Content Warning: Mature Themes
This chapter contains explicit sexual content, themes of trauma recovery, and adult language. It explores a consensual, emotionally grounded erotic scene between two central characters. Reader discretion is advised.
Please proceed only if you are comfortable with graphic intimacy and psychological vulnerability within a safe, narrative context.
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The carriage wheels hit a rut and Seraphina's knee knocked against Caelan's thigh. Neither of them moved apart.
Three hours back to Flamekeep stretched ahead of them. The route wound through D'Lorien territory first, a camouflage trail for anyone tracking their movements. To observers, the Duchess was simply returning to her family estate. The deviation toward her real headquarters would happen later, when fewer eyes could follow.
Three hours alone in an enclosed space that suddenly felt very small.
Caelan sat across from her with his jaw tight and his hands resting on his thighs with deliberate stillness. He'd been like this since they left the palace, controlled and watchful, but she could see the hunger underneath. His gaze kept drifting to her mouth. His fingers flexed against his legs like he was stopping himself from reaching for her.
"You're staring," she said.
"So are you."
She didn't deny it. Her eyes had been tracing the line of his throat, the stretch of his shoulders against his coat, the way his hands looked when they gripped his own knees. She kept remembering how he'd kissed her before they left for the palace. The taste of him. The way his hands had gripped her waist like he was drowning.
The carriage swayed again and her knee pressed against his. This time she didn't move away. His breath caught audibly in the quiet space. Her body tightened in response, heat pooling low in her belly.
"We should talk strategy," she said, though her voice came out rougher than intended.
Caelan leaned forward until his elbows rested on his knees and his face was close enough that she could smell cedar and steel on his skin. "Is that really what you want to do right now?"
She opened her mouth to answer but nothing came out.
"We've been careful long enough." His eyes held hers with an intensity that made her skin prickle. "I don't want to be careful anymore."
She reached for him and he didn't wait. He leaned in and kissed her hard, no hesitation, no restraint. His hands went to her waist while hers grabbed his collar. They pulled at each other until her back hit the carriage wall and he was half out of his seat, kissing her like he'd been starving for months.
"Seraphina." Her name came out rough against her lips. "We're in a moving carriage."
"I know."
"Three hours left. Guards riding fifty feet behind us."
"I don't care."
His hand slid up her thigh, fingers pressing into the fabric of her dress. Her breath hitched and heat surged through her so fast it made her dizzy.
"If we do this here," he said against her mouth, "I'm going to take you apart. I won't be able to stop."
She kissed him again, harder this time, and bit his lower lip until he groaned. Then she forced herself to pull back, though every part of her screamed in protest.
"Not yet."
He stared at her, pupils blown dark, chest heaving. "Why?"
"Because I want everything." She held his gaze and let him see exactly what she meant. "I want to be naked and on a bed. I want your mouth on me. I want to scream your name and not care who hears it."
His cock pressed hard against his trousers, visible even in the dim carriage light. The muscle in his jaw twitched as he fought for control.
"Then you need to get off my lap," he said, his voice strained to breaking. "Before I forget every promise I've made."
She realized she'd climbed onto him at some point, straddling his thighs with her skirts bunched between them. Instead of moving, she leaned forward and brushed her lips against his ear.
"Later."
They didn't talk after that. She stayed in his lap for the rest of the ride with her mouth against his neck and his hands moving under her dress. His fingers traced her spine, her ribs, the curve of her waist. Never going far enough to cross the line they'd drawn, but far enough to keep her aching and wet and desperate for what came next.
The hours passed in a haze of stolen touches and bitten-back sounds. At one point she shifted in his lap and felt his cock twitch against her thigh. He made a sound low in his throat that she felt more than heard. She pressed closer and felt his heartbeat hammering against her chest.
By the time Flamekeep's towers appeared against the darkening sky, her entire body felt like a wire pulled too tight.
The courtyard was quiet when they arrived. Torches flickered in their brackets and cast long shadows across the cobblestones. Yona met them before the carriage door fully opened, her expression professionally blank even as her eyes flicked between them and clearly noted something.
"My lady, all preparations are complete. Your quarters are ready." She inclined her head toward Caelan. "Duke Vorenthal, your room is prepared next door as usual."
Seraphina didn't trust her voice to stay steady. She nodded once and walked toward the keep without waiting for a response.
Caelan's footsteps followed close behind her. Through the main hall where firelight warmed the stone walls. Past the study where they'd spent weeks planning the divorce petition together. Up the stairs toward the private quarters where the air grew quieter and the torches spaced further apart.
The corridor split at the top. Her chambers to the left, his to the right.
He started to turn toward his door. "Goodnight, Sera..."
She grabbed his collar before he could finish the word. Yanked him through her doorway. Kicked the door shut behind them hard enough that the frame rattled.
For a heartbeat they stood in darkness, both breathing hard. Then she shoved him against the wall and kissed him with every ounce of frustration and want she'd been holding back for three hours. Her fingers found the edge of his mask and pulled it off, letting it clatter to the floor. She wanted his whole face. Wanted to see every expression he made when she touched him.
He answered with a growl and his hands locked around her hips, dragging her flush against him. Their mouths collided, teeth scraped, and she was already working his shirt free from his trousers while he struggled with the laces of her bodice.
The fabric gave way with a sharp tearing sound. Neither of them stopped to care. He stripped her bodice off and pulled her shift down until her breasts spilled into his hands. The groan he made vibrated through her whole body.
"Bed," she gasped.
His fingers tightened on her breasts instead. "Not yet."
