Black Pearl

Chapter 49

Leo asked almost nothing of me following my return. For the most part, he left me with Oceana, giving us a chance to explore the royal grounds together. Oceana had the good sense to avoid speaking about Atticus and Leo didn't pry into the details of my trip back to the island and never brought the mourning up again.

Over our shared breakfasts, he would nod enthusiastically to everything my sister said and wonder about what we had planned for the day. If we had free time he would suggest outings that would assist with getting ready for the coronation and Oceana was always more than excited at the idea of dress shopping or finding just the right shoes or flowers that wouldn't wilt in the heat of the sun. For her, the party was already completely underway.

With all of the busyness it was almost like my dreaded discovery had never happened, that I was just a siren about to become queen. Maybe it was something I did to protect myself, or maybe it was just being home, around a man who loved me, but either way, the true became easy to ignore all over again. And that meant I was not longer on the brink of tears all the time, that I was not jumping every time Leo entered a room.

When we were only a few days away from the coronation ceremony Jacob swept in and distracted my overly excited sister, taking her away for a day in town.

I had a thousand things that I needed to get do before the coronation, each one more urgent than the last. However, there was only one place I wanted to be and only one thing I wanted to be doing. I crept away to the library, careful avoid anyone in the hallways who might have even spared me a smile. And when I got to my safe place, I moved the ladder to a section I had yet to inspect, climbing to the highest shelf, looking for the book that had been touched last, knowing that the most useful books to me were often the books that humans ignored. They craved drama more often than they craved knowledge. 

There, lying on top of the other- not even organized, was an emerald green book covered in a thick layer of dust. Oddly enough, the leather cover was completely bare and when I cracked open the pages to see the topic, I noticed that the pages were all hand written, unlike the other books that had come from something called a printing press.

My mouth automatically moved to form a word I had never seen in print before. "C-c...co-ck." And the second it was passed my lips, a hand slammed over my mouth. 

I had never read the word, never really understood its true meaning. But I had heard the men use late at night as they sat around the campfire, thinking that I was fast asleep. I didn't have to be brilliant to know that it was inappropriate. After a quick scan of the library to make sure that no one had overheard, I read the surrounding line.

His cock was proud and long, jutting towards me.

My face flamed at the simple words. I certainly knew what it meant now. I should've put the book down. I should have put the book down on that stupid shelf and hoped that it never saw the light of day again because fine ladies certainly didn't read things like this. No one should read things like this.

But I didn't put the book down. Instead, I slipped down the ladder, clutching that emerald cover to my chest. I found the chair opposing the only entrance to the library, my back to the windows that overlooked the garden. From here, I would be able to spot anyone entering and have a chance to conceal the book before they even noticed me.

Sinking into the reading chair, I gave myself one last chance. I could just put this book away and never think about it again. I could find another book, one that someone like Archer would approve of, swords and knives and such.

I cracked it open instead.

The two of them could not have been more different. The first one was slow and gentle. When he saw my bare skin all he wanted to do was kiss me. In heated whispers he told me how beautiful I was. The second was not that way. While one stroked my skin in soft sweeps, the other pulled my hair, pushed me down. The second needed to have me in the most simple sense. He took what he wanted. The first smiled down at me, content with my mouth as he brushed my hair out of my face and told me what a good girl I was being.

I jumped to another section, my mind spinning to process what I had just read. Two men? At once? It seemed insane and utterly impossible. I wanted to let my mind wander, to figure out these statements in the most simple sense. In the same breath, I feared someone entering. I doubted I would have the courage to find this book again and I wanted to know everything.

Jameson has been the talk of the town lately. A few of the women are raving about what he can do with his tongue. I had to try it for myself. He was slow at first, acted like he didn't know what I wanted, but once the robe came off, the pretending stopped. I have to admit that that man knows his power. Though we had never been intimate before, he knew how to keep me close, how to touch my little bud until I was begging for it. A frightening thought, me begging a man for anything, but there I was, whimpering away. He might very well be the only man I would be willing to see twice. Those fingers and that mouth...

Despite the fact that the first entry I read had been too confusing for me, this one struck me. I could never be so vulgar, but I knew exactly what she was talking about. And thinking about Leo's face buried between my thighs, his wet tongue moving like my fingers had....Surely I would be begging too. I could even imagine the way he would smirk at me as I mewed on.

 I couldn't have stopped reading if I tried.

I have become even more desirable for the local men. Carson pushed me to a new limit last night. He has one of the biggest cocks I have ever seen and when he pushed it to the back of my throat-

"I knew I would find you here," someone announced.

I was barely able to repress a shriek as I snapped the book shut so suddenly my hair fluttered back. "Leo," I choked out, not even glancing at my husband as I jerked open the small drawer in the table beside me. The book was shoved in and locked away. "What can I help you with?" 

"Nothing," he murmured, slowly strolling towards me. A devilish smirk touched his mouth. "You're looking a little flush. Are you alright?"

"Oh." My voice was a pitiful squeak. "I am a little hot, maybe we should open a window."

Now Leo openly laughed, no longer seeming so mischievous, but genuinely amused. "Now Em, we both know a draft is not going to soothe you right now."

God, he knew. He knew that I was reading. What would he say? What would he think? That I was unholy and impulsive? Too uncivil for a court?

"Don't look so frightened," he continued, watching my panicked gaze flit from him to the drawer. "How do you think I know what you were reading?" A finger curled under my chin, lifting my eyes to his. "Who do you think put it up on that shelf, never to be found?"

I wanted to say something, anything. Maybe if I had been the author of the journal something sultry and daring would have dripped out of my mouth, tempting my husband. But I was stunned and silent.

"I have to admit that this is not how I imagined you would be spending your time alone," he confessed. "But I am certainly not complaining." His thumb traced over my lower lip, my breath catching while my core clenched at the tiny contact. "Did you find something you liked, wife?"

I swallowed hard. "Yes." I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted him to grab my hair and pull my mouth to his. I needed him to shove my skirt out of the way and-

"Prince Leo," Jacob called. "Your father has requested a moment with you."

My husband's gaze was burning. I knew that he was wondering if he could get away with completely ignoring his right hand man. But Jacob was not one to be ignored. Leo dipped down, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear. "I'm going to give you a little assignment, Em. I want you to take that book to your room with you and tomorrow I want you to tell me in detail what you liked and how it made you feel. Maybe we'll even get to try some of those things."

I was still desperately trying to come up with an answer long after Leo and Jacob had left.