Page 9
Hugh
Thunder had been building all afternoon, each rumble closer than the last.
The ancient oak outside the library groaned with each gust of wind, its massive trunk swaying in a way that made my stomach churn.
I'd noticed its lean toward the manor during my morning inspection of the grounds. Centuries of storms had weakened its roots, and today's tempest might prove the final test.
Lightning split the darkening sky over the north wing.
Over the library… The library!
“Madison.”
Her name escaped my lips before conscious thought formed, and concern overrode every resolution I'd made to maintain distance between us.
I strode through corridors that flickered with each lightning flash.
Oil lamps danced in their sconces as draughts found their way through stone joints worn smooth by time.
Timbers creaked with anticipation, making the manor itself feel restless. When I reached the library doors, I spotted Madison sitting at her usual table, completely absorbed in reading.
Her head snapped up as I entered.
“Hugh.
I didn't expect—”
Thunder cracked directly overhead, followed by a flash of lightning so brilliant it turned the world white.
Then came the sound I'd been dreading all day.
There came a deep groan of wood surrendering to wind, and a sharp crack of roots tearing free from the earth.
The massive oak tilted toward us with inexorable weight.
Madison cried out, throwing her arms over her head as the ancient tree crashed through the window.
Glass exploded inward like deadly rain.
I lunged forward, seizing her around the waist and pulling her away from the table just as a branch thick as a man's torso smashed down where she'd been sitting. Books scattered across the floor, some older than the manor itself, but my every thought was focused on the woman trembling in my arms.
“Are you hurt?”
I ran my hands over her shoulders and arms, checking for injuries.
“I'm unharmed.”
Madison's voice shook despite her words.
She glanced toward the doorway, where fallen branches and part of the trunk blocked our exit completely.
“Though it appears we're trapped.”
“The groundsmen will clear it once the storm passes.”
I surveyed the damage, calculating our options.
No other trees stood close enough to pose further threat, and the remaining structure looked sound.
“We should be safe enough until then, though I fear I cannot offer proper refreshments.”
A smile ghosted her lips; the first genuine expression I'd seen from her in days.
“Under the circumstances, I believe propriety allows for certain compromises.”
We worked together to salvage what we could, moving books away from the broken window and gathering scattered papers.
Rain sprayed through the gap, carrying the scent of wet earth and lightning-charged air.
Madison rescued a slim volume from the wreckage of her table, clutching it protectively despite my suggestion that she leave it.
When the immediate danger had passed and our work rescuing the books was complete, an uncomfortable silence stretched between us.
Thunder continued its relentless assault outside, punctuated by the steady drumming of rain against stone.
“I owe you an apology,”
Madison said as she smoothed down her skirts.
“I've been avoiding you these past days.”
“You've nothing to apologise for,”
I said, meaning it.
“I've been equally distant.”
“Why?”
The simple question hung heavy in the air between us.
How could I explain the voices that whispered poison in my mind? How could I admit that I feared my own desires almost as much as I craved her touch?
“I think...”
Madison stepped closer, close enough that I caught her scent of lavender beneath the storm's wild ozone.
“I think we need to discuss what's happening to us.”
She held up the book she'd rescued.
“This was written by Queen Charlotte of Trimortha.
It tells the true story of her marriage to King Astor.”
I frowned, uncertain where this conversation led.
“Romantic tales hardly address our current circumstances.”
“This isn't romance, it's history.”
Madison's eyes blazed with conviction.
“Charlotte describes a curse created by Ravina.
A Witch-Queen betrayed by someone she loved. The curse was designed to poison love itself, to turn it into an instrument of destruction.”
She reached for my left hand with hers, pulling both up between us until our wedding rings caught the lamplight.
“Astor's curse lived in his crown.
I believe our curse lives in these.”
I studied my ring, that cold, heavy band I'd always despised.
The weight of it felt more oppressive than ever.
“You truly believe we're cursed?”
“Charlotte described Ravina as having silver-white hair and an ageless face—”
“With ancient eyes,” I added.
Madison's grip tightened on my hand.
“You've seen her.”
“Once.
Yesterday, when you were speaking with her in this very room.” =
Her brow furrowed.
“I didn't see her yesterday.
The vision came on my first night here, in my chambers.”
I watched her face carefully, searching for signs of deception or madness, but found none.
“Then my own perception betrays me,”
I said, pulling my hand free, and raking fingers through my hair.
“Your healing of Margaret was likely another figment of my imagination.”
“No.”
Madison caught my hand again, her touch warm against the chill spreading through my veins.
“That was real.”
She plots against you.
I forced the whisper away, focusing instead on Madison's earnest expression.
Every instinct screamed that I should trust her, that I should believe in this impossible explanation she offered.
But accepting her theory meant abandoning the rational world I'd always inhabited.
“I want to believe you.”
The admission cost me more than I'd expected.
