UNLOCKING A TRUTH

Annabelle's eyes opened as the sun shone outside her castle. His eyes glanced at the window, and it seemed that he and the Duke had woken up very late this morning. Annabelle felt regular breaths brush the top of her head. Her waist felt heavy because of her husband's strong arms wrapped around possessively all night long, without letting go of anything.

His nose felt Albert's scent that tickled and felt so masculine. Annabelle's cheeks could feel the pulse in Albert's neck. He pulled his hand away and pulled the blanket that covered him to his chest, protecting their bodies from the chilling cold.

As her eyes looked down, Annabelle's heart skipped a beat. Last night she didn't pay much attention to her husband's exposed body because it was filled with passion, now she could stare at his husband's broad chest, overgrown with thin hair that disappeared in his muscular belly.

Her husband's hands were so firm, his muscles hardened there. How can there be a man who has such a perfect body? Annabelle thought.

"Are you admiring me, my wife?"

Deg

The sound made Annabelle's body freeze. It was like a thief being caught. Annabelle immediately hid her hot face in her husband's chest.

"Since when did you wake up?" Annabelle asked.

"Before you opened your eyes, I was already awake," Albert replied.

"Is it true? Why are you silent?"

"I want to know your reaction. I know this is your first time."

"What do you mean?" Annabelle's body instantly froze. How could Albert know if this was his first time? Was what he did last night really amateurish?

"Does it really hurt?" Albert didn't answer Annabelle's question, but instead asked back.

Annabelle immediately sat up, covering her chest with the blanket. He endured the pain in his core. "Listen Albert, I don't do it often, so I'm still not very experienced at it, but believe me last night wasn't my first."

Albert wanted to laugh at his wife's lies. He didn't even know if a man could feel it. "Is it true that last night wasn't your first? Then with whom did you do it first? Is it with a noble too?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we change to another topic?"

"You don't want to talk about it or don't know what to say?" teased Albert.

"I'd better get up now, it's too late," replied Annabelle trying to escape, but Albert restrained his wife's body.

"We're not done talking yet, My Lady. Whatever you are hiding from me, you must tell me right now."

Not yet understanding what Albert was saying, Annabelle was already startled by her husband, when he suddenly opened the thick blanket covering the two of them. The cold air immediately swept across Annabelle's body, making Annabelle's body suddenly shiver.

Annabelle's eyes went wide when she saw Albert's stingless eyes that had been covered by the blanket, her face heating up and blushing with embarrassment. She wanted to close her eyes, but Annabelle was afraid to make Albert suspicious. A woman who has experience with a man, cannot cover her face when she sees a man's.

Albert's hand grabbed Annabelle's hand and cupped his wife's fingers over hers. Something hot, hard and soft, Annabelle could feel in the palm of her hand.

"Albert, what are you doing?" Annabelle asked nervously.

"You even look very nervous, My Lady. Don't lie to me again, because I can feel it when I unite mine into yours. And one more..."

Suddenly Albert carried Annabelle into his lap, then looked at the place where Annabelle had been lying there. Albert's eyes stared at the bedsheet there with a look of pride and satisfaction. Annabelle, who followed the direction of Albert's gaze, immediately went wide, she screamed in surprise as she covered her mouth with both hands.

Annabelle immediately tried to get off Albert's lap and wanted to cover up what she saw. A smudge colored red, forming a pattern like an island on a map, was clearly imprinted on the white sheets of their bed. Annabelle realized that she couldn't dodge anymore, her face red with embarrassment.

"Albert let me go, I'll clean it up," Annabelle said rebelliously on Albert's confession, but Albert held her body tightly.

"So are you still willing to lie with such strong evidence?"

"I… that… I didn't know that in the first place, there would be evidence like this."

"You are too innocent, My Lady. Behind your wild attitude, it turns out that you really are an innocent woman. I imagine how if you are experienced with it, I'm sure our nights will never be boring. Your curiosity, your bravery and your wildness, will be the perfect combination to make our night even hotter," said Albert with a smile filled with satisfaction.

Albert's provocative words warmed Annabelle's core, but she tried to contain the excitement. "I'm sorry, My Lord. I didn't mean to lie to you. I have to protect someone."

"I forgive you if you tell me what happened?" said Albert.

"This is about my cousin, he was betrothed by his parents, but he refused. He tried to avoid the matchmaking. My cousin has a friend, they are very close. I'm guessing, if they like each other. One night, everyone was in an uproar because my cousin disappeared, we looked for him and found him sleeping with his close friend."

"Then what happened, why did you admit it?" asked Albert.

"My uncle took his daughter out secretly that night, he didn't want everyone to know that his daughter was tainted. He put it on a black hood and took it out through the back door. Uncle also told the man who slept with my cousin to keep quiet, threatening him to sue him in parliament. We thought everything was safe, but someone saw Uncle take someone from the house."

Annabelle paused as she recounted the memory. He sighed and continued his story.

"The marriage was in danger of being annulled because rumors circulated very quickly. My cousin is not the strong type of woman, she is very fragile, sensitive and innocent. The gossip made him depressed, he did not realize if what he did, would make his life full of scandals. She doesn't care about her marriage, but she is bothered by the gossip, her soul is very fragile. That's when I could not bear to see my cousin. He's very nice, just took the wrong path. His future should not be damaged because of that mistake. So, I whispered to some famous people with big mouths, admitting that I was the black hood. The woman Uncle brought out of the house of a man who was not her husband. The gossip quickly spread, my cousin's gossip was finally forgotten, and he was able to continue his marriage."

"Why did you destroy your own future?"

"I didn't destroy it, isn't my future bright with you? I'm a duchess now," Annabelle argued.

"What if I reject you, who would marry a tainted woman like you."

"Before the estate was in trouble, and my Dad was in debt with Lord Falkner, I didn't really think much of a marriage. I'm just a woman who likes to wander in the forest, not prepared to marry someone from the kingdom or nobles. Unlike my cousin, from a young age he was always invited to the kingdom, knew the manners of satun and was prepared to marry someone from the kingdom. When Lord Falkner came and said that Dad died with a huge debt, Griselda gave me a suggestion to tempt you so that we could pay off our debt, but I got the wrong person," Annabelle explained.

"And the next story, I already know. Because in the end you no longer care about your goal of seducing Albert Louis, but are seduced by Simon's handsome and charming charms."

"Albert stop! You embarrass me," Annabelle said, smacking her husband's exposed chest.

Albert quickly hugged Annabelle's body, Albert's eyes looked at his very beautiful wife. Her golden hair fell on her white shoulders and seemed to glow when the sunlight hit her. A tinge of red on her cheekbones, adding to her beauty.

Albert's embrace made Annabelle's hill squeezed against her husband's hot and tough chest, Annabelle's breath caught in his closeness. Their skin was in direct contact without any barrier. Even Annabelle felt something harden beneath her.

"What is that?" Annabelle asked frozen, as something poked her lower body.

"Don't move, My Lady. I was controlling my body from entering you this morning. Leave it like this! I know you are still sick because of our activities last night, I will ask the maid to prepare spices and potions to reduce your pain, but before that, let me taste your sweet lips," said Albert who had quickly crushed Annabelle's lips.

***