Chapter Sixteen

Channing slapped Robert on the shoulder. “Why don’t you head home? We can deal with the rest.”

“I don’t want to leave until I know I’ve done everything I can to help.”

“You’ve been here eighteen hours a day,” Kingston, another member of the Good Knight Society, said.

“Man, you’ve got a new bride, don’t you?” Rafe asked.

“Yes.” Robert nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose. “She’ll understand that I’m busy. Right now, it’s important to find these women.”

“We’ve got it handled. We have a team headed to where we were told the women are being kept,” Channing said.

He was tired, and every time he thought about Grace, his gut cramped with the desire to make her his in all ways. He didn’t think he’d really feel married until they consummated their marriage.

Robert nodded. “Call me if anything changes.”

“We will,” Rafe said.

Robert drove himself home, anxious to be with Grace but aware that he wouldn’t have her the way his body demanded until he knew it was the right time. He checked his office to make sure she wasn’t there like the previous night before heading up to his room.

His stomach dropped when the first thing he saw was the empty bed. He turned to go back down to find her when he noticed her in one of the chairs. He felt a wave of relief at the same time, concerned that she wouldn’t sleep in the bed.

It was a question he was going to ask as soon as he showered and got ready for bed.

When he was done, he pulled the comforter and blanket back before going to his wife. He picked her up. She automatically wrapped her arms around his neck and murmured his name, but he was almost sure she was still sleeping. He arranged her with her head on his chest and his arm around her waist, holding her tightly against him.

“Mmmm, Robert?”

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Yes, Sweetheart.”

She seemed to start to fall back to sleep.

“Why don’t you sleep in the bed?” he asked. He felt her stiffen.

“Oh, I’m not sure.”

He tilted her head up to be able to see her eyes as they talked. “Tell me.”

“I don’t like being in the big bed without you.”

His brows snapped together. “Why?”

“Because it makes me feel lonelier than I…”

She stopped abruptly, but he caught what she was insinuating. “You’re lonely?”

She didn’t answer, but he could tell she regretted bringing it up.

Grace shrugged.

“At least you have Hannah and Taylor here,” he said.

She nodded, but he wasn’t convinced she felt that way.

He rolled until she lay on her back, and he leaned over her. “I’m sorry I haven’t been here, Sweetheart. Work is crazy right now.”

She nodded again. “It’s okay.”

He studied her expression and hated to see her hide behind a wall she’d built. The same wall he’d had to overcome when she first came there.

“I don’t ever want you to feel sad.”

He clenched his jaw when he caught sight of the single tear running down her face. “Oh, Love.” He bent and kissed her. He had wanted to comfort her, but when her arms came around his neck and her mouth opened, he deepened the contact.

He braced his weight on his elbows as the kiss went on and on. His body tightened with a surge of passion so strong it shook him. The exhaustion he’d felt just a short time ago vanished, and the need to make her his filled his mind and lit a fire in his body. His hand slid down her body, grabbed her nightgown, and pulled it up over her head.

Grace gasped and covered her chest with her arms.

“No, Sweetheart. Don’t you dare hide from me. I want you to relax and see how good I can make you feel.”

Robert lowered his head and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. It was a soft suction at first, but then her cries grew, and her body thrashed around, which he controlled and kept her still.

He went back and forth between her breasts for several minutes. During that time, he let his hand skin over her stomach and lower to her upper thighs, letting her get used to his touch.

He moved down between her thighs. He didn’t think she knew when he tore the panties off her hips. The rules he’d have for her in the bedroom could come later.

“Robert!” she yelled when one of his fingers slid between her cunt lips and pressed on the bundle of nerves. He knew that would drive her crazy.

Grace’s hands tried to pull him away from her pussy, but he would not be denied. She was his wife, and he was going to make sure they consummated their marriage.

A groan tore from his throat when he pushed the first finger into her. The tightness was unbelievable, but it also made him worry that she’d have trouble taking him. He held her steady, studying her expression and giving her sweet kisses as he encouraged her.

He added another finger and then a third, wanting to stretch her out and help ease her discomfort when he thrust into her the first time.

When he knew she was ready, he lifted himself over her and between her thighs, using his hips to widen them enough to make room for him.

Instead of taking time, he started to steadily push into her until he felt her hymen block him. He reached in between them and started to torment her clit, taking her mind off the pain he unfortunately had to cause her. When she started lifting her hips and crying out, he thrust through the membrane and came to a stop to calm her.

Grace cried out.

“Shhh, Sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” he said. “It’s over. You’ll never feel pain again.”

It took another minute before her tears stopped, and she relaxed under him.

“Tell me if you feel any pain,” he told her.

His thrusts started slow and easy and seemed to last forever until she was begging him for something she didn’t understand. His moves became harder and deeper, and still she cried for more.

Robert tried to soothe her, but he was so close to the jagged edge of need that he felt his concentration should be on keeping himself in check.

He could tell by the glazed look in her eyes and the way her cunt tightened on his cock that she was ready to be thrown over. He reached between them again and pinched her clit, making her scream and arch.

Her body convulsed under him. At the same time, his own satisfaction was gaining. The cum spurt from his cock and seemed to go on forever. When he felt his seed start to seep from her full cunt, he almost came again.

They both lay silently, and the only sounds in the room were their gasps for breath.

When he was finally able to gain some strength, he moved off of her and gathered her against his chest. He could tell the violence of her orgasm scared her, and he set out to calm her.

“Everything’s okay, Sweetheart. Just lie here with me for a few minutes, and then I’ll get us cleaned up.”

She nodded and lay her head on his chest.

He had almost fallen asleep when she moved and moaned from discomfort.

Robert kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be right back. Try not to move.”

After cleaning the cum, blood, and sweat off him, he took a wet cloth back into the bedroom. When he saw her sleeping with her hands tucked under her chin, his feelings for her soared. She was his, and he couldn’t have been more satisfied.

When he finished with her, he slid onto the bed, pulled the cover over them, and then made sure she was tucked against his body.

Within a minute, he felt himself start to slide into sleep. He kissed her one more time on the forehead, sighed, and let it take him.