INICIAR SESIÓNCELESTINE'S POV:The days blur together in the best possible way.We wake up with the sun and make love in the golden light that streams through the windows, slow and lazy and sweet. We eat breakfast on the porch, fresh fruit and pastries and coffee that Lysander makes while I sit in the hammock and watch the waves. We swim in the ocean, naked, because there is no one around to see us and because we can. We have sex in the water, which is harder than it looks and also very, very worth it.One afternoon, Lysander looks at me with those gray eyes and pulls a handful of silk scarves out of the bag he brought. I raise my eyebrows at him."Something you want to try?" I ask.He ties my wrists to the headboard, gently, carefully, and then he takes his time with me. He touches every inch of my body, kisses every inch of my body, whispers things in my ear that make me blush and moan and arch my back and beg him for more. He does not give me more. He makes me wait. He makes me ache. He makes me
CELESTINE'S POV:I do not hesitate. I do not overthink. I do not feel the old fear, the old grief, the old loss. I just look at him, at this man who has loved me for so long and so patiently, and I say,“Then put a baby in me,” I whisper, pulling him closer.He groans, pace quickening. His thumb works my clit as he drives into me harder, deeper. I come one final time, crying out as my walls clamp down around him. Lysander follows with a deep, broken moan, burying himself to the hilt and flooding me with hot, thick pulses of his release. He keeps thrusting slowly, pushing every drop deeper, like he’s sealing his claim.We collapse in a sweaty, tangled heap on the blanket, the first light of dawn painting the great hall. He stays buried inside me, softening slowly, his arms wrapped tight around my body as if he’ll never let go. He kisses my forehead, my tear-streaked cheeks, my swollen lips, murmuring soft, filthy, loving words against my skin. His hands stroke my hair, my back, every i
CELESTINE'S POV:I shatter hard, screaming his name as the orgasm rips through me. He doesn’t stop. He keeps licking and sucking, drawing out every pulse until I’m shaking and oversensitive, begging incoherently.Only then does he rise, his chin glistening with my arousal. His cock is rock-hard, thick and veined, the head flushed dark and already leaking. He strokes it slowly, eyes locked on my spread, dripping pussy like it’s his greatest prize.He flips me onto my hands and knees, yanks my hips back, and slams into me in one brutal thrust. I scream at the sudden stretch, the delicious burn of him filling me completely. He doesn’t give me time to breathe, he grips my hips hard enough to bruise and starts fucking me with deep, punishing strokes, his heavy balls slapping against my clit with every thrust.“Take this cock,” he snarls, one hand fisting my hair and pulling my head back. “This tight little cunt belongs to me now. Say it.”“It’s yours!” I sob, pushing back to meet every sav
CELESTINE'S POV:I shatter hard, screaming his name as the orgasm rips through me. He doesn’t stop. He keeps licking and sucking, drawing out every pulse until I’m shaking and oversensitive, begging incoherently.Only then does he rise, his chin glistening with my arousal. His cock is rock-hard, thick and veined, the head flushed dark and already leaking. He strokes it slowly, eyes locked on my spread, dripping pussy like it’s his greatest prize.He flips me onto my hands and knees, yanks my hips back, and slams into me in one brutal thrust. I scream at the sudden stretch, the delicious burn of him filling me completely. He doesn’t give me time to breathe, he grips my hips hard enough to bruise and starts fucking me with deep, punishing strokes, his heavy balls slapping against my clit with every thrust.“Take this cock,” he snarls, one hand fisting my hair and pulling my head back. “This tight little cunt belongs to me now. Say it.”“It’s yours!” I sob, pushing back to meet every sav
CELESTINE'S POV:The crowd applauds. I blow Maxwell a kiss and he pretends to catch it and tuck it into his pocket and the whole room laughs again.Athena gives a speech too, and it surprises everyone, probably including herself."I will admit something," she says, standing at the podium with her glass raised. "When I first heard that Celestine was back, I was skeptical. I thought she was here to take advantage of my brother. I thought she was going to hurt him, the way she hurt him when she left all those years ago. I was wrong."She looks at me, and her gray eyes are soft in a way I have never seen before."Celestine Valancourt Ashcroft is not a woman who takes advantage of anyone. She is a woman who gives. Who loves. Who forgives. Who has spent her whole life putting other people first, and who deserves to be put first for a change. My brother is going to do that. He is going to put her first, every day, for the rest of his life. Because that is who he is. And that is who she has m
CELESTINE'S POV:My father places my hand in Lysander's and steps back. Lysander's fingers close around mine, warm and steady, and I feel something settle in my chest, something that feels like peace."You are beautiful," he whispers."You are not so bad yourself," I whisper back.The priest begins to speak. Words about love and commitment and the sacred bond of marriage. I do not hear most of them. I am too busy looking at Lysander, at the way the candlelight plays across his face, at the way his thumb is tracing circles on the back of my hand, at the way he is looking at me like I am the most precious thing in the world.Then it is time for our vows.Lysander goes first. He clears his throat. He looks down at our joined hands, then up at my face, and his gray eyes are so full of love that I feel my own eyes start to burn."I have waited years to call you mine," he says, and his voice is rough, emotional, nothing like the cold, distant monster the world thinks he is. "I will wait mor







