I was exhausted but, at the same time, keyed up. Tonight was a night like none before, and it was my wedding night. I was not so tired that I forgot what that meant. My virginity might be gone. The memory of his fist moving inside of me as he fucked my pussy and strummed my clit made my insides clench in anticipation for tonight. As he led me up the staircase to a bedroom, one that was not my childhood room, the fluttering of my anxiety crept back into my mind.
In one of the guest suites my father kept for friends, Gaven quietly shut the door and turned to me. In the dark, dimly lit room, his eyes scoured my body. I was flushed, as if I'd had too many glasses of champagne—champagne that I had certainly had my fair share of. I honestly could have gone for a whole new bottle at this moment too.
I had done it—I’d married Gaven Belmonte. I was now his wife. His property. I could only hope that, given time, he and I could learn to be something other than two souls fighting for dominance.
"You looked exquisite tonight." Gaven's low voice was gruff and electrifying.
I inhaled sharply. "Thank you.”
He took one step forward, and I jerked my gaze up to his. Another step and another and another until he stood right before me. With the backs of my legs pressed to the four-poster bed, I felt the heat of him against my front. Goosebumps rose along the bare skin of my shoulders and neck, and my eyelids lowered until I saw nothing and only felt the way Gaven's chest brushed against mine.
“So…” I swallowed roughly. “What does this mean now?” I asked.
He chuckled. A masculine hand lifted and drifted halfway down my arm before circling to my back. “What does it mean?” he repeated my question before shaking his head. Gaven's lips touched my neck, and I gasped, tilting my head automatically as his kiss moved to the thrumming pulse of my throat once more.
“It means you’re mine, Angel.”
“And you?” I prompted him, pressing for more. I was curious. “Does that mean you’re mine too?” It was a daring question.What mobster would ever allow himself to be claimed?
His fingers latched onto the first button and began to undo it. Less than halfway down, however, I could sense his mounting frustration. I found myself smiling. Maybe he was a tormentor, but I liked to give back a little torture of my own, even if it was only in small doses. “Yes,” he answered, and with a grunt, he gripped the sides of the back of my dress and ripped them clean apart. I gasped. “I’m yours, wife,” he continued. “I am not a manwho needs outside entertainment. I can assure you that as soon as you have my heir, you will be allowed more freedom.”
“What kind…” I began breathily as cool, fresh air touched my naked back. “What kind of freedom?”
“You want to go to college?” It was the carrot dangled in front of the horse.
“You’ll let me?” I asked.
“I would give my Angel anything she desires,” Gaven replied as his hand moved further and further down my back, parting the fabric. He didn't stop—not until the dress was gaping open and the sleeves fell over my arms. Then it slid down my body and pooled on the floor, and I was left naked save for the silky and lacy white lingerie accompanying my wedding ensemble.
“Anything I desire…” That sounded far too good to be true coming from a man like him.
“You give me what I want,” Gaven replied, his eyes locked on my form, “and I will ensure you get something you want.”
A breath of air puffed over my face. I slid my gaze upward. Gaven's attention was locked on my naked breasts. On the soft skin of my stomach, and then he dragged his focus lower. To the triangle of fabric between my legs.
Why the hell was I so nervous?He'd already seen me there. He had touched me there. Licked me. Shoved his fist into my pussy. Brought me to a screaming orgasm, and it was my hope that he would do it all over again before the night was done. If I was going to get anything out of this marriage, if I was going to be forced to bear his child, then the least he could do was make the act pleasurable.
When he didn’t move, though, I found my hands drifting up to the buttons lining his chest. I undid the first one and moved to the second. I was halfway down the shirt when he seemed to realize what I was doing.
“Angel…” His voice was rough, as if he was struggling to speak.
“Like you said…” I swept my hands down the front of his shirt. “We’re married now, and you want something from me. We might as well get to it, don’t you think? Why don’t you kiss me?”
“I’m going to do so much more than kiss you, darling,” he said, his eyes turning hard as he reached up and jerked the bottom of his shirt out from where it was tucked into the top of his slacks. A flush rose against my skin—heat licking across every inch of me. Gaven dragged his suit coat off and then quickly pushed my hands aside to finish unbuttoning his shirt as well. The fabric parted, revealing his broad, muscled, and scarred chest.
My hands hovered over his skin. With an amused chuckle, Gaven pulled my palms toward him. “You can touch me, love,” he said. “You’re allowed to touch yourhusband.”
My husband.The words were foreign but no less true. This was reality. This had really happened. I was eighteen, and I was married—to a man I hardly knew. To a man eighteen years my senior. Right now, that didn’t seem to matter so much. Not even when he left my hands on his skin and reached beneath my wrists to unbutton the top of his slacks.
His eyes never left mine as he unzipped and freed himself, letting his pants fall to the floor to join my dress. “There are some things you should know, Angel,” he said as my eyes descended to his thick length, jutting out from between his legs. I’d seen it before, of course. I’d had my lips wrapped around that monstrous cock of his. Although right now, I felt a little faint knowing it was about to go somewhere other than beyond my lips. I shouldn’t have been nervous. After all, he’d already done far worse, but this felt … different. Almost like crossing the point of no return.
“What kind of things?” I asked.
“I like my sex a little … different,” he answered, capturing my wrists once more. I knew that as much. He’d already proved to me just how vile he was. This came as no shock. Gaven pushed me back onto the bed, and I gasped as I fell back onto the mattress.
“Different, how?” I demanded still, my eyes widening as he climbed over me, spreading my legs as he shoved me up the bed.
“I’m sure you’ve sensed it, darling,” he replied. “I like control. I’m going to do things to you, Angel, that no other man has ever done to you. That no other man ever will.” His lips parted as he stared at me. My nipples tightened under the heat of his gaze. “You’re my wife, Angel, and as such, you’ll be subject to my interests.”