“A curse would at least provide hope for a solution.
But there's history you need to understand.”
I paused, taking a deep breath in the hope that it would steady my nerves.
“My mother didn't die in childbirth, as I was told.
She was sent away after my birth, driven mad by voices only she could hear. Just as Eleanor was. Just as I may be.”
Madison's arms slipped around my waist without hesitation.
“Don't you see? The rings, the curse… that's why they heard voices.
Ravina's voice. It whispers poison designed to destroy love before it can fully bloom.”
She cupped my cheek with one hand, and her eyes flickered to the shadows building in the corner.
“Show me your magic,”
she said.
“Let me see all of you.”
I hesitated.
The darkness had always been mine to control, a private power that marked me as different, dangerous.
But sincerity shone in Madison's eyes, as fierce and unwavering as the storm outside.
I reached for the shadows, guiding them as they pooled around our feet and climbed the walls like living smoke.
They responded to my will, beautiful and terrible in their fluid grace.
Madison gasped, but a smile lit up her face.
“They're magnificent.”
She lifted her hand, and golden light bloomed from her palm, warm where my shadows were cool, bright where mine were dark.
“We've been afraid, but that's what the curse wants.
Separately, we're incomplete. Together, we're both light and dark… we’re balanced.”
The truth of her words resonated through me.
Unable to resist any longer, I framed her face between my hands and kissed her with a tenderness that felt like coming home.
No desperate hunger consumed my actions this time, no fear of losing control. Just the absolute certainty that this was where I belonged.
Madison melted against me, her arms winding around my neck as she deepened the kiss.
I lifted her, spinning us both in a slow circle before setting her on the nearest intact table.
My hands moved to the fastenings of her gown, slow and careful rather than hurried urgency. Each button revealed more of her olive skin, each inch a territory to be worshipped rather than conquered.
“You're extraordinary.”
I traced the delicate line of her collarbone with my lips, marvelling at the way her pulse fluttered beneath my touch.
Madison trailed her hands down my bare chest, exploring the hard planes as if committing them to memory.
Her lips parted as I captured her mouth again, tasting the sweetness, I’d been craving for days.
“I want to know every part of you,”
I said.
“Every place that makes you tremble, every touch that will make you mine.”
“I already am yours.”
I grumbled, the sound as deep and low as the thunder, before lavishing her breasts with attention, sucking and nipping until her head fell back.
The soft sounds she made drove me to distraction.
Trailing my lips lower, I mapped the curve of her waist and hips. She trembled with need when I finally settled between her thighs.
“Tell me what you want.”
I settled between her thighs, breathing in her intoxicating scent before flicking my tongue across her most sensitive flesh.
She was so deliciously wet for me, and the taste… It was the sweetest nectar.
She was honey and silk and everything I'd ever craved. “Tell me what you want,”
I said again as her fingers tangled in my hair.
“Just… you.
Only you.”
I licked slowly at first, teasing her entrance and bud with my tongue.
When she pushed against me, seeking more, I held her steady, drawing out each sensation until she writhed beneath my touch.
“Please,”
she said, breathless.
“I-I can’t.”
I added my fingers to the symphony I played across her body, trailing my hand up her thighs and sucking on her delicious bud before plunging my fingers inside.
“H-Hugh!”
she gasped as I plunged them in and out.
Rubbing her bud with my thumb, I lifted my head again and sucked her tight nipple into my mouth.
Her climax broke over her like a wave, and I felt the echo of it through whatever bond had formed between us.
But before she could fully recover, I positioned myself at her entrance.
“Look at me.”
I needed to see her face, needed to witness the moment we became truly one.
“I need to see you.”
Madison's eyes locked with mine as I pushed inside her welcoming heat.
The connection between us flared like lightning.
We were one, and for the first time in my life, I understood what it meant to be complete.
“I love you.”
The words emerged as natural as breathing.
“I love you too.”
Madison wrapped her legs around me, drawing me deeper.
Shadows and light danced around us, as we moved together, steady and slow, our magic intertwining as intimately as our bodies.
Every thrust drew soft cries from her lips, every kiss she pressed to my throat sent fire racing through my veins.
Madison’s name tore from my throat as pleasure crashed over me in waves, and release came, claiming us both.
I collapsed against her, pulling her close as our hearts gradually slowed to match each other's rhythm.
“That was—”
“Perfect,”
I finished, stroking her hair as contentment settled over us like a warm blanket.
She lifted her head and smiled at me.
In her gaze, there was no fear, no regret.
Only love. The storm outside still railed, but for the first time in a long time, I felt at peace. Here, in this damaged library with Madison in my arms, I'd found something worth fighting for.
She'll destroy everything you've built.
“The voice still whispers,”
I admitted, though its power had diminished considerably.
“I hear it too.
But I'm learning not to listen.”
Madison pressed a kiss to my chest, directly over my heart.