He spun her around and pressed her back against the door, then dropped to his knees so fast she barely registered the movement. His hands shoved her skirts up around her waist and his mouth was on her before she could take another breath.
She cried out at the first stroke of his tongue. Her legs nearly buckled and she slammed one hand against the door for balance while the other tangled in his hair. He licked into her like he'd been thinking about nothing else for weeks, tongue stroking and lips sucking while his hands kept her thighs spread exactly where he wanted them.
"Caelan, fuck, please..."
He pulled back just enough to speak against her. "Please what?"
"Don't stop. Don't you dare stop."
"Never." He sucked her clit into his mouth and she keened, hips jerking against his face.
The pleasure built fast and sharp. She clutched his hair and ground against his face, chasing the pressure of his mouth, panting his name like a prayer. When she came it hit so hard her vision went white. Her hips shook through the aftershocks while he kept licking, slower now, drawing out every last tremor until she had to push his head away.
He rose to his feet with his mouth wet and his eyes black with need. "You taste incredible."
She grabbed his trousers, shoved them down past his hips, and pulled him toward the bed by his cock. He groaned at the pressure of her grip.
They fell onto the mattress in a tangle of half-removed clothes. She kicked off her boots while he stripped away the last of his shirt. Her dress came off in pieces, then her underthings, until she lay back against the pillows with her legs spread and her whole body flushed and waiting.
His eyes raked over her and his breath came out ragged. "God, Sera. You're so fucking beautiful."
He climbed over her and kissed her deep enough that she tasted herself on his tongue. Then he bit her lower lip hard enough to sting.
"Now," she said. "Inside me. Now."
He lined himself up and pushed in with one long thrust that filled her completely. She gasped and her back arched off the bed, fingers digging into his shoulders hard enough to bruise.
"God, yes, Caelan, yes..."
"So tight." His voice came out wrecked, barely controlled. "Sera, you feel so good, I can't..."
He fucked her hard and fast with no restraint, no gentleness. Her legs locked around his waist and her nails raked down his back as he drove into her over and over. The bed creaked beneath them and the headboard knocked against the wall with every thrust.
"Harder," she panted. "Please, harder."
He groaned and gave her what she asked for, hips snapping against hers until she couldn't form words anymore, just broken sounds that spilled from her throat with every thrust.
She didn't disappear.
With Alaric, she'd learned to go somewhere else in her head. She would count the cracks in the ceiling. Make lists of things she needed to do. Find some corner of her mind to hide in while her body went through the motions. She had survived sex with her husband by not being present for it.
With Caelan, she couldn't look away. She didn't want to. Every thrust demanded her attention and every sound he made pulled her deeper into the moment. The weight of him on top of her. The smell of his sweat and hers mixing in the heated air. The way his face twisted when he hit a spot that made her moan. She was here, completely, choosing this. Choosing him.
"Look at me," he said, and she did. His eyes locked with hers as he drove into her. "Stay with me."
"I'm here." Her voice broke on a gasp. "I'm right here."
The second orgasm crashed through her before she expected it. She screamed his name and felt her whole body clench around him. He followed with a growl, burying himself deep and spilling inside her with a shudder that seemed to go on forever.
They collapsed together, both gasping for air. But it wasn't over.
He rolled her on top and she rode him slow at first, then faster, her hands braced on his chest while his gripped her hips hard enough to leave marks. She watched his face as she took him, watched his jaw clench and his eyes roll back when she ground down just right.
"That's it," he breathed, guiding her rhythm with his hands. "Just like that. Take what you need."
She moaned and moved faster, chasing the pressure building inside her again. His thumb found her clit and she cried out, her rhythm faltering as pleasure spiked through her.
"You're so beautiful like this." His voice was wrecked, barely more than a rasp. "Riding my cock. Taking everything. Mine."
"Yours," she gasped. The word felt like surrender and victory at once.
Then he flipped her onto her stomach and took her from behind, one hand fisted in her hair and the other gripping her hip as he drove into her with punishing force. The sound of skin slapping against skin filled the room.
"You feel that?" His mouth pressed hot against her ear. "Feel how deep I am?"
She couldn't answer, could only moan into the pillow as he fucked her harder. Her fingers twisted in the sheets and her whole body shook with each thrust.
"Say my name," he demanded, pulling her hair just enough to arch her back.
"Caelan." It came out broken, desperate. "Caelan, please, I'm going to..."
"Then come. Come for me."
She screamed into the pillow and came again, harder this time, with his cock buried deep and his breath hot against her neck. Her whole body clenched around him in waves that seemed to go on forever.
He spilled inside her with a groan that sounded like it was torn from somewhere deep in his chest, hips jerking through his own release while he whispered her name against her skin.
After, they lay tangled together in sheets that smelled like sex and sweat. Her head rested on his chest and his arm wrapped tight around her shoulders. The candles had burned low and cast the room in soft golden light.
Her body ached in ways that felt earned and good. Muscles she hadn't used in years throbbed with pleasant soreness.
"No more waiting," he said quietly. His voice was rough and satisfied.
"Never again." She meant it.
His hand settled warm and heavy on her hip, possessive even in stillness. Her palm pressed flat against his chest where his heartbeat had finally slowed. For a long moment neither of them spoke, just breathed together in the quiet.
Tomorrow would come with its own demands. Tonight asked nothing of her except this.
She pressed closer to his warmth and felt his arm tighten around her in response. Present in her own body for the first time in years. Whole in ways she'd forgotten were possible.
His.