Page 10 of Bought By the Revenant (Monsters’ Bride Market #1)

Chapter Nine

Amity

What is this heat that’s building low in my belly?

I open my mouth to invite Riven in, to encourage him further, and I soon feel the tip of his tongue seeking mine.

I let out a whimper and grip his shoulders tightly, my nails digging into his shirt.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been intimate with a man, since I’ve let a man get close.

Close enough that I’d want to share my bed with him.

We kiss for a minute, and Riven starts breathing heavily, panting almost. I might be out of practice, but it seems like he’s had no practice at all.

He pulls away, and we stare into each other’s eyes.

It’s strange that looking into his endless white orbs doesn’t bother me anymore.

After what he’s just told me, I realize I’m looking straight into his soul.

“I’m sorry,” he says, breathing heavily.

I can see his chest rising and falling.

“What for?”

He shakes his head, apparently unable to give me an answer.

My hand travels from his shoulder to the back of his head, and I pull him to me, kissing him again.

He hesitates, then wraps his arms around my waist, holding on to me for dear life.

I can feel it – the desperation in his embrace, the thirst in the way he’s devouring my mouth.

I moan, and he grunts in response. We’re about to get lost in each other.

There’s a voice at the back of my mind screaming at me. “What are you doing, Amity? What the hell? He is… He is…” What is he, though? “He’s made of dead parts!”

I should feel horrified. Why don’t I? Any other woman would run for her life, or run to her death, preferring to be sacrificed to Draug than married to a monster like Riven.

Anyone would tell me right now that I’m not reacting normally.

That I shouldn’t… be doing this. That I shouldn’t want to touch him, taste him, have him.

But the truth is… By all the gods, he smells and tastes amazing!

Better than the peasants I’ve been with.

No dirt under his nails, no garlic breath, no beer belly.

Riven is, in fact, a true gentleman. He dresses like a noble, behaves like a noble, and smells like a noble.

Despite his stitches, he is clean. And despite his mismatched limbs, he is somehow graceful.

And strong… By all the gods, he is so strong!

Just thinking about how he lifted that tree trunk blocking the road with his bare hands makes me soak my panties.

And they’re soaked enough as they are.

“Amity,” he whispers against my lips. “What are we doing?”

I smile. “What does it look like we’re doing?”

“If we keep going like this, I don’t know…”

He doesn’t finish the sentence, and that makes me more excited.

I take a step back, look up at him from behind my dark lashes, and then take his hand.

There’s a dull throb in my arm, but he patched me well, and the bandage is clean.

It seems like the bleeding stopped. I don’t want to think about it, or I’ll start picking at the bandage, trying to see my wound.

The best thing right now is a distraction. Like Riven.

Like my monstrous, revenant husband.

“Come,” I say, pulling him toward the door, then out of the workshop.

He follows me without a word, and I start toward the grand staircase. When we reach my room and I open the door, Riven freezes at the threshold. I turn to look at him, but I’m not sure I know how to interpret the expression on his face.

“Amity, I don’t know if this is a good idea.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” He looks down, meeting my gaze. “Are you sure you want to…”

I cock an eyebrow. At least he hasn’t let go of my hand, so I give him a reassuring squeeze.

“To sleep with my husband? Yes, I’m sure.”

I chuckle to loosen the atmosphere, but it doesn’t seem to work. He’s tense.

“It’s the middle of the day.”

“So?”

He stares at something beyond my head, and I turn to see what got his attention. The curtains. Every morning, I open them to let the sun in. The two tall windows overlooking the garden are crystal clean, one of them open, letting a soft breeze in.

“Maybe we could close the curtains,” he says.

It starts to dawn on me what his problem is. But he doesn’t let me respond, because he pulls his hand free and takes a step back into the darkness of the corridor, as if my bedroom is off limits.

“No, I don’t think we should do this. Not during the day. Not ever. I… I don’t know why I thought I could take a bride. I can’t do this, Amity. I’m so sorry. It kills me to disappoint you, but I can’t give you what you want. What you need.”

Okay, now my patience is starting to wear thin.

I’m still hot, very much horny, and while I understand where his insecurities come from, I also need him to get over them.

