In her bedroom, Karenina now sat in front of the mirror. Two maids were sent to her bedroom to help Karenina with her dress and makeup, probably unaware of why they were told to do it.
She had stopped sobbing and bit her lip so hard, it bled. She smiled bitterly and asked herself why she was doing this… but she no longer found the strength to stop.
Too much of her time and effort was wasted on Nicholas and if she turned back now, there really was nothing left. Was it self-sabotage to see it through the end? She no longer cared.
After they finished with Karenina's dress and makeup, the two maids left, leaving Karenina, who now sat and looked blankly at her reflection in the mirror.
"Is this really what's going to amount to my life?" she whispered to herself.
Not long after, tears welled up in her eyes again, and she began to sob. However, a few moments later, she stopped crying and wiped her tears. After that, she walked to a table.
At the table, she had prepared three bottles of wine. She planned to get herself drunk so she wouldn't be able to remember the events that would happen tonight.
She began to take one by one bottle and drank all the contents. Not a moment later, the drink had made her drunk.
Karenina was still drinking when the man her father sent opened the door and entered the room. With her eyes slightly blurred, she saw a brown-haired man walking towards her, but before long, she saw the man as King Nicholas Hannenbergh.
She started hallucinating and immediately wrapped her arms around the man's neck.
"Nicholas… you've made me wait so long," she said, caressing the man's cheek, and the man smiled.
"This is the first time you smile so sweetly at me. I'm very happy," Karenina said.
She still saw the man in front of her as Nicholas. Her brain had tricked her mind into thinking that the man before her was Nicholas, the man she loved.
"I am sorry to keep you waiting..." the man said. "What can I do to make it up to you?"
"Well..." Karenina smiled broadly, her eyes watered and she cupped the man's face with both hands, then tip-toed to give him a kiss.
The man chuckled. He kissed her back. He felt so lucky because the Viscount hired her to do a very important job and paid him handsomely. He didn't know the woman he had to have sex with was the viscount's daughter herself.
He knew Karenina was so beautiful and she was supposed to marry the king. He didn't know the story and what made them resort to this scheme, but he didn't care as long as he could reap a benefit.
The man began to do his job. He put his arms around Karenina's hips and caressed them. She was melted by his touch and started to squirm.
Her sobs had now changed to sexy moans. The fake Nicholas grinned. He could feel his pants tighten and his desire went through the roof. He raised a hand and pinched her chin. He kissed her on the lips again, this time more passionately.
Karenina welcomed his lips excitedly and returned the kiss. She thought it was the king who kissed her, the man she loved so much.
The man started to take off his clothes and Karenina's clothes.
"Make me yours, Nicholas," said Karenina and hugged the man tightly. She was very happy in her hallucinations.
The man carried Karenina to the bed and started to enjoy the girl's body greedily, while Karenina just closed her eyes, enjoying everything that happened. Every now and then, she winced in pain but at the same time, her body was shivering with joy.
In her mind, she was currently making love to the king.
***
Sophie curled up in Leland's arms while the man spooned her from behind. They were sleeping naked under the stars, as she wished. It was amazing. She could feel the wind on her skin. It was amazing.
It didn't feel cold at all because her mate's body warmed her up. He would even shift into his wolf form near dawn when it was the coldest so she could feel the warmth from his fur.
This was the second night they slept outside under the stars. They would make love sweetly, lay down on the fur, and watched the night sky, talking about trivial things.
In such a short time, she felt so much closer to Leland than they had ever been in their six years together.
Maybe he just needed that push to open up? She assumed that much. He knew so many things and when he spoke about the stars, the trees, the temperature, the desert, the rivers, places he had visited, Sophie could only listen in awe.
When he realized how much she loved listening to his voice, talking about whatever he had in mind, Leland tried to make words out of his thoughts and spoke more. He still struggled to express his feelings properly, but at least he could share information.
"Leland," Sophie turned her body around and faced Leland. She touched his cheek with one hand and observed the big scar on his face.
His injuries had recovered by now, but surprisingly some of the wounds left ugly scars on his body. She thought this was unusual since normally they were healed completely.
She wondered if it had something to do with who his opponent was. Maybe if they were both equally formidable, the damages caused by their attacks would leave marks like this.
She wanted to ask the question but decided against it because she didn't want him to think she was superficial and cared about looks. Didn't she marry him when she thought he was ugly and deformed?
After six months of being in a 'contract marriage', she started falling for him despite his looks and finally decided to ask him to make their marriage work.
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