Interesting. I leaned back against the headboard, watching her carefully while she sat there wrapped in ruined lace and humiliation. “Come here.”
“No.”
“Chiara.” Something in my tone made her hesitate. Then, reluctantly, she moved toward me across the black silk sheets. Still glaring. Still pretending she wasn’t aching for me. Cute.
I caught her wrist gently and pulled her against my chest. She stiffened beneath me. “What are you doing?”
“Sleeping next to my wife.”
Her entire body froze. “That’s it?”
I looked down at her slowly. The disappointment in her expression hit me like a punch to the throat. My chest tightened with vicious satisfaction.
“You were threatening to find another man ten minutes ago,” I murmured. “Now you’re upset I’m not burying myself inside you?”
Color flooded her face. “I am not upset.”
“Liar, liar,” I teased.
“I just…” She stopped herself hard enough I felt the tension ripple through her body. “I thought…”
“That I’d lose control?” I asked softly. Her silence answered for her. I tilted her chin upward slowly until those blue eyes met mine again. “Not tonight.”
Something fragile cracked across her expression before she could hide it. Then, horrifyingly, tears welled in her eyes. My entire body went still.
Chiara turned her face away, furious with herself for it. “Don’t look at me.”
“Why are you crying, baby?” I asked.
“I’m not.” She hid her face in the pillow. Another lie. I watched her shoulders shake once. Tiny. Almost imperceptible. Fuck. The sight hit somewhere ugly inside my chest.
I wrapped an arm tighter around her waist automatically, pulling her fully against me. She resisted for all of two seconds before exhaustion won.
“You’re cruel,” she whispered shakily. “Making me want things. Taking them away.”
“I know, baby,” I muttered, kissing her head.
“You did all this on purpose,” she sobbed.
“Yes.” I inhaled the sweet, floral scent of her locks. “I couldn’t resist you. I had to have you.”
A wet laugh escaped her. Broken around the edges. “I hate that you know exactly what you’re doing to me.”
I brushed my fingers slowly through her loose blonde hair.
“No,” I said quietly against the top of her head. “You hate that your body likes it anyway.”
She went silent after that. Not because she agreed. Because she couldn’t deny it anymore.
The room settled into softer silence around us, candlelight flickering low against the walls while the city glowed beneath the windows. Chiara stayed curled against my chest eventually, tense little inch by tense little inch relaxing beneath my hands.
I kept waiting for her to pull away again. She didn’t. Interesting. My hand drifted slowly down her spine, tracing soothing circles over skin I knew was still bruised from her father’s belt. Rage simmered low beneath my ribs again at the memory.
Someone had hurt my wife before she walked down that aisle tonight. Someone had broken something inside her. And I was going to find out who.
Chiara’s breathing deepened gradually against my chest. She was asleep. I studied her quietly for a long moment after her body finally softened completely in my arms. No fighting. No tears. No trembling. Just warm, sleepy little breaths against my throat while she unconsciously curled closer.
She was mine forever now. The possessive thought slid through me darkly.
