Worried with his wife's views about sex, and her refusal to let him please her the way a woman should be pleased, Karl refuses to give her the one thing she so desperately needs, which is a child. This sets him on a path to distract himself, leading him to an unlikely fellow, his first love.
She had tears in her eyes when she knelt before him and took him in her mouth. Karl knew her religion was against it, yet, he had let her go through with it. She used her lips just like he had told her to, but she did it with fear written on her face. No matter. Before the night was over, those tears would no longer linger when he showed her what she and her tribe had been missing.
Karl and his wife, Lexi, had been married for two months, and all that time, he had not had sex with her because of her view about sex.
Lexi was taught to believe that women were mares, meant to be mounted and ridden. "A horse," Lexi had said, "should feel the ache and pain of its riding, and the rider is to feel the pleasure."
"I guess you've never ridden a horse," Karl had said. "People normally get sores from riding horses, and since women aren't horses, they shouldn't be ridden like horses. They are beings of pleasure, meant to feel ecstasy, the shattering euphoria of climax, the point all should reach. They should be treated like glass, gentle to hold and feel, and consumed with pleasure like fire."
They had argued again and again about it, but Karl had stood by one argument. "If I can't give you multiple climaxes, then, I won't make love to you."
Karl had found that the sight of her naked always turned him on, stirring up an urge he usually found hard to extinguish. Save for the fact that Lexi was always shy to be naked around him, she also thought it unholy and totally avoided it.
Karl, half consumed with passion, looked down to see rivulets of tears run down Lexi's face. Then, he felt her pain and his passion died.
"Stop," Karl said. "Stop. I can't make love to you like this." He separated himself from her and used a sheet to cover her.
Lexi took to her feet sniffing. And with her face to the ground, she asked, "What did I do wrong?"
"What did you do wrong?" Karl asked, unbelieving that she had asked such. "You were crying like I was about to rape you. Why was that?"
"Rape would have been better," she said. "My mother said it's a man's way over a lady during times of war."
Karl laughed a little. "War? Rape? You think rape is better than this?"
Lexi nodded, still not looking at him with her face to the ground. She looked like a slave, and he hadn't married a slave.
"Look at me," Karl said gently. He walked up to her and held both of her shoulders and she flinched. "Look at me."
Lexi raised her eyes to look at his briefly, then she settled it just beneath his, enough for him to see the violet in her eyes.
"What do you fear?" Karl asked.
"I've told you before?" she said. "It's against my religion. If caught, I'll be killed."
"And what would happen to me?"
She shook her head. "Nothing. They would let you go. They would blame it on the woman. Eve was the cause of the fall of creation. The woman is dangerous. Give her little power and she would lust after more. She is not to be trusted."
Karl nodded. "Okay. Do you know when a man marries a woman, they literally become one?"
Lexi nodded.
"Then, if I'm married to you and we're one, why would they want to harm you separately, and spare me?"
"I don't-"
"Don't answer. Your people are naive. Your men are brash, and your women are suffering."
"Don't insult my people. They are good people. They-they-they help with-"
"I didn't mean to insult your people. I was simply telling the truth," Karl said. "Now, your father gave you to me. He wanted to give you for free, like something of no worth. I could see the glee on his face. He was pleased to be rid of you. I, however, wouldn't have you for free. I paid dowry bigger than anything that would be charged for the most expensive girl in your tribe. I did that because you hold value to me. Now, you're mine. Mine." Karl slightly shook his head. "And I'm not sharing you with anyone, not even your people. You're not the first woman I've been with, but you're the last I ever need, and I need you to understand that. I won't have any other lady except you, and if you fear your people so much, then, we can leave."
Karl saw the look of uncertainty on her face. He didn't know how else to convince her.
Lexi boldly looked him in the eye. "It's been two months. Two months. Usually, when a man takes a woman as his wife, he has her immediately, and in two months, she starts showing signs. I've seen how it is done. The chief sometimes has sex with his wife in the center of the village to show us how. Other men too. Have you seen this before?"
Karl had seen this barbaric practice countless times and he nodded. "I have," he said.
"Why not just take me like that?"
"Don't you see the women usually hurt, and sometimes bleed?"
"It's all part of the process. It's how it was meant to be."
Karl released her shoulder. "I guess that's why you came to me today. Because your mother asked if you're pregnant."
Lexi had shame written on her face as she lowered her gaze. "Yes. I'm not cursed. My people think I am."
"Well, if for any consolation, I don't think you're cursed either."
"I was willing to compromise."
"You had tears on your face," Karl said. "Aside from the fact that my people are more civilized than yours, I am a gentleman, and I can't force myself on you, or please you in a way you wouldn't like."