I reach for him, grabbing him by the wrist this time, feeling the thick stitches scratch my palm.

This takes him by surprise, and when I pull him into the bedroom, his feet obey before his brain can intervene.

“Riven, that is nonsense.” I wrap myself around him and nuzzle his neck with my nose. “I understand, okay? I get it. I heard you, and all I can say to you is that I don’t care. You’re scared I won’t like you anymore if I see you naked?”

With a sigh, he wraps his arms around my waist. I place both hands on his cheeks and look deep into his infinitely white eyes, forcing him to hold my gaze.

Our bodies are pressed together. His hard cock is trapped between us, and that is proof that he wants me just as much as I want him.

It’s admirable that he’s able to hold back, but I don’t want him to.

If anything, I’m actually curious to see what’s hiding underneath his fancy clothes.

“I don’t know,” he whispers.

“I do.”

“No, I don’t know…”

He’s so stubborn.

“What, Riven?”

“I don’t know anything. How to do this… How to…”

His arms drop to his sides and his shoulders sag. He lets me hold him, but it’s a game of push and pull. His expression is so wretched that I almost feel guilty for asking him to step out of his comfort zone, to do something he’s never done…

Wait.

Something he’s never done… in his life?

The realization strikes me.

Is Riven a virgin?

“Talk to me,” I say softly, placing feathery kisses on his jawline.

I trace the stitch that leads to the corner of his mouth.

“I’m your bride, Riven. Despite what you said earlier, I don’t think you made a mistake when you bought me.

You deserve togetherness, connection, love.

And do you know who else also deserves all that? Me.”

“But that’s the thing, Amity. I don’t know how to… do all that. How can I offer you something I never had?”

“I can teach you.” I kiss his lips tenderly. “We can learn together.”

“This body.” He huffs in frustration. “I’ve lived in it for so long, but sometimes it still doesn’t feel like it’s mine, like I know what to do with it.”

I take his hand in mine and place it on my chest, over my heart.

“It’s big, and clumsy, and…” he continues, but I stop him by placing my thumb on his lips, tracing them gently. He shakes his head instead, still stubborn. Still so insecure that he’d rather ruin this thing we’re trying to do, to achieve, than accept that I’m actually attracted to him.

“I’ll show you. Follow my lead.”

“Amity…”

“Do you trust me, Riven? I trusted you earlier when you stitched me up. It’s your turn to trust me. So, do you?”

After a moment’s hesitation, he nods.

I smile.

“Good.”

When I pull him toward the bed, he obeys. He even closes the door behind us. I turn us around and make him sit on the edge of the bed. He doesn’t say anything about the curtains, and I don’t mention them either. I want to see him. And I want him to see me.

“I’ll start,” I say as my hands go to the buttons of my blouse. “Watch, and after, I will help you.”

He swallows heavily.

“Help me get undressed?”

“Don’t think about it now. Think about me,” I say, realizing I might’ve gotten ahead of myself. I need to keep him anchored in the present. “Focus on me and only me.”

He nods, and I undo one button at a time.

My injured arm makes it difficult to take off my blouse, but I push through the pain.

I don’t even wince, not wanting to alert him.

I’m in only my bra before him, and he can’t take his eyes off my round breasts.

My pants are next. I know it’s not ladylike to wear pants all the time, but they’re more convenient, especially when I work in the garden.

I roll them down my legs and remove my boots in the process.

Riven shifts on the bed, his fingers flexing on his knees.

“Here. You do it.”

I take both his hands in mine and bring them to my breasts.

I can feel him trembling. I lean over so he can reach behind and unhook my bra.

He fumbles, his fingers clumsy. He looks at me with a sort of horror in his eyes, and it almost makes me laugh, because this man has just sewn my flesh back together, but can’t unhook a simple piece of lingerie.

“It’s okay,” I encourage him.

My breasts are in his face, and… is that a bead of sweat I see forming at his hairline?

His brows furrow in concentration, and finally, the bra is undone, the straps sliding down my arms. I take if off and throw it onto the floor.

Before Riven can retreat, I grab his hands and place them firmly over my breasts.