Page 39 of The Arianna Arrangement

But the look he gave me as my father handed me off to him was so much better than tears. It was obsession. Possession. Devotion.

As the priest started speaking, everything else in the world seemed to slip away. It was just me, Tucker, and the priest. I listened to the words he said, my eyes never leaving the man in front of me, staring at me like I was the only woman in the world.

“Do you, Tucker Givenchy, take Arianna Vitale to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to protect her, provide for her, and respect this agreement between your families as long as you both shall live?”

Tucker’s smile widened. “I do.”

The officiant turned to me. “Do you, Arianna Vitale, take Tucker Givenchy as your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to honor him, obey him, forsaking all others, and respect this agreement between your families as long as you both shall live?”

I didn’t let the irritation show on my face, but seriously? I had to honor, obey and forsake all others but he just had to protect me and provide for me? These were definitely vows from my father.

But I knew that even if we were taking different vows, what the words actually said didn’t matter. We were going to love and cherish each other, putting each other first through better or worse for the rest of our lives. That’s why, when I said the words, I meant them with every fiber of my being. “I do.”

“It is with much honor that I present to you today, Mr. and Mrs. Tucker Givenchy. You may kiss the bride.”

The kiss was chaste and sweet, definitely respectful and appropriate for the situation, but the look in his eyes showed me that he would be making up for it later. I was going to be ravished tonight and I couldn’t fucking wait.

Chapter 18

Tucker

“You are absolutely stunning, Ari.” My wife looked up at me and smiled as we swayed on the dance floor. God, that smile combined with the fact that she was now my wife had my cock swelling in my pants. “I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you too, Tuck. How much longer until we can sneak away?”

My dick deflated as I thought about what was about to happen. “We can’t sneak away. It’s our wedding.”

She smirked. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay for the whole thing. I mean, aren’t they supposed to cheer us off as we head out to go have sex for the first time?”

I hadn’t told her about the change in plans. Yes, I’m sure it was shitty of me to be springing this on her the night of our wedding. But if she’d known earlier that she’d be losing her virginity in a room full of men, it would have overshadowed the whole day. She would have been thinking about that instead of enjoying us finally being married.

Sandro came up behind us and whispered in my ear. “It’s time. Guest room on the first floor of the north wing. If you go now you can beat everyone in there and get a few minutes to explain.”

I gave him a nod and then turned my attention back to Ari. “Let’s go.”

She chuckled as I pulled her out of the ballroom. My stomach was in knots thinking about what was about to happen. Would she hate me for this? Our lives together were just starting, and we were finally going to be out from under her fathers thumb, but would this be the thing that pushed her to the point of not being able to forgive me?

“Where are we going? Your room’s on the south wing.”

I pulled her into the room and then all the way into the bathroom. When the door was shut and locked, I turned to face her, taking her face in my hands. “I’m so fucking sorry, Ari. Your father decided he was going to go back to the old tradition. Instead of having the bedsheets in the hall in the morning, he wants the consummation to be witnessed.”

The color drained from her face and she pulled back from me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that in just a couple of minutes, that room is going to have my dad and uncles, along with your dad, your uncle, Sandro, and whoever the fuck else your dad decides to bring. They’re going to watch us have sex. Then they’re going to check my dick for blood and Sandro will have to verify that I finished inside you.”

I took a step towards her, but she took another step back. “This is not how I wanted our first time to be. Please know that. I’ve been fantasizing about getting to worship your body, making sure that it was as pleasurable and the least painful as possible. But we don’t have a choice.”

“How long have you known?”

When I stepped towards her again, she took another step back, shattering my heart. “Since Sunday.”

Fire filled her eyes. “And you didn’t think I had the right to know?”

“Tell me this. If I’d told you, would you have enjoyed the wedding and reception, or spent the whole time dreading this moment?” She looked away from me as she clenched her jaw and crossed her arms over her chest. “Exactly. I couldn’t change what’s about to happen, but I could make sure you got to have good memories of the rest of the day. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

This time when I stepped towards her, she stayed still. Which was good, because I heard voices coming from the other room so we were out of time. I started to unbutton my shirt. “Take off your dress. I’m going to have you wear this so that you’re covered. Keep your panties on. I’ll just move them over so you’re as covered as possible. Now, we might not have any choice when it comes to them watching, but we still have options and I want you to decide. I can take this slow, doing everything I can to make this good for you, or I can push in quickly and get it over with as fast as possible.”

Her dress hit the floor and my cock hardened in my pants at the sight of her. She didn’t have a bra on and her panties were white lace. She looked every bit the virginal bride she was. I wrapped my shirt around her, buttoning it as I kissed her cheek.