"I don't like all you've said we should try. It's not customary."
Karl curtly nodded. "Okay. When you're ready for me to really make love to you, let me know." He brought his lips to her forehead and kissed her there. "I'm going out with my men. I'll have your tent guarded so no one seeks your life, since that's what you fear."
And with that, Karl donned on his dress, and he walked out of the tent.
Tim is drawn to his alluring neighbor, Cynthia, whose charm ignites a spark during a rainy evening chat. A seemingly innocent exchange quickly escalates into charged texts and an invitation for cuddling. Unaware that Cynthia is married, Tim steps into her home, anticipating passion but walking straight into a web of illicit desires and dangerous secrets not knowing who really Cynthia is.
Right after his first encounter with The Secret, Grey enjoys the comfort of his home when he is called back to service to serve The Secret, a force he can't say no to. This time, she gives him various tales, like avenging the dead, and his favourite, looking after Helen.
After a sex filled night with a beautiful, strange lady, Elvin is torn between eagerness to say goodbye to this lady, and the desire to have one more feel of last night when the government declares a lockdown. He finds himself trapped inside his home with her, and just like him, she also wants more experiences like last night, although, through a series of games.
For ages, the harmless, resting form and grave of five sisters-a beautiful, tidy house has stayed silent, and undisturbed. Suddenly, this house is broken into by outlaws. There are set out conditions for humans to reside within this house, but unaware of the consequences if the rules are broken, and the powers that reside within the house, these outlaws cause further damage, thereby awakening the sleeping powers within the house. These powers, hungry, itchy, and thirsty, feast on these men and regain their strength. As they release themselves, and find their way out into the world, their new assignment becomes finding, stalking, and hunting those who buried them in here, locked them inside the house, and eventually turned them into the house, and their tone to man is one man deems unfair.
She is one who loves fiercely, but it always ends badly for her lovers. One boy upsets her pattern of love crisis, and she would rather leave him, than destroy him. However, there's more to this boy than she realizes.
"Miss Brown, I am the butler here at your service," the butler replied. "My master wants to buy the baby in your belly." "What?!" Does that mean the abortion didn't take place? Did they kidnap her from the operating table just to buy the baby? But why her? "You..." Alice was about to ask a question, but the man in front of her calmly continued, as if he had expected her question, "You're pregnant with his child, and he needs a child. That's all I can tell you." Alice was forced to sign a surrogacy contract and eight months later gave birth to two healthy babies. Fortunately, the man was unaware of her daughter's existence. It wasn't until five years later that fate brought them together again...
For three years, Shane and Yvonne were wed, sharing heated nights, while his devotion clung to his ex. Yvonne strove to be a dutiful wife, yet their marriage felt hollow, built on desire rather than real warmth. All changed when she became pregnant, only for Shane to thrust her onto the operating table, warning, “Either you or the baby survives!” Broken by his cruelty, she vanished in grief and later returned, radiantly accomplished, leaving everyone awestruck. Haunted by remorse, Shane begged for another chance, but Yvonne only smiled and replied, “I’m sorry, men no longer interest me.”
While Sienna reached the pinnacle of her success, Julian remained the forgotten son of his family, the one who had secretly stolen her first kiss in the shadows of the night. As Sienna hit her darkest moment, Julian returned home, leaving his life behind, only to witness her tears glistening in the moonlight as she reluctantly accepted another man's proposal. When Sienna needed Julian more than ever, he had risen to a position of power and had become her most steadfast pillar of support. "Please marry me." There was no one else in the world who could love Sienna as deeply as Julian did.
"You're my wife in name only, on paper only. My heart and love will never be yours." Edward made it clear to Daisy that she was nothing to him. They were both victims of family greed -- the marriage was arranged for them. Six years passed. She remained quiet, gaining a reputation in the army as a tough-as-nails colonel. When she walked into his life again, Edward fell in love with this woman, unlike any he had known. She surprised and delighted him. But will Daisy take him back? Can their son keep them together? Can the rift between them be healed? Pick this one up and find out!
The dream of everyone with regards to marriage is to be able to find that special someone and settle down with them. Even arranged marriages grant you an opportunity to meet your partner briefly before the wedding. How will you feel about waking up in the morning with someone sleeping next to you who is not just anyone but your legally married partner yet with no memory of how that had happened in just a few hours of going out the previous day? This is the story of Jason Haward and Julia Harrison, two strangers trapped in a marriage they never planned. The quest to find out why led to the unfolding of a mystery which made them realize they are both living a lie. To find out more, read this amazing story of love, betrayal, revenge and murder.
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"