Read Sinderella for Free Online Page B

noise and grunting . For whatever strange reason, I liked it.
    I liked it all.
    I pushed against the wall and crawled his shoulders with my toes until it happened. Sounds left my lips but I didn't know them. My body tensed everywhere at once, cramping in my legs even, but the explosion was everywhere. I gripped to the bed behind me and cried out as the last of the shuddering left me. He must have had the same experience as me. He made similar sounds and collapsed on top of me, like he might die any moment.
    He said something but I didn’t understand it. My ears were ringing and my own breath was too hoarse. I clung to him, not wanting him to move for fear it wasn't real. I was filled with emotions. I didn't even know them all.
    He shook his head when he caught his breath. “Now you must marry me.”
    Hot tears slipped from my eyes. I was about to just tell him what I really was, and damn myself to being shamed and possibly executed, but the first strike of the clock caught my ears.
    I jerked back and looked at the window. “What time is it?”
    He kissed my neck. “I don't know, perhaps midnight.”
    My mask, dress, and shoes would all change back to the dirty peasant girl’s. I pushed on his chest. “I need to get up.”
    He rolled off of me. “First you must tell me that you forgive me for all of that, milady. I don't think I have ever done anything so scandalous to a lady. Please. I was caught up in the moment, but I am sincere in my feelings for you. I will speak to my father tonight and have your engagement called off.”
    I ignored him and his ramblings as I wriggled to the edge of the bed to escape. I scooped up my dress and pulled it over my head. I didn't bother with my skirts or undergarments. It wouldn't matter in a few seconds anyway. The chiming of the clock was all I heard.
    I grabbed my single shoe and looked down on his beautiful naked body sprawled across the bed. I forced myself to remember every curve, every detail before whispering, “You may still say that you have never committed such an act upon a lady, Sire. For I am no lady.” I turned and fled the small cottage.
    “WAIT! I DIDN’T CATCH YOUR NAME!”
    I ran into the woods, completely disoriented by where I was going. I ran until I met the road. The night was filled with the chiming of the clock tower, the shouting of my prince calling for me, and the party I was fleeing.
    Sobs ripped from me as I stumbled along the road. When the magic wore off, my shoes appeared on my feet and my dress was exactly as it had been before. The wetness between my thighs and the single crystal shoe in my hand were all that was left of my night.

 
 
 
 

Chapter Five

 
    My feet stung as the night gave way to morning and I stumbled into my house. Abbi was preparing the breakfast bread. She stopped mid-knead and sighed. “You were thrown from the horse and got lost?”
    I shook my head. “You would not believe me if I tried to retell the tale. Just trust me, I have had the best and worst night of my life. I am resigned to marry Duke Grey. I have lived enough for one night to last all the nights.”
    Her eyes twinkled. “You went to the ball?”
    I nodded. “I went to the ball. And I danced with the prince and I gave him my virtue and I saw my mother. And all of it has convinced me, there is something neither the evil old duke nor Drusilla can ever take from me—my heart. It belongs to someone now. Someone who would marry me if I were a lady. But I am not, so I left before he could figure out who I was.”
    Abbi looked worried. “You gave him your virtue?”
    I smiled peacefully. “I did, and it was wonderful. All of it, well except when I had to run out.”
    Her face darkened. “They will kill you for betraying the duke.”
    I shook my head. “He won’t know. He has tested me already.”
    She sighed. “Oh, Ella. That was a mistake.”
    “What will they do? Murder me? What do I care about the rest of my life, knowing it will be spent as the