Chapter 6 Chapter Six

My heart hammered against my ribs as I yanked my nightgown down, the fabric clinging to my sweat-damp skin. Malachir’s thick cum still leaked steadily down my inner thighs, warm and sticky, a constant reminder of how thoroughly he had claimed me just moments ago. I could feel it with every shaky step, trickling like a secret I couldn’t hide. The note from Eleanor burned in my pocket like a brand. If you hear him speak your name, do not answer. Too late for that.

“Ruby?” Ellis’s voice echoed again, closer now, drifting down the stone stairs that led to the chapel basement. There was a note of something in it… concern? Suspicion? I couldn’t tell. My husband’s footsteps were measured, careful, as if he knew these halls held dangers he refused to name.

I wiped frantically at my thighs with the hem of my gown, but it only smeared the evidence. The scent of incense and ash clung to me, mixing with the musky proof of what I had done. Panic clawed up my throat. If Ellis found me here like this, he would know. Or worse, the house would make sure he did.

“I’m here,” I called back, my voice steadier than I felt. I smoothed my hair and stepped out from the shadows of the abandoned room, forcing my legs to move despite the delicious ache between them. Every brush of fabric against my swollen pussy sent a fresh spark of remembered pleasure through me. Malachir’s ridges. His heat. The way he had made me scream things no wife should utter.

Ellis appeared at the bottom of the stairs, lantern in hand. The light cast sharp angles across his handsome but severe face. His dark grey eyes scanned me slowly, lingering on my disheveled gown and the faint sheen of sweat on my collarbone. “What are you doing down here? I told you the chapel area isn’t safe at night.”

I swallowed hard, praying the dim light hid the flush on my cheeks. “I… couldn’t sleep. The storm earlier kept me awake, and I thought exploring might clear my head.” The lie tasted bitter, especially with Malachir’s cum still warming my core.

Ellis stepped closer. A bit too close. His gaze dropped to my legs for a fraction of a second, and I wondered if he could smell it… the demon on me. “You look… unsettled. Did something happen?”

Before I could answer, Malachir’s voice slithered into my ear, soft and mocking, for me alone. “Tell him the truth, little whore. Tell him how my cock stretched that greedy cunt better than his ever could. How you’re still dripping my seed while you lie to his face.”

A shiver ran through me and my clit throbbed. I pressed my thighs together, fighting the urge to moan. Ellis’s brow furrowed deeper. “Ruby?”

“Nothing,” I whispered, forcing a weak smile. “Just the old house playing tricks on my mind. The portraits upstairs… they feel like they’re watching.”

He studied me for a long moment, something unreadable flickering in his eyes. Was that fear? Guilt? For the first time, I wondered if my cold husband carried heavier burdens than I realized. “Come back upstairs,” he said finally, offering his arm. “It’s late. You shouldn’t be wandering alone.”

I took his arm, the touch polite and distant as always. As we climbed the stairs, Malachir continued his torment. “Feel him beside you… so proper, so empty. While my cum leaks down your legs with every step. You’ll come back to me tomorrow, won’t you? Your body already craves it.”

The walk back to our bedroom felt endless. Ellis said little, only the occasional comment about the estate’s history or tomorrow’s plans. His voice was calm, but his grip on my arm tightened slightly when we passed the locked east wing door. I wanted to ask him about Eleanor right there, to demand the truth. But the note in my pocket and Malachir’s warning held my tongue.

In our bed, Ellis turned away from me almost immediately, his back a wall of silence. I lay awake for hours, the ache between my legs refusing to fade. Malachir didn’t return in full force, but his presence lingered like a shadow, subtle brushes against my nipples, a phantom tongue flicking my clit just enough to keep me on edge without relief. Slow. Deliberate. A slow burn that left me tossing and turning, thighs slick, mind racing with questions about Eleanor and the binding I could feel tightening around my soul.

The next morning brought wasn’t peaceful. Breakfast was another exercise in torment. Ellis sat across from me again, reading correspondence while I picked at my food. Malachir’s voice returned stronger, describing in vivid, filthy detail how he would bend me over the table and fuck me raw if Ellis weren’t there. “Imagine it,” he purred. “My ridged cock slamming into you while your husband sips his coffee, oblivious to what a desperate demon’s whore his wife has become.”

I nearly dropped my cup. Heat pooled low in my belly. Ellis glanced up. “You’re quiet today. Is everything alright?”

I nodded quickly. “Just thinking about the house. It has so much history. Mrs. Graves mentioned… a previous Lady. Eleanor?”

The name landed like a stone in still water. Ellis’s fork paused mid-air. His knuckles whitened around the handle. For a split second, raw pain flashed across his face before the mask of politeness returned. “An unfortunate chapter. She… left. It’s not something I discuss.”

Left. The word felt like a lie. I wanted to push, but Malachir’s laughter filled my head. “Careful, Ruby. Some doors, once opened, cannot close. Ask him about the rituals he performs in the east wing. Or better yet, come find me tonight and I’ll make you forget all your questions with my cock buried deep.”

The day stretched into a haze of suspenseful discovery. I returned to the library, heart pounding as I searched deeper. Dust-coated volumes yielded fragments: references to “the bound one beneath the altar” and failed exorcisms across generations of Hargrove brides. One entry mentioned a woman who “heard the voice and answered… becoming one with the stone.” My hands trembled as I read it. Was that Eleanor’s fate? Was it mine?

Mrs. Graves found me again, her pity deeper this time. “You’ve got that look about you,” she whispered. “The same as Lady Eleanor before she stopped coming out of her rooms. Be careful what you listen to, child. The house listens back.”

Her words chilled me, but they also fueled a strange determination. That afternoon, while Ellis was away on estate business, I ventured closer to the east wing. The door was locked, but as I pressed my ear against the wood, I heard faint chanting… Ellis’s voice? Low, rhythmic, almost desperate. The air grew colder, and for a moment, I swore I heard a woman’s faint sob mixed with it.

Malachir’s presence surged then, not fully manifesting but enough to pin me gently against the wall in the corridor. Invisible hands roamed my body and cupping my breasts, pinching my nipples, sliding between my legs to tease my slick folds without letting me cum. “Naughty girl, snooping where you shouldn’t,” he whispered. “This is what curiosity gets you. Edged and aching until you come crawling back to me.”

I bit back a moan, hips grinding uselessly against nothing. The slow burn was torture… pleasure building, cresting, then denied. “Please…” I whimpered under my breath.

“Not yet,” he taunted. “Suffer a little longer. Think of me while your husband pretends everything is normal. Tonight, if you’re good, I’ll reward this greedy cunt properly.”

The sensation faded as footsteps approached. I straightened just as Ellis rounded the corner, his expression darkening when he saw me near the east wing. “Ruby. I thought I made myself clear about this area.”

“I was just curious,” I said, voice hoarse. He stepped close, searching my face. For the first time, his hand lingered on my arm, not cold, but almost protective. “There are things in this house that want to take you from me,” he murmured, so quietly I almost missed it. “I won’t let that happen again.”

His words hung between us, heavy with unspoken history. That night, as Ellis slept beside me once more, Malachir’s slow teasing resumed. Soft caresses. Whispers of all the ways he would ruin me. The pull toward the chapel grew stronger, even as Eleanor’s warning echoed in my mind and Ellis’s rare vulnerability planted seeds of doubt.

I was trapped between two men, one who offered everything I craved in the dark, and one who might be the only one who could save me from it. The house watched. And it was only getting started.