“Or what? You’ll banish me from your kingdom?” Conrad said and laughed loudly. Celia stared at her grandfather who had turned his eyes to his lap again. He didn’t want to look at what was going on. He didn’t want to be a part of this.
“Conrad, the man is sick!” Wilder continued, placing his clenched fists on the table and leaning forward down the length of it. The table was so long however that he was nowhere close to reaching his brother. Conrad was still laughing; his laugh was ringing manically in Celia’s ears.
“What do you want me to do about it? Change his diapers?” He said, holding his belly as he laughed some more.
Celia couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up with a jerk from the table and threw the napkin from her lap on to the table.
“I’m taking grandpa away, to New York. This is insane.” She cried.
“No, no, Celia, sit down child.” Her grandfather said, but she wasn’t looking at him.
“He doesn’t deserve this. I’m taking him away from this horrid place.” She cried and ran out of the dining room. She could feel hot tears pressing against her eyelids as she ran. Straight through the living room, then through the foyer and out of the house, down the porch…running.
“Celia!” She heard Wilder’s voice behind her. She hadn’t expected anyone to follow her. She needed to be by herself.
“Please leave me alone. I’ve seen enough.” She cried, still keeping her pace up. She wasn’t quite sure where she was going. It had gotten dark by now, she could feel the dusty ground underneath her feet, but all she wanted to do was get as far away from the house as possible.
“Celia. Will you just stop running!” His voice was getting closer; he was catching up to her.
Then she felt his hands on her waist and he had whipped her around. Her body crashed against his wide chest, her hands pressing against his shoulders. He was holding her by her hips, close to himself. In the dark she could see his blue eyes sparkling as he stared straight at her.
“Stop running, Celia.” He said, in a much softer voice. She was out of breath, but nothing before had felt this way before, to just be in his arms.
He was strong, his body was muscular and hard. She could feel the strength in his grip, the rigidity of his thighs against her own soft curves. He released her as suddenly as he had caught her, but she could still barely breathe. The last thing she wanted was to be aroused by Wilder Moore, but that was exactly what was happening.
“I can’t…he needs to come with me.” She said, still breathless from the running. As her eyes adjusted in the dark, she found him staring at her, contemplating her face, her body. His look had changed; he didn’t seem as frightening as before.
“Do what you need to do, Celia. He’s your family. But I want you to know that he will always be welcome in my house. He is like a father to me.” She heard him say the words but she couldn’t believe what he was saying. This was a softer side of Wilder that she could never have imagined in him. Her heartbeat was evening, she licked her lips and gulped.
“That was painful to watch. The way Conrad, the way you…how you were fighting about him, right in front of him.” Celia said, screaming a little, and pointing at the house. Wilder remained calm, he hung his head as though he was ashamed.
“I know. I apologize. I can’t control him, he’s a nuisance. A spoilt brat.” He said harshly. Celia took a few steps towards him, catching his gaze, forcing him to look into her eyes. She didn’t know where she had suddenly manufactured this new strength from. She had been afraid of Wilder, but not anymore. Now she had seen exactly what he was made of.
“You were rude to me. I can handle that. But cruelty towards my dying grandfather…” She said and before she could finish her sentence, Wilder had caught her mouth with his lips. His hands were on her waist again, he had pulled her close to himself and was kissing her, wildly, just like his name. She could feel the scratching of his coarse beard on her cheeks and Celia closed her eyes against the world, she could feel her knees buckling and her heart melting. She had wanted this from the first moment she saw him.
Chapter 4
Wilder was kissing her ferociously, like he had been waiting to kiss her all day. But she barely knew this man, and yet she couldn’t resist him. He was the man of her dreams. She could feel his tongue inside her mouth as he explored it. His hands were on her hips as he held her close, their bodies were pressing against each other.
He pulled away from her, leaving her breathless, and she said his name…Wilder…
“I’m sorry Celia.” She heard his soft heavy voice, while he was tugging his hand away from her. She grabbed him and pulled him to herself again.
“I want this. I want you now.” She said, holding his gaze, asserting herself. She wanted him to see just how much she wanted him. How she hadn’t wanted any man before like this. She hadn’t had anyone before him.
He was kissing her again. Her cheeks, her chin, his lips tracing her skin as he tasted her long pale neck. She arched her back to make space for him. When she opened her eyes, she could see the stars above her, it was night already, and they were all alone in the dark, with the lights from the house visible in the distance.
She felt his chest under her fingertips, and she was slowly undoing his buttons one by one. His shirt flapped open and revealed a strong wide chest. A light dusting of hair lined the middle and she ran her fingers through it.
Slowly she felt his fingers graze her thighs, lift up her dress up to her hips.
“Celia…” He breathed her name in her ears, then bit on her earlobe, taking it into his mouth gently and sucking it. Her fingernails dug into his flesh as she held him. He was making her wet. She had never felt this wet between her legs. The boys she had been with, whom she had kissed, whom she had allowed to touch her breasts…none of them had managed to make her feel like this. She hadn’t wanted to give her virginity to anybody before, not like she wanted to give it to this stranger.
His mouth found its way down her throat to the neck of her dress. He was tracing a wet line down her cleavage, dragging down the fabric with his teeth. She felt the cool night breeze against the flesh of her breasts as he pulled down her lace bra with his mouth. She moved against him, stuck to his hips, while his right hand softly touched the inside of her thigh.
“Wilder, take me now.” She said, with her eyes pressed close. She couldn’t bare it any more. She wanted to feel him against her, feel his hardness in her hands. She could feel the knots in her belly tightening. What was this feeling? An incredible urge to grind her hips against his, invite him in.
His hand found her blazing hot wetness. He stroked her and she winced. Nobody had touched her there before, but somehow this felt natural, like he had always been there, like his fingers had touched her center before. He slipped his forefinger in, slowly at first, his mouth still on her breast. Celia moved in his arms, bending backwards, enjoying the sensation of having a part of him inside her.