Page 25 of In the Dark

“You wish.”

He hummed and put his arms into his black dress shirt before spreading his legs as he met my eyes again. “Come here, fiancée. Come button up your future husband’s shirt,” he commanded, his voice low and gritty.

“What? I’m not—”

“Come here.” He patted his leg like he wanted me to sit on it, his tone rough now. “Show me you’ll be a good wife.”

I bit my cheek so hard it bled. I knew what he was doing. He was challenging me. He was going to see if I could submit, and if I couldn’t, he’d take Maribel instead.

There was no way I was letting it happen. So, I focused on the only thing I could. I may have hated him in that moment, but I still loved the way he looked, knew my body wanted him in a way it shouldn’t. I decided I’d turn off every emotion but that as I went to sit on his lap. My legs were closed in between his as I kept the blanket tucked around me under my armpits, and I hurried to work on the first button.

As I did, his hand brushed away the blue strands of hair over my shoulder, his fingers dancing on my skin. I couldn’t control the goosebumps that surfaced.

Now, I was biting my cheek for a whole other reason as his free hand went to my bare leg and inched up toward my holster. “You always carry, even to a funeral?”

I was on the third button now, but my hands shook. “It’s smart to carry always.”

“You won’t have to when we’re married,” he murmured.

“I prefer to be prepared myself rather than relying on someone else,” I said before I could stop myself.

His thumb grazed the holster and moved back and forth on it. He didn’t disarm me. Instead, his hand just gripped me there, so big it was more than half the size of my whole thigh.

“A smart wife over a dumb one. I guess I shouldn’t complain that we’ll be getting married even if I wasn’t really looking for a wife.”

I finally got the fourth button and wiggled a little to get to the fifth.

He didn’t hide his thick, hard length against the side of my ass when I did. Instead, he groaned as I held back a whimper.

I was so stupid for being turned on. I hated myself for it. I really did.

This is exactly why Callahan shouldn’t really want to marry—the guy was a woman’s walking orgasm, and he could have anyone he wanted.

This was simply a business move for the Diamonds. A way to solidify all our businesses as theirs, and to have the promise of money they thought might have been hidden.

Still I wanted the answer from his lips directly, so I whispered, “Then why do this?”

His hand moved closer and closer to my center, and I let him inch there. Not because I was showcasing how good of a wife I would be, but because now I couldn’t look away from his blue eyes, couldn’t fight off the touch of him even if I knew he was the man my whole family hated.

“We do what we must for the family, Viper. You know this.”

Couldn’t he have said something more romantic?

I scoffed. “And that’s a partnership and marriage that conveniently claims almost everything we own.”

“Your uncle Monte agreed, Jasmina. Don’t blame me for your family’s poor negotiations. And remember, your empire is crumbling, not mine. You all know it. A dozen different enemies are about to strike. You have no real allies. No one to trust.”

He wasn’t wrong. Not about any of it.

“And why, again, should I trust you?” I glanced away to work on the sixth button, trying and failing to hide my irritation.

He grinned. “You shouldn’t, but I’m the only hope you’ve got.”

Right as I pushed the button through the hole and finished being a dutiful fiancée, his thumb got to my panty line and he hummed. “So, seems you can be docile, then?” he murmured against my ear as his fingers heated me in a way the air never could. I trembled under his touch but didn’t say anything until he bit the shell of my ear and growled, “Answer me, Viper. Can you be docile?”

“I am, aren’t I?” I practically choked on the words.

He hummed and murmured, “I like a submissive wife. Spread your legs.”