Page 18 of Vow of Desire

I snap my fingers and point at her. “There it is. You just said my name.”

“I meant Mr. Marani,” she mumbles with another blush.

“Yes. I did marry you for peace. I didn’t marry you because I have feelings for you. But now that you’re my wife, I would prefer to have a wife who isn’t terrified of me.”

“How can I not be? You’ve done horrible things and now I have to give you my body and I still don’t know if you’ll truly hurt me or not. But despite that, I will do my duty and I will take it with a smile.”

“Because that’s what you were taught.”

“Yes.”

“But it’s all fake,” I say with a scoff.

“And what about you? Are you not fake? You claim you’re a man of honor but you still kidnapped Emma when you didn’t get what you wanted. How is that not fake?”

“Enough,” I say in a cold tone. “I am tired of talking about the past. Drop it.”

In that very moment, I see how Luciana stands up straighter and composes her face. Any fire that was in her is gone like a light switch. “All right then. I’ll drop it.”

I didn’t expect her to just agree. I expected her to fight me on it. And yet here she is, acting like the perfect little doll.

“Shall we get to it then?’ she asks, nodding at the bed. “Our duty. We married for peace after all and like you said, we can’t risk an annulment. We have to do this.”

The thought of taking Luciana when she clearly doesn’t want it makes my cock soft. But I did say we had to do this and I wasn’t lying. For our marriage to be a real one, we need to consummate it.

“You need to take off your dress.”

She nods and turns her back to me and tries unzipping the back but she’s struggling.

“Let me,” I murmur. I unzip her dress and watch it pool around her feet. No bra. Only white panties. The sight of her like this does make my cock stir.

When she turns around to face me, she covers her breasts.

“You don’t want to do this,” I murmur. “If you did, you wouldn’t hide yourself away.”

“I am willing to do this. I have to do this. It’s what a good wife does.”

“And you’re always good.” I grab her arms and lower them down by her sides. “You don’t have to hide yourself from me.”

I can see how hard she’s working to maintain her composure. Her chest is rising and falling. Panic is setting in again. The last thing I want is Luciana passing out once more.

“Lie on the bed,” I say.

She moves to the bed like a sloth. So slow and methodical. Finally, she lies down. At least I won’t have to worry about her hitting her head on the floor again.

I look into her eyes as I take off my jacket and waistcoat. Luciana is trembling. I remove my shoes and socks one by one. Then comes my shirt. Her eyes widen when she takes in my bare chest. I know I look good since I go to the gym every day. It’s important to stay fit as a mafia man. You never know when you might need to fight for your life.

“When I claim you, are you just going to lie there, silent?” I ask.

“I’ll do whatever you want from me.” I can tell it’s a lie. Her hands are clenched into fists around the blanket under her.

I can’t stand this. How perfect Luciana is being. I thought a perfect wife would be good enough but it’s proving to be very frustrating.

With a sound low in my throat, I grab her waist and roll her onto her stomach right before I spank her.

Luciana yelps. “What are you doing? You said you weren’t going to beat me.”

“And I’m not.” I spank her ass again. “I’m just trying to get you to show me your real self. I don’t want to be married to a fake wife.” I continue to spank her and yet, Luciana doesn’t let go. She grits her teeth together and doesn’t show me anything.