Note:


    Holly molly... thank you so much, dear Kelly Goodwin, for sending so many castles. Sorry, I was too distraught to say thank you yesterday.


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    Lnd decided to do as she wanted. If she said they should consummate their marriage now, then they would do it.


    Sophie touched Lnd''s hand he reached out to her. The moment their hands touched, he felt a shiver down his spine. This was the first time they held hands like this. To him, it was electric.


    For a moment, he was stunned.


    "My lord...?" Sophie''s voice moved him from his reverie. Lnd looked up from their hands and looked at the beautiful woman solemnly. Her big round eyes were really sad. The sight ached him.


    How could he do this to her?


    "I was just thinking of something," he lied. Lnd wanted to pull her close to his chest and hug her. He wanted to kiss her tears and calm her down. However, he instead pointed at the bed and motioned her to go there. "Undress."


    Sophie felt her throat dry. Her body felt so tense and cold. She walked to the bed and slowly undressed. Meanwhile, Lnd went to blow the candles in all corners of the room.


    He actually could do it from where he was, with a wave of his hand. However, he wanted to hide his capabilities in front of Sophie and pretended he needed to do it so that he could give her space to remove her clothes.


    When he turned around, he saw the woman was already lying on the bed under the nket that covered all the way to her shoulders. Her clothes were folded nicely on the bedside table.


    It was really dark now, with only a bit of light seeping through the windows. However, if Sophie didn''t cover herself with the nket, Lnd actually would still be able to see her naked body clearly.


    He was a bit disappointed when she covered everything with the nket. He secretly desired to see what his mate''s body looked like, but Lnd immediately got rid of that feeling. He was crazily attracted to her and he didn''t know if he could keep holding back if she showed her naked body in front of him.


    This was better, he thought.


    Lnd started taking off his clothes one by one, calmly and almost without a sound. Sophie closed her eyes and tried to think about her old home in ckwoods, or her school... her old ssmates...


    She must distract herself. This silence was deafening.


    Sophie didn''t see how her husband looked without his clothes on. And she thought he also didn''t see hers. This made her feel slightly better.


    However, she suddenly wondered if Duke Romanov took off his mask now that they would do it in the dark. It must not befortable to wear it while... they did the deed, right?


    So, Sophie opened her eyes, out of curiosity, right at the same time when Lnd climbed the bed.


    Ohh....! He took off his mask!


    Sophie could only see his face faintly because of the minimal lighting. She couldn''t see how he looked but she could tell he was not wearing his mask because the shape of his head was different. She wanted to touch his face and feel how deformed it was that Duke Romanov felt the need to hide it from the world.


    It must be really bad... but how bad?


    Sophie met a man once who was born deformed too. Half his face was ck and covered with warts. It looked disgusting. But even he didn''t cover his face with a mask because it was ufortable.


    So, Sophie was wondering how bad her husband''s face really was.


    Before her mind wandered further, suddenly she felt his lips were on hers.


    Lnd kissed her and sucked her lips eagerly. Then, his tongue slid through the small opening between her lips and ravaged her mouth. Sophie was taken by surprise and her eyes were open wide during the passionate kiss.


    She didn''t expect Lnd to kiss her immediately, without saying anything. And then... she felt the nket was pulled from her body and reced by human skin.


    Lnd''s big and burly body covered her entirely. She felt so small when the man pressed on her naked body. She was ready to be crushed under his weight, but to her surprise, that didn''t happen.


    He leaned on his elbows and was careful not to let his weight press on her too much. Doing that took all his sanity. Lnd thought he had had it rough when he went through his training to be the alpha, under his father''s aggressive and cruel methods.


    However... this was next level.


    Sophie''s scent made him go crazy with lust. She had this distinct sweet smell on her, especially on the top of her head that could make Lnd feel intoxicated, more than any alcohol he had ever tasted. He wanted to keep sniffing her and get drunk by it.


    And her skin... Oh, her skin was so soft and supple. Sophie had a smaller figure but she was blessed with killer curves.


    Her body was slim but she had full and bouncy breasts and a plump butt. Especially now that she was pregnant, there was an unexinable glow on her that made her a thousand times more attractive than before.


    And most importantly... she was now his mate. Even without touching her Lnd was already drawn to this woman. Now, with her being his mate, lying down naked under him, ready for him to take her... the man was filled with so much desire.


    He wanted to make love to her all night long, satisfy her and hear her moan in pleasure... and perhaps even scream his name.


    However, he realized, he was not supposed to do it. He kept reminding himself to focus on the objective of this consummation. He wanted to establish the mating bond.


    Once they were one, he could feel relieved and more secure about her safety. Then, slowly... he would work his way into her heart, if that opportunity would someday present itself.


    He removed his lips from hers and cleared his throat. Just now he got carried away and gave in to his desire... so, he kissed her.


    Now, he was himself again. He should do this quickly, establish the mating bond, and leave. He should not be around her when he was aroused like this. He might be tempted to take more than what he was supposed to.


    Sophie would hate him if he revealed the truth and she knew what he did. He couldn''t lie to her and say it was all needed to establish the mating bond. Once she was part of them, she would learn about their custom and know what was needed to be done for the mating bond to happen.


    Lnd just needed to prate her and bit her in the shoulder when he came inside her. And then they would be one. She would have his mark on her, permanently, and nobody could see it except for other werewolves.


    Even Sophie wouldn''t be able to see it since her lycan gene was very thin. Her children, however, would see it and they would know their mother was the alpha''s mate. Their lycan gene was much stronger than Sophie because their biological father was also a lycan.


    Lnd realized if he followed his carnal desire and ravaged her all night long, like what his heart wanted, Sophie would know Lnd took more than what was needed and she would me him for being so heartless.


    She would think he KNEW she was grieving for her husband''s death and had no choice to get protection but to give herself to him... yet he took advantage of her situation.


    "Sophia... I will start now," he spoke with a hoarse voice. "Please bear with it. It won''t take long."


    Sophie nodded weakly. She tried hard to hold back her tears from falling down but she failed. She just hoped her husband wouldn''t see that she was crying because of the darkness.


    She didn''t know that as a lycan, especially an Alpha, Lnd had such great vision. He could see clearly every single tear that fell down from the corners of her eyes. Seeing her cry pained his heart to no end.


    Dammit!


    He lowered his hand and touched her thigh. He opened her legs under him and then touched her fold to make sure he got the spot correctly. He didn''t want to waste time and hurt her by positioning his manhood in the wrong ce.


    Her fold was dry and she was shaking slightly under him. Lnd was forced to use his saliva to wet the area before he positioned his erect shaft on her fold and pushed his way in.


    Sophie had been holding her breath and hiding her sobs when Lnd''s hand touched her fold and then she felt his hardness rubbing her private part. When his engorged penis entered her, she couldn''t help but let out a growl and nted her nails on his arms.


    Lnd''s movement suddenly halted when her nails dug his skin. He looked at her face carefully, to see any signs of pain.


    There was none. She was just surprised by his size and how he was now inside of her. Seeing that she was not in pain, Lnd breathed a sigh of relief. That was the only upside of Sophie being a non-virgin. She had experienced having sex before and was not in pain by pration.


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    From Missrealitybites:


    Writing this part is so damn hard. I hate that Lnd and Sophie are in this situation.