to explode. She felt so impossibly full, so wonderfully crowded, so horribly overstimulated. Every rasp of Felix's cock in and out of her body was a devastating mash of pain and pleasure - it felt like burning, but in a different kind of way, the way ice burned, except that wasn't quite right either. If rapture could burn, that was what it felt like.
She was raw inside and part of her just wanted it to be over, but another part of her was luxuriating in the sensations... in her emotions. She loved feeling Felix's cock so hard and thick in the most forbidden part of her, loved feeling so submissive beneath him, loved giving this to him. When he began toying with her swollen clitoris, she thought she might die from the overwhelming sensations, as if her heart might actually pound out of her chest from it all.
Every time her muscles clamped down around him, he felt even bigger, the movement of his cock felt even rougher, and she soared a little higher. Her fingers dug into the mattress, her nipples rubbing against the sheets as he took her in the basest manner possible, and she was loving every minute of it. Loving every minute of giving herself to him fully, finally.
The thrusts were pain and pleasure, light and darkness, heat and ice, and she was riding a tsunami wave of sensation that threatened to knock her out. Gabrielle clung to consciousness, not wanting to miss a second of Felix inside of her, not one of his groans or a single moment of his grip on her body.
"Oh please... oh Felix... oh Felix.... please... please..." She was begging, chanting his name over and over again, and she didn't know why or what she was asking for, she just knew she couldn't stop.
When she heard him groan her name, his voice full of erotic desperation, it was all she needed to go over the edge. Her ass clamped down around him, spasming as she thrust her hips back, fully impaling herself on his staff. She cried out as his fingers pinched her clit and screamed his name as the second wave of utter rapturous climax slammed into her. It was as though every part of her body sparked at the same moment and then exploded in glorious ecstasy.
Felix was shouting her name, over and over, the same way she had called his, and she could feel the hot jet of fluid coating her inside. She could feel every pulse of his cock inside of her, every spasm that heralded another spurt of his seed. She could feel her body milking him, as if hungry for every drop of him that she could take in.
When the ecstasy finally rolled on, Felix lay draped over her, his damp body pressing against hers. Gabrielle whimpered when he rolled, pulling her with him so that they were on their sides. Her hole felt incredibly tender as he slipped from her body. Tender and almost bruised, but at the same time, she felt utterly fulfilled.
Manhandling her, Felix turned her in his arms. She looked up at him, one hand on his chest, as he carefully brushed tendrils of hair off her face. Her coiffure hadn't held up to their exertions, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was his expression. His adoring, loving expression.
"So, are you going to tell me everything you love about me now?" he asked.
Gabrielle slapped her palm against his chest. "This house is barely big enough for your ego as it is."
"I'm not sure if that's a judgment upon me or a hint that we need a bigger house," he said thoughtfully, his eyes sparkling with mischief. Gabrielle couldn't help but giggle.
"Maybe a little of both." She leaned into him, pressing her nose against his chest hair and breathing in that wonderful scent that was unique
ly him. "Felix?"
"Mmm?"
"I love almost everything about you."
"Almost?"
"Don't worry. We're married. We have the rest of our lives to work on it," she reassured him sleepily.
A sharp smack to her ass had her squealing and then giggling as she snuggled into him.
"Minx."
******
Felix could tell when she drifted off to sleep. His precious wife. His precious, wonderful, adventurous, mischievous, and all-too-tenuous wife.
They'd overcome this hurdle, but what about the next? Or the next? What could he do to reassure her that he truly loved her, only her, and that he wanted to be married to her?
Holding her close, Felix thought about everything he'd learned since being married to her. He thought about all the advice his mother had given him, all of Cordelia's observations, and Arabella's hints. And he came up with a plan.
Chapter 19
Gabrielle woke up naked, alone and...
surrounded by pink rose petals?
She rubbed her eyes blearily. Last night felt like a dream come true, this morning... was not what she expected. For starters, she was much sorer than she'd expected. Very, very sore. Yet very satisfied too.
However, she was also a bit peeved to find herself alone in bed. That was definitely not expected. Usually Felix was there, either cuddling her or waking her up to do much less civilized things to her. Alone was unexpected. Although... rose petals. That must mean something.
Looking around, she could see that the rose petals were also strewn across the floor, but in a decisive path to the door.
Curiosity pricked, Gabrielle got up, only wincing slightly at her poor, bruised bottom. Not the cheeks, but the inner part. It was only marginally less uncomfortable than the morning after he'd punished her with a figging.
Gabrielle's Discipline (Bridal Discipline Book 3) Page 27