Chapter Thirty: Spiders

Sadly, this was not a nightmare...this was far worse...

Regan awoke the next morning with her head pounding and her stomach hollow. Pale sunlight was streaming through the windows, lighting the whole room and making her squint. She was still plastered to the edge of the bed and thankfully Lucius had not crawled over to join her. He was still lightly snoring, giving Regan a moment to herself. He lower body was throbbing; she felt almost numb. She could barely bring herself to move, so she remained still out of pain...and the fear of waking Lucius.

Said man, who had snorted himself awake, stretched out his limbs to pull Regan against his chest and spoon her. Regan thought about feigning sleep, but he saw her glance down at her face and smirk.

"Why so far away, darling?" He murmured against her ear as he made himself comfortable against her body. Regan fidgeted, pushing away the thought that he was still naked. It was bothering her, as if a million spiders were crawling underneath her skin.

"I must have just settled this way," she innocently told him. "When I fell asleep I was right next to you." She could literally feel him smirking and it made her stomach churn.

"I hope that you're not too sore."

Oh God…

"Just a little," she answered sheepishly, knowing that's what he wanted to hear. He kissed her ear before gently biting down on the lobe.

"Would you like to join me for a shower?" He asked, pressing against her as if to state that there would be little bathing involved. Regan pushed herself up, yawning and glancing back at him.

"You want to again? You just had me last night." Lucius chuckled, his hands smoothing across the skin of her thigh.

"I want to have you as often as I can…and this actually brings up something that I've been meaning to discuss with you. Would you be opposed to getting pregnant soon?"

Regan almost gagged at the suggestion. Of course she would never actually want to have his child, and the perfume would ensure that would never happen, but she couldn't let him know that. So she just smiled and told him that nothing would make her happier than to get pregnant as soon as possible. That was apparently the wrong thing to say because the next thing she knew, Regan was on her back with her legs forcefully spread. He was faster than he had been last night and when he had finished, he kissed her before excusing himself to go and shower. Regan grimaced, hoping to have time to clean herself, but that would look suspicious to Lucius and she refused to join him in the shower. Using the tissues at her bedside, she did what she could before leaving to find Astoria. It didn't take her long; she was downstairs in the family room with Scorpio gently napping in her lap.

"Good morning," Astoria greeted as Regan took a seat next to her on the plush couch. "How do you feel?" She asked over the low volume of the TV.

"Strange…it's difficult to grasp the fact that I'm married."

"I know what you mean," Astoria said. "I felt the same way after my first night with Draco, but we were married under different circumstances…would you like me to ring for breakfast?" Regan nodded despite the fact that she actually wasn't hungry.

Maybe some food would perk up her mood.

The chef must have been thinking the same thing Regan decided when the food arrived. She was presented with a stack of chocolate chip banana pancakes with a freshly opened jar of peanut butter. She ate on the couch beside Astoria, lazily smearing the breakfast treat with the smooth peanut butter and eating it like a taco. She was glad for the quiet, but grimaced when a story about her wedding was splayed across the screen. She felt so disconnected from the whole thing, completely shocked that she had managed to play her part so perfectly. She watched intently, eating as news casters gushed about the dress and the flowers as if this was actual news. Her morning was going just find until Lucius decided to ruin it.

"So this is where you ran off to." He said as he breezed into the room, dressed as casually as he could probably muster with black slacks, a white dress shirt, and a fitted black vest. He leaned down and aggressively kissed her, which caused Astoria to instantly look away. "You taste so sweet," he muttered after tasting the chocolate on her lips. "Having a good breakfast?" He asked, eyeing the two remaining pancakes on her plate. She nodded with a wide smile, making Lucius chuckle. "Good, now sorry to say, but I just have a few move things to finish up before we leave tomorrow, so I'll see you at dinner, all right?" Regan nodded, thankful that she would be rid of him for the whole day.

But then, an alarming thought struck her. Lucius was extremely close to claiming the Swedish government peacefully, which was obvious since the Swedish Ambassador had attended their wedding. Her only purpose was to keep Lucius from doing his job by whatever means necessary.

"Lucius, please wait." Regan called out, inwardly cringing at what she was about to suggest. "Why can't we leave today? I mean, whatever you're working on can't be more important than spending time with me, can it?" She innocently asked, quirking her head to the side. Astoria raised an eyebrow when she saw that Lucius was actually in turmoil over his answer. She was impressed by Regan's surprising acting skills.

"But…it won't take me but a few hours, and then we can leave early tomorrow morning." Regan instantly pouted.

"I was so looking forward to spending time with you." She said, sadly sliding down on the couch and turning back towards the TV. Lucius was panicked, fearing that he might be losing the favor of his new wife.

"Of course I can put it off." He quickly said, though Regan knew that he couldn't afford to. "We'll leave after lunch; I'll have our things packed right away." He strode out of the room, calling for the first servant he saw and giving them a long string of orders. Regan sank back down into the couch, smiling to herself as she stuffed her final pancake into her mouth.

"Very nice," Astoria commented. "He's never been that nice to anybody that I can remember, at least in front of another person."

"Apparently I have a gift for making men do whatever I want." She said, crossing her legs and sighing when real news came back onto the screen.

"Use that power to your advantage." Astoria said, giving her a huge smile, but it hid something much darker and an emotion that she would rather not acknowledge. Regan leaned back, her eyes focused on the TV.

"Believe me, I plan to."

Their honeymoon was awful, just as Regan had expected it to be. Every waking moment was spent with Lucius, who clearly enjoyed every second of it. He kept getting her naked, fucking her at the most inappropriate of times. There were moments when Regan was sure that she would simply break, but she seemed to just cave in on herself and draw further away from the world. She heard nothing from Draco or Astoria for a month, so obviously she heard nothing from Charlie or the others. She would have given anything for an encouraging note from anybody, but there was nothing…all she had was Lucius.

Speaking of the man, he was growing quite concerned. Lucius was not stupid; he saw that something was wrong with his young wife. While she would smile and submit to him whenever he wanted, he noticed that she always closed her eyes whenever they were intimate. She would turn her head away or bury her face in a pillow. He also had difficulties encouraging her to be...excited. He was always the one to instigate; she never touched him unless he touched her first. This pattern continued after they had returned from their honeymoon; he began to panic whenever he sat down at his desk every morning and watch her wander away to some isolated part of the manor.

Was she already starting to lose interest in him?

Was his lifestyle not enough to satisfy her?

At first he was angry at her for acting so aloof, but then he drew back his anger and began to reconsider the situation. As her husband, Lucius needed to keep his new wife happy. So, he needed to put in some effort and perhaps his work would need to suffer in order for him to build a strong relationship with his wife. And the more time they spent together, the sooner that she would become pregnant.

Speaking of which…

"I don't understand it," Lucius muttered as he stared at the back of his wife's head. He was reclining in their large bed while she sat at her vanity, mindlessly brushing her hair. "We've been together every night and you still have yet to conceive." Regan sighed, gently setting down her brush and tossing back her red mane of hair.

"I'm so sorry dear," she answered innocently. "I'm not sure what more I could do." Lucius gently smiled, motioning for her to come to bed. She did as he wanted her to, watching her soft body settle beside him and climb under the comforter.

"I'm sure that it's nothing to worry about, but just to be safe I'll have you examined by my personal physician." Regan furrowed her brow as Lucius leaned close to her.

"A doctor?" She asked before he could kiss her. "Why?"

"Well I just want to make sure that you're healthy and if you're not well, then we can treat you properly." He explained to her sweetly. He then kissed her, his hands moving down her side to reach back and palm her ass. She whimpered and Lucius pulled back, staring down at her curiously. "Is something troubling you, my dear?" Regan sighed, resting back against her soft pillow.

"Lucius…I don't really like the idea of another man touching me." She told him, staring up at him with innocent eyes. Her argument appealed to him instantly and Regan was quietly thankful. She didn't want a doctor examining her because she was afraid that he would somehow discover her secret perfume. She needed Lucius to believe that the just hadn't been able to get pregnant yet. This just had to go on for another three months; then the cavalry would arrive and things would finally end. She was eager for the end to come, mostly because then she could stop sleeping with Lucius. It had become a bother lately because Lucius had begun insisting on facing her during sex.

Just like now, when he climbed on top of her, she knew that she had little choice. He liked kissing her and touching her, all the while trying to encourage her to enjoy it. But the position and situation reminded her too much of Oskar, so she had to close her eyes despite Lucius's plea to look at him. She knew that it wouldn't matter whether or not she did; he would finish either way. And he did, giving her one final kiss before he rolled over and fell asleep. When Regan was sure that he was out, she went straight to the bathroom to clean the mess between her thighs. She didn't dare to look down, cleaning away all traces of Lucius. She hated the smell of sex; it made her gag. Regan wasn't sure that she would ever be able to have normal human contact after this, but as long as Lucius died she was fine with it.

...

A/N: So I'm making a big move to L.A. some time in the next few weeks :) I'm super stoked, but very nervous. If you live in the area, shoot me a message; help me figure out the crazy city.

Ripley: I assure you, I didn't really enjoy writing it...

FP: Thank you for reading and reviewing, I really appreciate it! I'm glad that you're enjoying the story and I hope that you keep reading.

Dragoon Dave: Thank you! I only aim to please ;)